March 14: Porsche station wagon?

Of course this isn't a Porsche station wagon, but I wonder if this is where the idea came from, a 1965 Pontiac wagon, the pride of suburbia way back in the distant 1960's. Come on, get serious, Barry. No way a big family hauler like this, with its typical floaty ride, was an inspiration for anything Porsche did, except maybe a boat anchor. Don't think so?

Here is the father of the modern day Porsche, Ferry Porsche........

And yes, I know his father designed the original 356, but Ferry guided this brand on its way to its present day greatness. Ferry was the guy behind the 911 and its now iconic design, elements of which have lived on in almost every Porsche car, since its introduction back in 1964.

So, now back to that family's dream ride, the 1965 Pontiac. A little known fact is that Ferry had one of these behemoths, that he used in Germany back in the day. Here's a guy who loved and promoted cars that handled, driving a big ol' American station wagon, thru the narrow streets and countryside of 1960's Germany. A Pontiac wagon, the antithesis of everything Ferry Porsche believed in automobile wise. So, just maybe, he secretly wanted a wagon in the car line that bore his name? Maybe there could be a station wagon designed around a Porsche?

Well, yes, there could be and there was and here is the first one, a wagon designed around the front engined 928 and given to him as a present on his 75th birthday........

So, that tells us something. It tells us that the man liked his wagons or maybe his employees just got sick and tired of seeing their boss cruising around in that big old Poncho. Either way, maybe this got Porsche to thinking, that a station wagon might be a good fit for their line. Naturally, the term station wagon would have to be dumped for the more upscale term shooting brake (a station wagon by any other name).

Not surprisingly nothing came of this, since this was the time when a sports car company only made sports cars or also, maybe there wasn't the money to experiment on the less than successful 928. But things changed and these days Porsche has become an suv and sedan (Panamera) company with a few sports cars thrown into the mix (look at the sales numbers, bucko).

So, just maybe the timing is right to resurrect Ferry's idea of a station wagon, oops, shooting brake for the Porsche line. And of course, with the new and quite beautiful Panamera about to hit the streets, what a great time to add a more practical vehicle for those few suv adverse folks remaining. And, if you have been paying attention to what was shown at last week's Geneva auto show, you'd know that this car has finally arrived.......

Not a bad line on this beauty, except as I mentioned recently, the bottom one, at least for us poor wannabe's. Another good reason to strive for financial greatness.

Using our imagination, we can see Ferry Porsche loving his Pontiac wagon and wishing his company could find a way to make one, so that he could husle around the highways and biways of Germany a tad quicker and more precisely than with his trusty Pontiac. If only Ferry had lived to 108, so he could see what his wishes and desires had eventually wrought. If only.......

Until next time......