Porsche once made a pickup truck with the heart of a 911

Porsche has never been one to shy away from making rare models. We are talking about models of which less than 10 were produced, Like the 964 Turbo Cabriolet and the 993 Speedster. Among these rarities he is Especially a Porsche that wasn’t actually a Porsche at all: the Volkswagen T3 B32. It doesn’t look like a Porsche, it doesn’t have a Porsche badge, but it sure will look, like a Porsche.

in 1986, Porsche He was in two teams 959stand up Paris Dakar Rally It is led by two teams: a partnership with Rene Metje Dominique Lemoine in one, and Jackie Ickx With Claude Brasseur in the other. And although these 959s They are built to be off-road beasts and capable of handling them The hardest rally in the world, they were still fast. With a 400-hp 2.8-liter, flat-6 engine, not many can keep up with it, including supporting vehicles. Porsche had a third 959 On hand, which was considered for use as a support, but the team Need something bigger and faster.

another thing Porsche was within easy reach Volkswagen T3 transportation car. Unfortunately, They were ridiculously slow Can’t keep up with the fastthe accelerated nature of the race, Where like every vein, Every minute counts. So instead of looking for another car or trying to be content with what they had, Porsche engineers decided to do what any gearhead would do. Modify T3 trucks to work with their needs.

while standard T3s were available with a range of engines, from the 1.6-liter four-cylinder I4 all the way up to the 2.6-liter I5, they were all sluggish. So instead of modifying the existing engine, Porsche took the 288-hp engine from the 911 3.2 Carrera and dropped it into the engine bay. Then the engineers mated that flat-six to a Porsche transmission that directs power to the rear wheels. And since this was intended to keep up with rally racing, the engineers too gave T3 unique suspension and bigger brakes. She was said to have a file maximum speed only 116 mph, But in reality, it was about 135 mph.

While someone glancing at a VW T3 B32 might not be able to tell it apart from the regular T3, Porsche has done a few things to set it apart. There were larger 16-inch wheels with Fuchs tires, additional side vents for larger engine cooling, front and rear skirts, and a larger exhaust.

Inside, there was a full leather interior, Porsche badge on the steering wheel, and additional gauges under the center console, behind the shifter.

While it is not known whether or not this thing had any production intent, thought only seven Examples were made on the T3 B32. While they were not sold publicly, some ended up in private hands, private clients who had a relationship with Porsche. A few of these even have Porsche VINs. Some of them are available for a discount.

The example you see above is the same This is listed for sale At a Porsche dealer: Porsche Centrum Gelderland. It is currently listed on 364,900 euros, which with current exchange rates for US dollars, That’s more than $375,700. It does need a bit of a restoration as there is a few wear here and there, but other than that it looks great. wAlthough the years have given us Porsche SUVs and sedans, may we Never see anything like a Porsche again.