Uniqueness is an idea that gets tossed around a lot these days. From phones to clothes and cars, companies want us to think that what we're buying is one-of-a-kind, but it's not. At least that's what we think after watching this really old (as in ancient) report from Deutsche Welle which shows how a man turned his Porsche 928 GTS into a 6-wheeled pickup truck.
After chopping up the rear bodywork, he extended it to make room for a shallow bed, which he covered in galvanized steel plate. It's not hugely practical, but we can see what the German DIY mechanic was aiming for, something different from all other Porsche 928's on the planet, which he certainly achieved.
The video got me thinking a dirty little thought: what are the chances that somebody at Mercedes-Benz used to own a 928, saw this video and thought "hmmm, that would work for a G63 AMG"?
I'm not a huge fan of what the Porsche 928 stands for. It comes from an era of excess and was a dilution of the Porsche brand. However, the design is unique, especially that huge single-piece rounded bumper that holds the taillights and wraps around to the wheels.
The stuff under the bonnet is just as interesting as the pickup part at the back. You see, this is a late model 928, which originally came with a 5.4-liter V8 engine making 350 hp. The displacement was increased to 6.1-liters, which is the largest non-racing V8 Porsche engine we've heard of in years.
The 6-wheel Porsche 928 was only allowed to pass the TUV road inspection after the guys at Porsche stepped in, looked at the project and gave it their blessing. Wow! Had this been Ferrari, the guy would have gotten slapped with a lawsuit, but all the Germans love a good engineering masterpiece.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News