Is this a new 911 model or just a Sport Design package with a ducktail?
by Ciprian Florea, on LISTEN 03:38The intriguing Porsche 911 fitted with a ducktail spoiler returned on the Nurburgring track, fueling new rumors that the German company is working on some sort of new model. There’s plenty of speculation around this car, and the fact that it has been tested in various configurations makes things even more confusing. So what are we exactly looking at?
Is Porsche working on a new limited-edition 911?
The ducktail spoiler attached to this 911's rear deck is definitely a new feature.
Porsche has already launched Carrera and Turbo versions of the 992-generation 911, and none of them offer such a device. And even though Porsche built 911s with ducktails in the past, there’s no clear indication as to what it may be. To make things even more confusing, Porsche has been testing various 911 models with this aero element.
This version is clearly a Turbo model based on the vents in the front fenders, and earlier videos of the car around the Nurburgring track suggested that it wasn’t fitted with a PDK. This gave rise to speculation that Porsche is prepping some sort of Turbo model with the six-speed manual gearbox in the 911 GT3. Yet another enthusiast model? It could be.
This specific version is also fitted with GT3 RS front seats and no seats in the rear, which also hints at a high-performance, track-bred model.
On the other hand, prototypes from the past featured rear seats, and one of them was also fitted with a roll cage. With Porsche testing various layouts, it’s difficult to figure out what it may be at this point.
The remaining scenario is that we could be looking at the GT model that was teased by the Petersen Museum and Bring A Trailer earlier in 2020. The teaser photo shows a car under a cover that seems to have the same silhouette as the 911, together with air inlets that are specific to the Turbo model. It doesn’t have a big rear wing, so it could be fitted with a ducktail spoiler. This mysterious GT model will be revealed in January 2021.
Is Porsche preparing a new Sport Design / Classic package?
The ducktail spoiler isn’t a new aero element on a Porsche. The German company introduced it in 1973 on the iconic 911 Carrera RS 2.7. The device was developed to help the tail-happy 911 Carrera have more stability on the race track. The RS 2.7 was, of course, a homologation car for racing. Although it wasn’t offered on other models, the ducktail became so popular that owners retrofitted them on various 911s from the 1970s and 1980s, including the 911SC, the Carrera 3.2, and 964-generation cars.
Porsche reintroduced the ducktail spoiler in 2010, when it released the 911 Sport Classic, based on the 997 chassis. This ducktail wing looked a lot like the 1973 version. The 991-generation 911 also featured a ducktail thanks to the Sport Design package. However, this ducktail was smaller and thinner and looked more like a conventional spoiler.
All told, the car in spy shots could be a testbed for a new iteration of the Sport Design or Sport Classic package. Instead of a limited-edition 911, Porsche could roll out an optional package for some variants of the 911.
