Identify This Porsche

[cegerer]

OK, if you're an AutoWeek reader, don't answer! For the rest, what is this Porsche and the story behind it????

[ruf-porsche]

Looks like a kit car like the Aztec maybe with a Porsche engine?

[Bill Douglas]

The story behind it: It was burnt because it's so ugly?

[Paul Thomas]

That is the Taprio 912 concept car from 1970. Designed by Italidesign with input from Porsche and VW. It had two sets of gullwing doors, one set for passengers and one set in the back for stuff.

I dont know anything about that specific car or why it caught fire.

Paul

[cegerer]

Damn, we have a winner so soon! Although I like Bill's answer better

It is the VW Porsche Tapiro, a prototype by Giugiaro shown at the 1970 Turin motor show. It has a 220-HP 911 motor. It was sold to a wealthy Spanish industrialist after the show for use as a daily driver. A group of labor activists decided it would be good fun to plant a bomb in the car one day. The car now resides in it's blown-up state at the Giugiaro Musuem! -- Curt

[JeremyD]

They didn't use a big enough bomb!

[TRE Cup]

that car looks great (in its early 70s italian design ) i'd love to have that 914-6 and get it back to its original "glory"

[Sonic dB]

Looks like a Delorean.... back to the future.

[Early_S_Man]

Wait a minute, Curt! No winner, unless the '912' was a typo YOU saw ... and mistakenly believed it!

Tapiro was a 914/6 concept car, one of two that year done to stir up some positive press ... saw it in San Antonio in 1972!

[jazzbass]

Originally posted by cegerer
A group of labor activists decided it would be good fun to plant a bomb in the car one day.

Labor activists or PCA members? Looks like they even blew up the flux capacitor...

[cegerer]

I'm feeling a bit lenient tonight. 912/914 - close enough ..... -- Curt

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by jazzbass
Labor activists or PCA members? Looks like they even blew up the flux capacitor...

Couldn't have been PCA members. Keep in mind that PCA officialdom embraces the SUV. The membership? I can only speak for myself...

[tchanson]

Really, Curt...leniency? What on earth were you possibly thinking??!!

I also saw the Villa D'Este story in last week's Autoweek, and the sidebar on the Tapiro.

I would agree that the car is/was most interesting as a precursor to later Giugiaro designs on the same theme such as the Bora, Esprit and even the oddball DeLorean.

Tim

[tmctguer]

hmmmmmmm..................EarlySMan seems to know a little too much about this car. perhaps HE had something to do with the bomb.

that beauty wasn't blown up in texas, was it?

[rufie]

Interesting. Anybody has better pics ?

Rufie.

[jluetjen]

If anyone has a copy of the March '71 Road & Track, there is a good photo spread titled "Two Ways with Porsche" about Giugiaro's design (even a picture of him and his family standing next to it) and another by Albrecht Goertz (of BMW 507 fame). I have a copy in a Brooklands "Road & Track on Porsche 1968-1971" book, but I don't have the right scanner to make a copy.

[RickM]

Looks like a cross between the Detomaso Mangusta (later modified and rebadged as the Pantera) and the Bricklin.

[Dutchie]

Every so often two toy cars from different manufacturers just seem to form a perfect pair. The two shown here are Zee Toy's De Lorean DMC-12 and the Tapiro show car, based on Porsche 914 mechanicals. Both were designed by Giorgetto Guigiaro of ItalDesign

Source

http://www.breithaupts.com/totc119.htm

[Joe Bob]

Originally posted by cegerer
I'm feeling a bit lenient tonight. 912/914 - close enough ..... -- Curt

Maybe for you...one is a tail dragger the other is a middie.

[cegerer]

Any number higher than 911 is a bit suspect in my book .... -- Curt