When Porsche Cut The Roof To The Cayenne

1 October 2022 Redazione News, Supercars Lounge

Words Marco Rallo / Photos Porsche AG

After 20 years, we all know how much the Cayenne has played a fundamental model for Porsche’s health. Not everyone know that the brand had, however, hypothesized three additional versions that could have accompanied the model then presented in December 2002. We are talking about a coupe variant, a 20 centimeters elongated one and the convertible you see here. An ambition destined to remain so, then somehow borrowed from VW and Land Rover with their T-Roc and Evoque convertible.

Among the three ideas, however, the one that was concretized at least in the prototype phase was the Convertible. The roof is removed and in its place there is space for a canvas top that folds up with a “Z” shape movement in the luggage compartment. There are only two doors, longer and which try to facilitate the entry for rear passengers, a redesigned tail and a stiffening of the chassis, necessary when switching from a solid roof body to a convertible. Tests on structural safety and drivability were never carried out and in fact, even if a working prototype, the Cayenne Convertible is transported to its destination and not moved on the road.

The costs of further design, homologation and production convinced Porsche that it was not yet the time, given that the SUVs themselves were in their very first years of life, but two decades later and with an ever wider range, maybe it is finally time to fold up the canvas top and drive a Cayenne with the wind in your hair. What if?