The Porsche 911 Slantnose could be heading back into the regular model range, with a senior Porsche executive confirming that ideas born through the brand’s Sonderwunsch programme can eventually find their way into series-production cars.
That does not mean a new Flachbau has officially been signed off. However, Porsche has followed this exact path before, including with the original Slantnose itself.
Porsche Sonderwunsch Could Inspire A New Slantnose 911
Porsche recently revealed the spectacular one-off 911 Flachbau RS, created through its Sonderwunsch personalisation programme and based on a 991-generation GT2 RS.
While the car was commissioned as a unique creation and is not destined for production, Porsche Vice President of Product and Individualisation Alexander Fabig has suggested that elements from projects like this can influence future production models.
Speaking during Monterey Car Week, Fabig explained that one of the purposes of Sonderwunsch has always been to provide inspiration for Porsche’s wider product portfolio.
Over the decades, several ideas originally requested by individual customers have gradually evolved into Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur options before, in some cases, becoming regular factory features or even complete production models.
That leaves the door open for the Flachbau treatment to follow a similar route.
The Original Porsche 911 Slantnose Followed The Same Path
There’s some compelling history behind the possibility.
The road-going Slantnose can trace its roots back to a unique Porsche commissioned by TAG owner Mansour Ojjeh. His extraordinary 935 Street was created through Porsche’s Sonderwunsch programme and delivered in 1983.
Interest in its distinctive flattened front end proved strong enough for Porsche to make the treatment available to other customers.
The factory ultimately produced 948 Slantnose-equipped cars during the 1980s, turning what began as a bespoke customer request into one of the most recognisable versions of the classic 911 Turbo.
Sonderwunsch Ideas Have Reached Production Before
The Slantnose isn’t the only example of Porsche turning individual customer requests into something much bigger.
Fabig pointed towards Porsche’s X50 and X51 power upgrades as examples of features that evolved from individual customer requests into factory options.
That development process ultimately contributed towards the creation of the 911 Turbo S.
It’s an important precedent. Porsche doesn’t necessarily need to reproduce the Flachbau RS exactly as it stands today. Instead, its design language or individual components could be reinterpreted for a limited-production model, an Exclusive Manufaktur option or even a regular 911 derivative.
Custom Porsche paint colours already follow a loosely similar philosophy. Certain specially developed colours remain exclusive to the commissioning customer for a defined period before Porsche can make them available more widely, helping recover some of the development costs involved.
The One-Off Flachbau RS Packs GT2 RS Power
The modern Flachbau RS is considerably more than a styling exercise.
Underneath sits the hardware of the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, meaning there’s a 3.8-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six producing 700 hp (522 kW) and 750 Nm (553 lb-ft) of torque.
A future production Slantnose wouldn’t necessarily use the same drivetrain.
Porsche already has something even more powerful in the current 911 range, with the latest Turbo S producing 701 hp (523 kW) through its electrified T-Hybrid powertrain.
Whatever eventually wears the Slantnose name, outright performance is unlikely to be a concern.
Is A New Porsche 911 Slantnose Actually Coming?
For now, Porsche hasn’t confirmed a production Flachbau or Slantnose.
What it has confirmed is arguably more interesting: Sonderwunsch creations aren’t necessarily isolated design exercises with nowhere else to go.
Porsche has a long history of taking ideas developed for individual customers and introducing them to a wider audience. The original Slantnose is one of the best examples of exactly that process.
Considering Porsche has now built a modern Flachbau RS and openly acknowledged that elements from bespoke projects can migrate into production, the possibility of a factory-built modern Slantnose suddenly doesn’t seem particularly far-fetched.
And judging by the attention surrounding the latest one-off, finding customers probably wouldn’t be difficult.