Porsche Tapiro Concept

The Porsche Tapiro is a concept car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, built by Porsche and displayed at the 1970 Turin Motor Show.

The Tapiro is powered by a longitudinally mounted air-cooled 2.4 liter flat-six engine producing 164 kW at 7,800 rpm, has a 5-speed manual transmission, rear wheel drive and independent suspension.

The Tapiro started out in life as a Porsche 914/6 before going through some drastic changes. It went on to influence a great deal of Giugiaro’s own designs, including big names like the Maserati Boomerang and the DeLorean DMC-12. Compared to the car upon which it was based, the oneoff Tapiro was almost eight centimeters longer and 10 cm wider, while retaining the same wheelbase. It was lowered by 10 cm and was the first car to have a “seagull wing” opening for the doors and the rear panels of the engine compartment.

Glass was an important design element used by Giguiaro and it is most evident when you look at the Tapiro from above. The back of the car also had a wide plexiglass area, while at the front there was a functional air intake installed on the upper section of the windscreen.

While the regular 914 had either a VWsourced flat-four 1.7-liter engine with 60 kW or a larger 2.0-liter flat-six Porsche mill with 82 kW at the time of its launch, the Tapiro received a beefier 2.4-liter unit rated at 164 kW available at 7,200

rpm. A fully functional car, the concept was engineered with a five-speed manual gearbox and had an official top speed of 245 kph.

Following its world premiere at the Turin Motor Show in 1970, the car made its U.S. debut a year later at the Los Angeles Imported Automobile and Sports Car Show. In 1973, it made an appearance at the Barcelona Motor Show before being sold to Waldo de los Ríos, an Argentine composer. This is where the story gets a bit murky as some are saying the car was crashed in an accident while others believe it was the victim of a firebomb in Madrid. An image of the aftermath suggests the