989 lives!
Turns out that Porsche Panamera predecessor (AW, Aug. 8)—the early ‘90s Porsche four-door prototype dubbed 989—wasn’t as secret as we were led to believe. Though Porsche officials initially told AutoWeek the car was never shown publicly, was never photographed and was crushed when production plans didn’t materialize, we’ve since learned the car was photographed by at least one German magazine (though Porsche says it never released official photos and a press release) and the car wasn’t destroyed back in 1991 as thought, but remains under wraps somewhere in the Porsche empire. Also, though the Panamera due in 2008 will be a front-engine four-door, the 989 that spawned many of later 911 suspension and styling improvements was likely a rear-engine, 911-based one-off.