Porsche's CEO, and the man in charge of the entire Volkswagen Group, officially confirmed that the all-new 2023 911 Dakar is just the beginning of a move to add more trim levels to its most famous vehicle.
The future of the 911 Dakar was not guaranteed, as Porsche launched it as a limited edition and announced that only 2,500 would be made. We even called Porsche out for missing a huge opportunity and hoped it was only limited because the current 911 is due for a facelift. In other words, the 2,500 was not due to a lack of interest but rather a lack of production time before the tooling for the facelift needed to be installed.
In an interview with Car UK, Blume confirmed the continued existence of the off-road 911 and at least three anniversary specials set to debut next year.
"'Very few global brands are able to bring these successful items from the past and connect them with modern technology. But Porsche can," said Blume. "Then we thought, why not a third pillar besides sporty GT and heritage models? Why not off-road, too?" Now we will see how the market success of the Dakar pans out. And then maybe there will be more to come. The door is now open."
The online configurator went live shortly after the unveiling of the Dakar. Given the overall positive response to it and the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, we have little doubt that Porsche has already sold every unit. If a successor's existence is based on Porsche's ability to sell enough Dakars, its existence is essentially guaranteed.
Porsche has yet to make an announcement, but several countries where Porsche has a considerable following have been denied access to the Dakar. That's already a good sign.
Blume also announced that there would be more heritage models like the brilliant 911 Sport Classic. "The idea [for heritage models] came from the sports industry," said Blume.
"We saw the sports shoes from the 1970s and 80s and thought that could work for Porsche too, so we brought the 50th edition and the 60th edition with the Sport Classic. We are considering bringing 1970s and 80s-inspired models too."
Porsche is basically building brand-new Singer models based around a central theme. The Sport Classic became an instant icon, and it's impossible to find one for a reasonable price. We expect the same to happen with whatever Porsche has planned.
Speaking of, Porsche has three big celebrations coming next year. "We will celebrate 60 years of the 911, 75 years of our company, and the 80th birthday of Wolfgang Porsche," said Blume. More importantly, Blume confirmed that Porsche has a model planned for each of these anniversaries.
The one we're most interested in is the 60 years of 911. If we had to guess, Porsche will build a best-of compilation car, using design cues from several generations, powered by a naturally aspirated flat-six that spins to 9,000 rpm.
We'll riot in the streets if it's not equipped with a manual gearbox.