Porsche Tapiro

The Porsche Tapiro is a concept car built by Porsche in 1970. It was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and has a traditional 1970s wedge design, which critics say somewhat resembles that of the De Tomaso Mangusta. The chassis is based on the Porsche 914/6, and it features gullwing-style doors.[1]

Porsche Tapiro
Overview
ManufacturerPorsche
Production1970
1 built
DesignerGiorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign
Body and chassis
ClassSports car
LayoutRear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
RelatedPorsche 914/6
Powertrain
Engine2.4 L flat-six
Transmission5-speed manual

Specifications

The Tapiro is powered by a longitudinally mounted air-cooled 2.4 liter flat-six engine producing 220 hp (164 kW) at 7,800 rpm, and connected to a 5-speed manual transmission. This engine could propel the Tapiro to an official top speed of 152 mph (245 km/h).[2]

History

The Porsche Tapiro was introduced to the world at the 1970 Turin Auto Show, in Turin, Italy.[3] The car made its US debut at the 5th Annual Los Angeles Imported Automobile and Sports Car Show in 1971.

In 1972, the car was sold to a Spanish industrialist who used it as his daily driver. The car was mostly destroyed after it caught fire. Most sources say the cause of the fire was a group of labor activists protesting its owner's labor policies, who planted a bomb under the Tapiro. The bomb exploded, burning the car but not destroying the chassis.[4] Other sources say the car was involved in an accident and caught fire that way.[5] The burnt shell was repurchased by Italdesign and is now on display in its Giugiaro Museum.

References
  1. "TG's guide to concepts: the 1970 Porsche Tapiro". Top Gear. 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  2. "1970 Porsche Tapiro: Concept We Forgot". Motor1.com. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  3. Project: Tapiro. Italdesign.it.
  4. 993C4S. "What Happened to the Porsche Tapiro". @FlatSixes - the blog about Porsche.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. "Meet the 1970 Porsche Tapiro, a concept car that met a violent death". Autoweek. Retrieved 2018-08-11.


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