The Porsche 918 hybrid supercar took more brainpower and money to build than Porsche had originally fathomed. Luckily for Porsche, though, the 918 is selling like hotcakes. Oh I’m sorry. I was thinking of the Ferrari LaFerrari. No, the 918 isn’t selling well at all.
While this poor showing may not bode well for the Porsche v. Ferrari battle, it does give Porsche another chance to make its money back on the 918. How might it do that? With a four-door version.
If it were to be built, the four-door 918 variant would be called the 984 and it would simply be an elongated version of the carbon fiber bodied 918 with two more doors and two more seats. It would still, however, retain the mid-engine layout, which would send power to the rear wheels.
What does 984 stand for? According to Automobile, “9 for sports car, 8 for the number of cylinders, 4 for the number of seats.” Although the 984 would be very low volume, it would be priced around half – you read that correctly – of the 918, at around $468,000 (350,000 EUR).
The idea isn’t totally far fetched. Lamborghini had a similar plan for its Aventador but eventually didn’t do it. BMW will soon have the new mid-engine 2+2 i8 and Porsche would be remiss not to have a go undercutting Bimmer sales.
If you’re interested in a 984, you’ll have to wait until at least 2017, as 918 production will continue through 2015.
