A van with a Porsche 911 power plant may seem far fetched, but it was very real
Back in 1985, as Porsche geared up for the grueling Paris-Dakar Rally with their revolutionary 959 rally cars, they encountered an unusual problem. To support their race effort in the vast, unforgiving African terrain, they needed a reliable and fast support vehicle, one that could carry a full crew, transport critical spare parts, and keep up with the pace of the competition.
A rugged SUV wouldn’t cut it, and traditional vans lacked speed. So Porsche took an unexpected route. The solution came in the form of a van, but not just any van. Enter the Porsche B32, a fascinating anomaly in the brand’s storied history. Built on the humble Volkswagen T3 (or Type 25) platform, the B32 was no ordinary VW Bus.
Moreover, it was Porsche’s one and only foray into the world of minivans, and it came with serious firepower under the hood. To transform the T3 into a true Porsche, engineers swapped in a 3.2-liter flat-six engine from the 911 Carrera, producing a hefty 231 horsepower. This upgrade propelled the B32 to a surprising top speed of 185km/h, ridiculously fast for a van of that era.
To handle the power, Porsche didn’t stop at just the engine. They also added the 915 five-speed manual transmission, a limited-slip differential, reinforced driveshafts, larger brakes and a spoiler lip. The result was something entirely unique: a van with the heart and soul of a sports car, engineered for a race it would never enter, but that it needed to chase.
On top of that, the B32 is also one of the rarest vehicles to ever wear a Porsche badge. With a genuine Porsche VIN, it legally became a Porsche, no longer a Volkswagen. Only seven units were ever produced, making it an elusive collector’s gem. These were never made available to the public in a traditional sense.
A select few were reserved for insiders and high-level executives. The example most often pictured was custom-built for then-CEO of Porsche AG, Peter W. Schutz. Today, spotting a B32 is nearly impossible. If one ever surfaces for sale, it typically carries a price tag upwards of half a million dollars, a steep cost for a van, but a small price to own a piece of Porsche legend.
So there you have it, while some may think a van with the engine of a Porsche 911 may be too weird to be real, it was indeed real.
