While it’s probably little more than hot air, a senior Porsche strategist told Automobile that the brand is still planning a 551, though there is a lot left to chew before it reaches that dish.
“We need to concentrate on our cash-cows before entering a new segment where profit margins are notoriously critical,” an unnamed source said. “But once we are done with the 918 Spyder, the 960 [Ferrari-fighting] supercar, and the new Panamera, a window will open between 2016 and 2018 which may be wide enough to get the Mimo[551] project under way after all.”
The 551 was previously thought to be on tap for 2014, but the sails died on that ship, leaving people uncertain of the project’s future. Moving forward will mean parent company Volkswagen’s decision to develop the MSB platform, which would underpin sports cars across VW’s subsidiary company lines. Everything from the 551 to the Lamborghini Aventador’s successor, to the Porsche 960 supercar.
That platform would allow for front- mid- and rear-engined cars all to be designed on the same underpinnings. Once the MSB architecture is in place, companies under VW ownership will be better able to progress toward new sports cars.
