There’s nothing wrong with your screen’s resolution, nor is this a Porsche enthusiast’s Photoshop attempt. The car you’re looking at is a bonna-fide mini replica of the 928 – with a twist.
Here’s the story, courtesy of Flussigmagazine: the car is manufactured by a Brazilian company named Dacon. Dacon used to be a Porsche dealer but, when car imports were prohibited in 1976, it turned into designing and manufacturing its own cars.
Apparently, local-made VWs are big in Brazil. Thus, Dacon followed the tradition set by Ferdinand Porsche and built the rear-engined, flat-four-powered 828 that was designed by Anisio Campos. The 1.6-liter VW boxer was (naturally) air-cooled and had an output of 65hp, good for a top speed of 89 mph (142 km/h). Its high price though deterred potential buyers. During its 11-year production run, only 47 units were sold.
Now comes the interesting part. After the 828 Dacon went ahead and built a scaled-down replica of the 928, sadly sans the pop-up headlamps. On the other hand, they stuck the engine in the back. Interestingly, that’s something Porsche itself was contemplating for a while when it was designing the original sports coupe before they ditched the boxer motor for a V8 and placed it at the front.
Surprisingly, given that high-end brands hunt down and kill knock-offs, Porsche has refrained from taking legal action. Therefore, while a sub-Boxster model is (according to Stuttgart) out of the question, a mini-me Porsche is already out there complete with the trademark phone-dial alloys, 928-aping rear end and the original’s rear lights.
By Andrew Tsaousis
Photo Gallery
