There are always points in history where if things had happened slightly differently, the future might have turned out seriously differently. These are the moments where the multiverse splits and there is another theoretical existence where modern 911s could be powered by dual overhead cam watercooled V8 engines. There was a point in the 1980s where Porsche was developing a replacement for the all-time great 959 supercar. The intention was to shove the hi-po 928 V8 in the back of a G-series chassis, fit it with all-wheel drive, and go rip. It was known as Project 965, and was intended to reach production for 1990 as the 969.
The 928 GTS had the most powerful V8 Porsche had built at that point, and it only had 350 horsepower compared to the 450 found in the 959. Obviously there are ways to increase power for a supercar platform that don’t work in a grand tourer, and boy howdy do I wish Porsche had built it. I can only imagine how great a high-revving 5.4-liter DOHC V8 would sound with Porsche’s exhaust tuning. I’ll go to sleep tonight dreaming about that sound. 928s sound pretty great already, but could you imagine that engine revving to 8,000 instead of 6,100?
The car featured in this video, dubbed The Black Bomber, is the only remaining prototype built to test this potential project. This one was built to stress test the radiator package in the front of the car, and was actually fitted with an Audi V8. The company never really intended this car to be seen by anyone, and it was used as a street-driven mule for the project, so it was painted in flat black to help it fly under the radar, so to speak.
The project went over budget, the economy tanked, Porsche boss and renowned penny pincher Ulrich Bez scrapped the project. But holy cow what could have been!