Porsche has always been an engineering firm first, working diligently to craft automotive designs for other companies on contract. Sometimes, like in the early 1990s when Porsche was in a rough place, these engineering contracts helped keep the lights on. This means there are a handful of cars running around on the road with just a smidgen of Porsche magic. Porsche helped Mercedes, Audi, Renault, Seat, Ford, and even Lada to build some of the greatest sporty models and some of the best-selling volume models. From super sedans to superminis, Porsche has had its fingers in a whole lot of different pies.
If you’re a frequent follower of this website, you likely already knew Porsche did design and assembly work on Audi’s RS2 and Mercedes 500E. Heck, the RS2 even makes great use of a variety of 964-era 911 aesthetic components like door handles and turn signals. You may not, however, have known that Porsche did engineering work on Ford’s Duratec V6, which was used in a number of Ford, Mazda, and Jaguar products. Aston Martin’s venerable 5.9-liter V12, in fact, is comprised of a pair of Duratecs linked end to end.
You can learn all about the interesting development work Porsche did for these cars and more in the newest Car Throttle video. I’ve been a life-long fan of Porsche, and have been enamored with the Renault Clio V6 since it was released, but I was today years old when I found out the two were linked! Maybe that explains the Renault’s tendency toward snap oversteer?
I wonder how many other engineering projects Porsche took on that we don’t even know about? Next you’re going to tell me Porsche developed an SUV for Audi and Volkswagen. Oh wait, they did? How about that. You learn something new every day. Neat.