Lee Sibley By Lee Sibley 4 years ago

Is this the 992 Sport Classic?

Pictures from the Nordschleife show 992 Turbo with ducktail rear wing, sparking rumours a special edition 911 will arrive next year

Our 9WERKS contacts at CarPix AB have captured a 992 prototype in testing on the Nürburgring Nordschleife with an interesting new wing design. 

At first glance the mule appears to be a Turbo-bodied 992, complete with side air intakes and centre-lock wheels, though in a break from water-cooled tradition its rear wing appears to be a fixed ‘ducktail’. Porsche has ran active rear wings on its 911 Turbos since the 996’s release in 2000.

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      The iconic ‘burzel’ rear wing was a signature design trait of the legendary 2.7 Carrera RS of 1973, Porsche’s first ever Rennsport – which celebrates its half century milestone in 2023. This new sighting of a ducktail rear wing on the back of a 992 has, therefore, sparked rumours online we could be taking a first glimpse of a special edition anniversary 911 Rennsport.

      Porsche doesn’t often pass up on the opportunity to take advantage of a significant birthday or milestone for its model lineup, and a special edition 911 Rennsport will have significant appeal for well-heeled enthusiasts and collectors. 

      However, 9WERKS does not believe the mule in our pictures is a Rennsport in the making. Of interest here is the use of a Turbo body and exhaust arrangement – the RS in both Carrera and GT3 form has always been powered by naturally aspirated engines. Instead, we believe this to be a pre-prod 992 Sport Classic, reviving the name first used on the low-volume 997 of 2011, which celebrates its ten-year anniversary in 2011…

        If history is anything to go by, the next Sport Classic will be a road-focused collectible, shunning a Motorsport powerplant in favour of a Carrera-derived engine with Powerkit. This negates the need for any significant GT3 RS-inspired aerodynamic addenda. 

        This school of thought appears to resonate with the design hallmarks on the prototype here, though another point of interest is the ducktail assumes a form identical to the 2.7 Carrera RS and not the modernised burzel seen on the 997 Sport Classic. 

        In any event, 9WERKS expects a 992 Sport Classic to arrive from Porsche Exclusive in 2021. A special edition RS will likely be revealed by 2022, with anywhere between 50 and 1,973 units made available for worldwide markets, depending of course on specification and price. Make sure you follow us online, on YouTube and via social media for all the breaking Porsche news as it happens. 

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