It was at the time the fastest van in the world, a Volkswagen T3 in which an engine taken from the Porsche 911 Carrera was implanted, which ran the wheeled box to a maximum speed of 217 km/h
The early 1980s were the glory years of rally cars fromGroup B. They were strong, fast, sophisticated – and dangerous. Following a fatal accident in the Corsica Rally in 1986, in which the driver Henri Tuivanen and Veto Sergio Cresto were killed, their use in the races was bannedWRC.
But these cars also gained fame in other races, especially the Dakar Rally. The person who was strong in the field was the Porsche company, which began to develop version 4X4 of the 911, first called 953 and at the end of the development process the legendary 959 was received which won the Dakar of 86.
The company conducted the test trips for the new vehicle in Algiers, and there the development team encountered a problem: there was not a fast enough car with a reasonable cargo volume that could support the experimental model. so what are we doing? Make one like this.
The van that was recently offered for sale. Original Porsche
For this purpose, a Volkswagen was purchased T3, one of the most popular vans ever built. At the Porsche factories, a six-piston boxer engine taken from the 911 was implanted in it With a volume of 3.0 liters, the gearbox was changed to that of the Porsche 915, a limited slip differential and disc brakes were installed and the suspension was improved and strengthened. The upgraded van delivered the goods and Porsche decided to also produce a version intended for the general public.
The conversion was made to the “Karat” version of theT3, the van’s highest level of finish. The engine installed in it was taken from the 911 Carrera, with a slightly larger volume, 3.2 liters, which provided about 230 hp (the most powerful engine that Volkswagen offered at the time in its vans produced 112 horses…). Almost no changes were made on the outside, except for an addition of a front spoiler and rims with Porsche emblems. Even the front grill remains, with the Volkswagen emblem… The interior was also slightly modified and a steering wheel and dashboard donated from the Carrera were installed.
The boxer engine taken from the Carrera
According to the company’s data, the van, which received the name B32sprinted from 0 to 100 in eight seconds, and was capable of a top speed of 217 km/h. With nine passengers and air conditioning running, it was still capable of 187 km/h.
With a price that at the time was the same as that of a new 911, there were not many jumping on the “bargain”. Porsche offered the van to select customers, and in the end only 7 of these were built and sold. In addition, apparently another 8 different prototype models were built, which remained in the company’s ownership.
There are an unknown number of such vans that have been planted with Porsche engines by private owners, but a few weeks ago one of the original vehicles was offered for sale built by Porsche, and it was sold at a price that reached about 365 thousand dollars.