During the late 80's a peculiar car could be seen driving around Weissach, the home test track of Porsche. Spy shots emerged showing a relatively small, matte black car that vaguely resembled the Porsche 944. Rumors quickly arose that Porsche was developing a successor to 944 and 924 twins but the few photographers that had seen a glimpse of the mysterious car all had conflicting statements about it.

Some claimed it was rear wheel drive while others said is was all wheel drive. Even figuring out what powered it only added to the confusion. Numerous engines were brought up such as a naturally aspirated V6 based on an indycar engine. Or a 2.2L V4, basically a V8 from the 928 chopped in half. Nobody could figure out what the car was supposed to be.

Finally, in 1987, Porsche revealed the car. The rumors that started to look more and more like fragrant lies to spice up the story, were in fact all true.

It's official designation was the Type 2696 but it is better known as the PEP or Porsche Experimental Prototype. Like many other manufacturers Porsche had dozens of ideas and concepts for new cars, engine layouts, drivetrains, etc... the problem was putting those concepts into reality. So instead of making countless prototypes and test rigs they decided to make one car that could be easily modified to fit a certain set of requirements.

The heart of the car is the monocoque cockpit made from aluminium. It borrows the roof, B pillars, windshield and doors from the 944. The doors had the same dimensions as those on the 944 but were fiberglass recreations. Behind the rear seats was a small fuel cell that could hold up to 12 Liters of fuel.

Steel front and rear structures with varying suspension setups could be bolted on thanks to some large threaded holes at the front and back of the cockpit or "center module". Brake and clutch lines were fitted with a quick release system usually found in airplanes. There wasn't even a throttle cable as that would complicate things when switching engines. Instead, an electrical system took it's place. Pretty high tech stuff considering this all took place in the 80's.

notice the clear distinction between front, middle and rear. notice the clear distinction between front, middle and rear.

I usually describe the drivetrain of the car at this point in the article but there's a bit of a problem. The PEP doesn't have a single drivetrain layout, it has all of them. The plug and play nature of the car meant that it could turn into almost anything you wanted it to be. Almost every single part could be easily customized or replaced within a couple of minutes. Even the drive shaft was telescopic allowing for various wheelbases.

The differential also allowed for total control of how much power was sent to each axle and the overall balance of the car could be changed by putting ballast on specific points of the chassis changing the weight distribution. The possibilities were nearly endless.

Just imagine the wheelbase of the 924, the weight distribution of the 944, the rear wheel steering of the 928, the four wheel drive of the 959 and the engine of the 911 all put into one car, the PEP was perfectly capable of such an impressive feat.

Sadly, the saying "Jack of all trades, master of none" perfectly describes the PEP. While it was easy to recreate the feel and handling of a certain car using the PEP's vast selection of modules. It still wasn't like the real deal. It was too crude, too spartan.

The unfinished looking interior combined with the exterior looks and loud noises inside the cabin were enough to cause any driver to doubt what exactly they were supposed to be driving. The PEP also came too little too late as more advanced computer programs and software were starting to get more and more capable. Manually collecting all the data on track was deemed unnecessary as new computers were able to simulate and deliver the same data much quicker and easier.

The goal of giving it as many traits as possible ended up with it having an identity crisis. Whether or not the PEP still exists today is uncertain. Porsche hasn't talked about it or mentioned it since and a picture of it sitting in some deserted parking lot are enough reasons to assume the worst. And so the story of the test mule to end all test mules comes to a close.

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