The story of the 965 is a little convoluted—it wasn't related to the 959, despite the swoopy engine cover. It was an engineering mule, used to try and solve a vexing problem: how to replace the 930's turbocharged, air-cooled engine to power a new sub-959, range-topping 911 model. Costs ballooned, the project floundered, and ultimately in its last throes, its engineers got desperate. Their fancy flat-six with water-cooled heads was too complex, and too expensive, to work. What about a V8?

The result can be seen here in this official Porsche video, shot at the secret warehouse near Zuffenhausen, which is stuffed to the gills with an assortment of wonderful oddities, rare prototypes, and valuable historical cars. And this mule is there, too. It had a water-cooled Audi V8 out back, a last-ditch effort to find a cost-effective, power-dense solution that would meet project goals. With a management shuffle, the 965 died, all the prototypes crushed (except this one), and the 964 Turbo was born.

Take a look at one of the rarest Porsches ever, and the most unusual.

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WATCH: Jeff Zwart toss his Porsche 356 through the snow.

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