A Porsche 924, built to challenge the world endurance record

Perhaps more than any other automaker, Porsche’s history is a mix of industrial design, motorsports, production cars and experimental cars. Over the years, Porsche has built everything from farm tractors through formula cars, though not every project was a success.

It’s these “misfit toys” that most Porsche fans don’t even know about, like the aero-enhanced 924 built to challenge the world endurance record (before the project was scrapped), or the “Porsche Junior” Type 984, which borrowed heavily from the Lotus Elan and was completed as a concept some five years before Mazda introduced the Miata. There are competition cars built just to win a single race, indicating the importance of motorsport to Porsche.

The Stuttgart automaker is also wise enough to understand its strengths and weaknesses. It built a bullet-proof Type 996 Porsche 911 as a concept to challenge Mercedes-Benz, before realizing that the market for a three-ton 911 was a small one indeed.

We’re not sure how many “behind-the-scenes-at-the-Porsche-collection” videos they’ll give us, but we’ll watch as many as they produce.