Porsche 911 HLS

Extra information

 

The forgotten Porsche
 
After production of the new type 911 was started in September 1964 at Porsche and the series of the bestseller 356 was replaced, the idea of a further Porsche version should also be realized.

 

The special feature was that the sporty car should be equipped with an innovative function of a convertible roof. However, it took until 1966 as the test car was presented to the Design Center for Vehicle Technology at the University of Aachen, where the car body should be equipped with the innovative convertible roof and turned this project into reality. After that, the body shell was passed on to a painter, who painted it in a green color and affixed a lettering “Porsche HLS”. The Porsche prototype was now ready, but Porsche management no longer interested in car. So the car stayed in the painting shop until a few years ago when it was awoken from its “long sleep”.

 

As the chassis and the engine came from the type 911, the form of the car entry was interpreted as unique. Contrary to conventional cars, the HLS-Porsche had no single door as the entry was only possible by a big dome in the roof, which would be folded to the front, with front and side windows. The angle of aperture was big enough, so that an effortless entering and leaving was possible. For stability reasons, the side sills were a little bit higher as by normal cars, and the complete cockpit was mounted on the front metal part over the console.