Iconic Porsche 911 Flatnose set for sensational return

The Porsche 911 has taken on some iconic shapes over its 61-year history with the likes of the Targa and Speedster, but soon we’ll see the return of another great - the Flatnose. 

Known as the ‘Flachbau’ in Germany, the 911 Flatnose (or ‘Slantnose’) has a rich history. During the 1976 World Sportscar Championship, Porsche engineers found a loophole that essentially allowed them to swap the 935’s headlights for vents to improve downforce and reduce drag. In the eighties, this design eventually found its way onto the 930 road car, which was available under Porsche’s "Sonderwunschprogramm" (special order program), and just 948 Flatnose 911 road cars were built.  

The shape was revived in 2019 on the track-only 935, which featured a ‘Flatnose’ design in accordance with its inspiration - the 935 racer of 1978, which was also known as Moby Dick because of its white paint and extended tail.

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What will the Porsche 911 Flatnose look like?

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Thanks to some spy shots taken at the Nurburgring, we can now see Porsche has plans to bring back the Flatnose. The body of this test car is a 991-generation GT2 (which will finally be succeeded by the 992 GT2 soon), but at the front end you’ll see some crude camouflage wrap over where the headlights would usually sit. The original Flatnose featured pop-up headlights and while this technology isn’t banned, we suspect the production car will have its  headlights integrated into the bodywork because the cost to make pop-up headlights meet safety regulations would be too high, even for Porsche.

Just like the seventies racer, bodywork changes at the front have had a domino effect towards the rear. Here you’ll find a huge new wing, which we expect is needed not only as a result of the altered aerodynamics at the front, but also for this car’s expected performance. 

Porsche trademarked the ‘Flachbau’ name earlier this year along with ‘Flachbau RS’ - and we suspect this car is being developed into the latter. Along with the huge wing, this test car also sports aero wheel covers on the rears and new air vent slits above the front wheels. 

The most likely powertrain to be used in the new Flatnose is the one in the upcoming GT2 RS, which is yet to be revealed. It could use a similar hybrid system to the one fitted in the latest GTS with a small e-motor on the dual-clutch transmission and another to spool up the turbocharger to eliminate lag. The previous GT2 RS produced 690bhp from its twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre flat-six, and given that the current 992 Turbo S already makes 641bhp, the GT2 RS range-topper (and consequently the Flatnose) should give us well over 700bhp. 

We don’t expect to see the Flatnose for a while yet because Porsche is revealing the new Turbo and GT2 RS first. It would seem appropriate to be the fourth and final entry in Porsche’s ‘Heritage Design’ series, however. This has spawned special, limited-edition 911s inspired by the fifties and sixties along with the 911 Spirit 70 earlier this year - the Flatnose could be the perfect embodiment of the eighties. 

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