- Porsche and Tag Heuer created a pair of bespoke 718 Cayman GT4 RS models to honor the Carrera Panamericana rally race in Mexico.
- The pairing is part of Porsche’s Sonderwunsch program—which means special request in German—which allows customers to create things like the recent Pixar-inspired Porsche Sally special based on the 911 Carrera GTS.
- The cars are intended to invoke design elements from the Porsche 550 Coupe, which two customer teams raced in the 1953 running of the Carrera Panamericana rally.
When you have a stable full of historical racing cars as big as Porsche’s, you’re sure to have customers who want a modern take on classical favorites. The manufacturer’s newest examples are a pair of custom-made 718 Cayman GT4 RS models produced in conjunction with Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer. The pair is part of Porsche’s Sonderwunsch “special request” customization program and were built to commemorate the 70 years since two customer teams took part in the Carrera Panamericana rally in Mexico.
The cars are painted in Le Mans Silver Metallic, a special color in the Porsche history books, which was created for the 911 Carrera GTS Le Mans Centenaire Edition, and references the paint on the 1951 Le Mans winning 356 SL Coupe. The cars are distinguished from one another with the racing numbers 152 and 154 painted onto the doors and roofs of the respective models.
Inside the special editions, the seats and door pulls are finished in Guards Red, while stitching on the steering wheel and dashboard is done in the signature red, white, and green colors of the Mexican flag. The door guards and the cup-holder panel are milled with a special “GT4 RS Panamericana Special” insignia, and the floormats proudly announce that each car is a product of the Sonderwunsch program. In addition to the hood and rear wing side plates, the Tag Heuer logo is embossed on the center armrest to mark the partnership.
Perhaps the coolest addition to the Panamericana Special is the Tag Heuer stopwatch module in the center console of the 154 car. The clocks were designed and made by Tag Heuer exclusively for this project and are not available otherwise. According to Porsche, the left clock that displays the time has the typical Heuer Carrera Design, while the piece on the right is a stopwatch with a scale that helps the driver maintain the average speed during rallies.
Car 154 will be driven in the first and second stages of this year’s Carrera Panamericana by actor Patrick Dempsey, while car 152 is slated to be auctioned for charity in early 2024.
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Associate News Editor
Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1.
After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.