Porsche Has Given An Original Cayenne A ’70s-Inspired Makeover

Ah, how time flies. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Porsche was rolling out the original Cayenne, leaving early noughties Porsche forums frothing at the mouth with rage that the maker of their beloved 911s and branded polo shirts would dilute that heritage with an SUV in the name of trivial things like ‘making money’ and ‘adapting to market demands’.

The reality, of course, is that the Cayenne has been around for some 23 years, and has just gained an all-new, all-electric version to sit alongside the existing third-gen combustion-powered car. Some might even call that controversial original a modern classic these days, and this only makes their argument stronger.

It’s a first-gen Cayenne that’s been treated to a full factory recommission by Porsche’s Sonderwunsch programme, a division that handles everything from nut-and-bolt restorations to bespoke one-offs for clients.

This Cayenne lies somewhere in the middle. It started life as a 2009 GTS model, perhaps the most driver-focused of all the versions, with a 4.8-litre naturally aspirated V8 pushing 405bhp. Not only that, but this particular GTS is a rare example fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox from the factory. It had around 50,000 miles on the clock.

As well as being brought back to as-new condition by Sonderwunsch, the car’s been repainted in Blackolive, one of Porsche’s many, many Paint-to-Sample shades. The upholstery mirrors it with English Green leather offset by textile inserts with Porsche’s always-cool Pascha pattern in green and black. The client was inspired by groovy vibes of the recent 911 Spirit 70 limited edition.

Said client is one Phillip Sarofim, the US entrepreneur behind the relaunch of the Meyers Manx dune buggy. Sarofim commissioned the car with a view to taking it on an adventure through the deserts of Dubai while towing an Airstream caravan, so to that end, Sonderwunsch has also retrofitted a towbar and shod the wheels in knobbly all-terrain rubber. And yes, we’re very jealous of someone in the position to commission an entire car just for the purpose of one trip.

That said, with plentiful cheap first-gen Cayennes in the classifieds and a booming aftermarket designed to augment their already surprising off-road abilities, we’re already dreaming of ways to do something like this for a bit less money. It’s certainly a cheaper way of having fun in a Cayenne than dropping £131k on the new 1140bhp electric one.