It wasn’t sold in the US, but Porsche built a V8, rear-wheel drive Panamera with a manual gearbox. That’s the perfect car.

As long as the Panamera has existed, there have been constant rumors of Porsche building a coupe version as a successor to the classic 928. Obviously, that didn’t quite happen, but there’s a version of the Panamera that was as close to a modern 928 as you can get.

Barely anyone bought it.

It’s little known, but Porsche did offer the rear-wheel drive, V8-powered Panamera S with a six-speed manual in markets outside of America. It’s the same formula as the 928, just with more power and more room.

Porsche knew they wouldn’t sell many ….

Porsche knew they wouldn’t build or sell many, but they made it anyway. The car was a lead weight. Barely any were sold at all. And it only didn’t sell because people just didn’t want the car, not because it was bad. Or maybe it was because people thought the original Panamera look heinous and they didn’t want to be seen in it, either or.

Reviews are fairly glowing across the board (though really anybody that links a V8 to a manual unexpectedly gets praised, don’t they?), calling the gearbox slick and saying that it brings a new level of engagement to the Panamera. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to “engage” with the Panamera, they just wanted to drive it, and the new 928 died a quick death.

The new Panamera won’t be available with a manual, because Porsche knows they’d sell even fewer this time with a manual. Instead, this has a brand new eight-speed PDK transmission, which is probably all sorts of excellent. But now we can’t help but lust after an old Panamera with a manual.