The Volkswagen Transporter has long been a commercial workhorse the world over. But that hasn’t stopped tuners from having a crack at this rather pedestrian looking box. Back in the 1980s, Porsche built a T3 Transporter based “B32,” essentially a Volkswagen Transporter with a 3.2 liter flat six engine from the 911 Carrera at the time. More than just a prototype, Porsche built 11 of these vans as support vehicles for the newly developed Group B 959 which was competing in the Paris Dakkar Rally.
Fast forward two generations later, and the formula for putting a Porsche mill in the back of a Transporter still seems attractive. A company called TH Automobile has undertaken a monumental task in turning the front-wheel drive T5 Transporter into a rear engined beast, replete with the 3.6 liter, twin turbocharged flat six from the Porsche 911 produced between 2004 and 2008. With 480 horsepower on tap, 60 mph arrives in under five seconds with a top speed of over 170 mph. Impressive numbers for what is not the most aerodynamic vehicle out there.
While we as Americans won’t have much of a chance importing a stealth van like this anytime soon, it’s nice to occasionally look across the pond and see what forbidden fruit is out there.
2011 TH Automobile Volkswagen T5 Transporter on Mobile.de
The TH2 is made ​​by hand. The TH Automobile Company is a well known car factory in Berlin. Here was manufactured, among other things, the fastest bus in the world (311 km/h). This car is built forge T5 Bus with Porsche Turbo technology for true individualists. The motor is always in the back of the T5! Driving pleasure is guaranteed. This has everything: luxury, space, athleticism, speed and on request relaxed driving. Add to that a very good quality. Since the list is very long, please call with any questions or simply browse on www.thautomobile.de.
At over €100,000, there are a ton of other fast cars that one could choose from, but probably none that could seat six and carry everyone’s luggage. I’m a huge fan of vehicles like this that hide their true aggressive nature. In this subtle shade of brown, one would never suspect you could blow the doors off almost anything that might roll up along side of you.
-Paul
begs for a “SH!# BOX” vanity plate
The ad doesn’t specify, but I’m assuming they started off with a FWD Transporter. Maybe not.
Regardless, taking a front engine, front wheel drive unibody transporter, and converting it to rear engine, rear wheel drive unibody transporter is no small task. I guess it falls under that “somebody had to do it” category, right?
Still, it would have been nice to have (or maintain) the AWD to manage all that power. Either way, the rear engine conversion has to really mess with the vehicle balance and dynamics. Probably a handful to drive.
Located in Germany, and at nearly $150K (with VAT), these are not questions I need to worry about.
More realistically, it would be nice if VW would import the T5 with AWD and, say, the 3.6 from the Passat. It probably wouldn’t be that cheap, but it would be infinitely better than the version of the Chrysler minivan they got stuck selling here.
I love VW Transporters. This one is cool.
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