In general, the European car universe has plenty of quirks not readily appreciated or understood by other legions of automotive enthusiasts. One of those key areas is the love for a shooting brake, otherwise known as a wagon. Americans like wagons for their connection to nostalgia, of riding in Grandma’s Caprice or Oldsmobile long-roof. Europeans like them because they can take a performance car and make it more usable on a daily basis. Sometimes, they even make great race cars, too. In the case of this sad Porsche 944 listed here on eBay, someone has attempted to perform their own wagon conversion, and has apparently lost the motivation to finish.
First, some backstory: a company called DP Motorsport was well known in the 1980s for building some absolutely wild and exotic body enhancements for Porsche owners and racing teams. DP burst onto the international stage when its bodywork was used on the famous Kremer Porsche race cars which were some of the most recognizable and celebrated in the sport. If you owned a 911 in the middle 80s and wanted it to wear the most exclusive and highest-quality bodywork, you found someone to import a DP Motorsport kit and paid through the nose to do so. DP would then use those funds to build wild creations like this – the 944 DP Cargo, completed with flared arches and perfectly integrated glass and roof rails.
For a while, DP would even sell you the kit to make this transformation happen at the hands of your local body shop. There were rumours the kit was still available into the early 2000s, but I suspect they’re all long gone now. Regardless, the seller or someone before him attempted to create their own 944 wagon, and the results are questionable. Do I admire the attempt? Absolutely, as this would be one of the coolest 944s on the block if someone were to succeed in completing this project. But I do question whether the side glass and rear hatch were the best starting points, as DP actually built the bodywork from scratch versus attempting to massage existing components from other vehicles into the 944’s lines.
Personally, I love the idea of owning a 944 DP Cargo. I currently have a 2001 BMW Z3 M Coupe in the garage, which is the closest thing we’ve seen here in the states to a “breadvan”, as they are sometimes called – a reference to the wagon-ized Ferrari 250 GTO race car – but this attempt at building a DP Cargo seems to have more than a few hurdles to clear. The seller makes some reference to potentially finishing the car and selling it for top dollar or letting it go via this auction, which shockingly, has a reserve. I’m not sure what the future holds for this homemade 944 DP Cargo, but it will likely be a long road to completion.
Interesting top. DP unit a beauty. This is expensive junk.
eBay ad more a DP ad. I’d keep on walking on this one.
“It’s the same car,only completely different”
Shooting brake? SHOOT this break from reality.
Yikes! I’d call this a 24 pk Coors Light conversion.
It seems to me that the decision to sell this…vehicle is more of a case of regained sanity than lost motivation.
YIKES
And I’m a shooting brake fan.
Execution and attention to detail distinguishes a good idea from a bad idea, even though it was the same idea. (feel free to quote me on that, lest my 40 years of engineering not be wasted).
The seller’s description on ebay is really worth a look. 😅
For those who haven’t heard me say this before: It looks like socks on a rooster.
Terrible choice of donor parts and truly poor workmanship. The seller thinks it’s worth $40K when finished. It’s a parts car now.
Looks like the 944 was read ended at high speed by a BMW Touring. Unpretty.
Fantastic find! I love that you actually wrote this up and gave everyone a good chuckle this morning. I am sure it is going to get a lot of clicks with a lot of people saying, “I could do better”.
Nice lines on the DP Motorsport one. I have thought that the 944 could almost work as a dog mobile. That one could. Seems like taking the back off of a SAAB 9 3 wagon would almost work, but then you ruin two interesting cars.
I say keep ’em coming!
for this one? just geta audi 2 dor waggy.
I like (looks) what DP has done tho. I’m only
interested in this model (928, 944) & 914 for any
porsche and, as mainly a station wagon driver, I look
(here) but dont touch.
It is interesting that I started on a rant and was saying really nasty things and then my phone “blipped” and I lost it all and had to start over. So let me be a bit kinder.
This is a good example of what not to do.
Thats not a case of “apparently lost the motivation to finish”, thats a case of automotive FAIL
Nice parts car or a good start on a Porshecamino. $1300? A good no brainer this time!
DP is beautiful. This, not so much.
SOLD for $1,300.
18 Bids.
Ouch, that hurt!