Porsche hinted that it might produce a shooting brake version of the popular Panamera saloon back in 2012 when it debuted the Panamera Sport Turismo concept. Then in 2014 Porsche’s head of research and development, Wolfgang Hatz, said his team had engineered the next-generation Panamera to spawn multiple body styles, later mentioning the Sport Turismo as a favorite his derivative of the car.
It appears Hatz wasn’t just blowing smoke when he said the Panamera Sport Turismo was his favorite, because what is thought to be a prototype version of the future model was recently spied testing. As you may be able to tell from the photos, the shooting brake Panamera is a bit more swoopy and stylized than the saloon and should have additional interior space as well.
The Panamera shooting brake, which may retain the Sport Turismo nameplate of the concept it’s based on, will go up against other stylish estate cars like the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake. A range of gasoline and diesel engines are expected be offered, as are more hybrid variants.
The next-generation Porsche Panamera is expected to arrive sometime this year, while the shooting brake estate will come in 2017.
