The automotive world stood still when Porsche took the covers off the first Cayenne at the Geneva Motor Show in 2002. Mouths agape, the world’s automotive media would later go into a frenzy calling it everything from ugly to outright blasphemous.
Porsche would lose many of its loyal fans who thought the company had lost its direction with the Cayenne. Most of them would later return when the Cayenne turned out to be Porsche’s savior.
The Cayenne would go on to be Porsche’s best-selling model for many years, until the Macan arrived but that’s a different story. A lot has been written about the Cayenne since then, but crucially the success of the Cayenne provided much needed cash flow for Porsche to continue building cars it was well known for, like the Turbo, the GT3 and the GT2. Not to mention all the RS variants that have since come along.
“I first saw the first-generation Cayenne testing around the streets of Stuttgart before the launch as I was there for a meeting,” said a former dealer recently in an exclusive but private interview.
“Just like everyone else, I didn’t think much of the design, but then I drove the car and was blown away. I have had the good fortune to own several Porsches and even race them, and the Cayenne is still very much a Porsche at heart. And I have owned every generation since the launch and still drive a Cayenne today,” said the person who we must keep anonymous due to a watertight non-disclosure agreement.
And therein lies the appeal of the Cayenne. Despite its size, its clumsy looks and weight, it is still very much a Porsche underneath. Call it a wolf in sheep’s clothing but the Cayenne probably single-handedly put the word Sport in Sport Utility Vehicle. And almost every automaker who builds a high-performance SUV must thank Porsche for the major risk it took when introducing the Cayenne.
