Porsche giving your classic 911 navigation Posted 2010/09/17 @ 11:00 AM By Myles Kornblatt
Classic car motoring is all about the experience. One of the few thoughts that can break this euphoric spell is wondering how far you’ve wandered from the nearest service station. Porsche is trying to change that with a new discreet navigation system.
While reviewing the upcoming products from Porsche Classic, the company’s in-house OEM parts catalogue, we stumbled on the Porsche Classic Radio Navigation System. It is a modern navigation unit disguised to look like original equipment.
This replaces the original Blaupunkt AM/FM radio. Porsche’s new radio still carries the classic two-knob design with minimal buttons and chrome accents, but the radio dial has been replaced with a subtle navigation screen. This will fit all 911s from 1963 possibly until as late as 1977. It should also be a good fit for the first generation 912 and perhaps the 914.
The radio with navigation system will be available from Porsche starting next month for € 595, but we don’t have a list of the initial markets yet. We also don’t have all the technical specs, but judging by the lack of buttons, we can be pretty sure this is a touch screen unit. Sure this looks small, but Dodge offered something similar on the last batch of Vipers.
This may be a great compromise for classic Porsche owners who want to get a little technology, but we are not all convinced. There are still some of us who believe the classic car experience still needs to include the wilted feel of a well-used pocket map. After all, isn’t getting lost part of the fun of a wandering road trip?
