Photos by Jerry Wyszatycki/Avatar
Collection Gift Guide: Porschedelic
December 2, 2003
Champion Motorsport Porsche Cayenne Wide Body kit
It was inevitable that
someone would offer a body kit for the new Porsche Cayenne. It is a Porsche
first and foremost, and as such is the latest member of a long line of cars that
have always been considered ideal candidates for the personalization process.
Just as important, the requirements imposed by both the layout of, and customer
preferences for, luxury sport-utility vehicles have left the Cayenne with an
exterior shape that is unusually discreet by Porsche standards. But even in the
more conservative SUV world, there are those who want something more, a vehicle
that stands out from its brethren. So an opportunity exists for aftermarket
suppliers to offer visual enhancements.
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The one area in which a Cayenne is underwhelming is that it's fairly anonymous on the road. The Wide Body conversion changes that. (Click image to enlarge)And what has been the single most popular post-production design change made to Porsches? Without question, it’s the “wide body” look, first devised to cover wider tires fitted to racing cars, and subsequently adopted by owners of street Porsches who liked the more aggressive look of a broad-shouldered car. Champion Motorsport thinks Cayenne owners may want to take the same path.
If the Champion name seems familiar, it should: The parent company, Champion Motors, is the world’s largest Porsche retailer, and you have probably seen the ADT/Champion Racing name emblazoned on the company’s Audi R8 racers at Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, and other racing venues. Car sales and competition are only two facets of the operation; go-faster and look-better parts for road-going cars are another, and that’s what Champion Motorsport deals with, offering a line of parts and accessories for Porsches, Audis, and other high-performance nameplates.
In producing the Cayenne kit, Champion avoided several common pitfalls of the add-on trade. First, the firm cleverly approached the look itself: A designer from one of the major auto manufacturers’ styling studios was recruited to produce lower side sills and flared wheel arches that are at once distinctive and appropriate to the vehicle. And because the new parts use existing mounting points, they fit perfectly and are easy to install.
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