Planet 9

My company's photographers went to Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen to do a story on the new 911. I was going through the pictures and noticed that there were Caymans on the exact same assembly line as the 991s. The picture captions of course were wrong on those particular pix and being a stickler for accuracy and also a 987.2 owner, I corrected them haha (I don't blame my photogs as I suppose it takes a P-car enthusiast to tell the difference between a 987 and 991 from so little clues )

Just thought this could be something new and interesting to note. Of course we already know that the contract for manufacturing the Cayman and Boxster in Finland is almost up and Porsche is shifting operations back to Stuttgart. But this picture more or less confirms it.
These pix also might mean that the new Cayman is further away than expected as they are still manufacturing Caymans this year.

P.S. Do not share these pix outside of forum. Even though they are watermarked, I still might get my butt kicked for posting these up

Attached Thumbnails

     

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2010 Frost Cayman 2.9PDK
(Fabspeed maxfloII + Fabspeed sports headers + BMC F1 intake + EVOMSit ECU)

Pretty cool. We don't get to see the assembly line that often. Thanks for sharing.

The consensus around here seems to be that most of the 987 production shifted to Stuttgart from Uusikaupunki during 2011, and that Finland production is all but phased out now. This started with the Boxster, and then Cayman volumes shifted gradually from 2011.

This poll tried to assess the ratio (it is dated now, and somewhat inconclusive, but shows that Finland production continued at least until MY2012):

Where was your Cayman built?

There is less consensus on when 987 Cayman production will stop in Stuttgart. It would seem that most dealers are not getting any more slots, meaning that the remaining production is fully booked. A few more months of 987 Cayman assembly, perhaps.

Further research suggests that the 981 will be built in both Stuttgart and Osnabrück. This could mean that they start in Osnabrück. There should be 981s on the line already, so if you see none in your colleagues' photos, this would seem to support Osnabrück as the launch site.

Where will the 991 story be published?

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Gustaf, PCS 12498
2011 987110 B4:AM 342 409 475 482 509 635 810 CNJ MT

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

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bxstr

Cars-

2009 BMW 335i Xdrive Coupe Space Grey Metallic
2003 Porsche Boxster-Lapis Blue Metallic (SOLD)

Great pictures, thanks for sharing!

I had also read that 987 production had transferred to the main facility during its last 1.5 years of production. For example my 2011 Spyder was built in January 2011 and was built in Germany.

My understanding is that 981's will be built in another facility in Germany (VW Assembly line) and 991's will remain in the main Porsche facility.

I'm not sure how much the different facilities impact quality, it doesn't seem to make a difference from what I can see.

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Afshin

2011 Spyder - Basalt Black, Black Full Leather, 6MT, Sport Buckets, PSE

Very cool pics....love the Cayman peeking out from behind the 911

My R was built in Stuttgart also and it's kind of nice to imagine it going along the assembly line. I wish I'd had the opportunity to visit the factory before we moved back...

Thanks for sharing these.

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The Exocet - Cayman R - Black/Silver Contrast, Sport Bucket Seats, Full Leather/Alcantara, PCM, XM, SP+, Park Assist, Xenons, PDK, Sport Chrono+, Auto A/C, Auto Dimming Mirrors, Rain Sensor, Alcantara Sport Design Wheel, Silver hood emblem, "Copeland" Mesh, Carnewal GT Exhaust mod.

It's a picture story for a client I think. I couldn't find any story links for the public domain.

I tried to get my editor to highlight some of these pictures for the public domain as I found them interesting (obviously) but he thought nobody would be interested in them
So rather than let the pictures see no light in the archives, I thought I'd risk a bit and put them in a place I know for sure they will be appreciated!

Glad you guys appreciate these pix

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2010 Frost Cayman 2.9PDK
(Fabspeed maxfloII + Fabspeed sports headers + BMC F1 intake + EVOMSit ECU)

Very interesting. Thanks for posting!

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Pete
2008 Meteor Grey Cayman S
2007 Blue Slate Infiniti G35s 6-speed

Hi,

I have done the factory tour and yes, Caymans, Boxsters, 911 (both 997 and 991's) and the even the cup cars come from the same line.

The other interesting insight is that the engines are not hot tested, only cold bench tested. And that whole break in period thing, whilst true to an extent, is no where as stringent or as important as the manual says...it's more important the car has been warmed up then broken it...and its not just the engine that needs this - its the whole chassis...

Sagen

My CR is scheduled to complete 2/13/2012! It had an estimated completion of end January when first ordered on 11/2 but that changed by a few weeks due to the line at Stuttgart being dedicated to 991 only to get the higher than anticipated orders produced. It was stopped in the body shop phase (had not come across the bridge) earlier in the month. I am told I am getting literally one of the last CRs to be built.

My Spyder was built in Stuttgart also.

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Thanks,
Chad
1969 911E (911 ST Race Car)
1972 911T (Under restoration to stock/Craigslist Buy)
2011 Spyder White/Black/Buckets

Correct. The Karmann facility in Osnabrück will be building both the 'new platform' Boxster & Caymans according to published reports. That should start this Spring! z356

have any of u guys checked this out yet?

http://www.hulu.com/watch/313744/ult...sches-panamera

It a TV show called Ultimate Factories and it shows the Porsche Panamera getting built.

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08 Cayman S - Borla Catback Exhaust, Transparent Engine Cover, Radar/Laser Locator, Softronic ECU Tuning,
K1 Studios R Stripe Decal

The factory tour (and museum) in Stuttgart is a bucket list item for sure. There is only one process that is totally peformed by robots - the installation of the front windshield glass. It is also very unusual in that the bodies are built and painted in one factory. They exit on the third floor via an enclosed bridge over the road where they enter the final assembly factory and work their way down as they are completed and they exit at street level.

I watched the episode of Ultimate Factories where they were building 997.1s, and you could see 987.1 Boxsters on the same line. In fact, there's a scene where they're showing an engine on trolley waiting to go into a car, and I recognized it as a 987 engine even though the narrator said it was for a 911 (the intake manifold gave it away).

You can tell where your car was built by looking at your VIN and finding the last letter before your chassis number in the VIN. If it is a U its the Uusikaupunki plant and if its an S its Stuttgart.

The reason for Porsche building in Uusikaupunki was with the Boxster. In Uusikaupunki they have a convertible top factory hence Porsche's reason for building a plant there. Thats why I was curious why they built the Cayman there as it doesn't need the boxster top. Good to hear they're all built in Stuttgart now, maybe they'll put a 3.8 in the Cayman now so it can finally kick all 911's and people will realize the Cayman is really a better car

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06 Cayman S Atlas Grey, Bilstein PSS9, B&M SSK, Evoms Intake, GT3 steering wheel, Turbo Wheels, Borla exhaust

A point of clarification here .....

Porsche did not build a factory or manufacturing facility in Finland. They outsourced production to another company, Valmet Automotive.

Valmet builds / built a number of different cars, including the SAAB 9-3 convertible, the Boxster, Cayman, as well as the new Fisker.

Valmet Automotive Inc.

Mine, too.

+1

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2007 Speed Yellow Cayman GT 2.7 (retired)
2008 Guards Red Cayman GT 3.4 (retired)
2012 Carrara White Cayman R
"Carpe Cayman"

+ 2 , another Stuttgarter!

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MY GARAGE:
CAYMAN R 2012
AUDI A4 2008

PREVIOUS RIDES:
2008 COBALT BLUE CAYMAN S
2001 AUDI S4 Santorin blue
1991 Mk II GTI 16 V Montana green

Nice pics and seeing them I can't deny, that I really would love to have the chance to look unter my car's bonnet and see how everything is built underneath the body shell.

I't somehow sad that everything is hidden away in modern cars. Yes, it's great not be bothered with stuff that just has to work, but nevertheless a little bit more visibility of technical stuff would be great.

Looking forward to visiting the plant.

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