Rinspeed Spices Up Cayenne

By Feann Torr

Swiss tuning and styling house Rinspeed is quite well known for its eclectic designs and bizarro concepts, and while it's latest creation, the Chopster, is a very bold proposition, it comes as no great surprise.

Sure, it looks somewhat peculiar and doesn't make a whole load of sense, but it's really just another day at the office for the Rinspeed lads.

In the past the European automaker has turned out such products as the ambitious Splash. "A really cool and fun sports toy," according to the press release, it can travel across land and water, using extendable hydrofoils to cruise 60cm above the water.

So what of the new Chopster? Is it a big and burly bush-bashing AWD that can go where few others can? Where's the crazy twist in the theme?

Well, this time it's all about the roof.

The idea was inspired by the mostly American trend to lower the roof line; to 'chop'. So Rinspeed thought it would be a great idea to take to the Porsche Cayenne with a massive pair of tin snips, and what was already the worst-looking Porsche ever built is now even more disturbing.

Though the main focus was in the redesign of the roof section, Rinspeed also turned the Cayenne into a coupe, severely limiting its practicality as a lifestyle vehicle. The entire roof line (which includes the A-, B-, C and D-pillars) is lowered by approximately 6-inches, or 150mm.

The 'chop' requires all of the glass panels to be redone, which doesn't come cheaply, and the rigidity of the roof section also has to be recalculated.

In addition to the lower roof, new glass and coupe configuration, an outlandish bodykit has been added, which lends the front end a more aggressive look.

In addition, the wheel arches have been flared to accommodate not 19, not 20, but gargantuan 23-inch alloy wheels, giving the Chopster a look that says "Money can't buy style", though Rinspeed describes it more diplomatically as a "stocky and powerful" look.

Step inside the Chopster, and things aren't quite as confronting, with four independent leather-clad bucket seats providing the required lateral support, while an integrated (and cleverly hidden) anti-roll bar protects the passengers.

Powered by a tuned and tweaked version of Porsche's twin turbo quad-cam 4.5-litre V8 engine, the deep bucket seats and roll bar are by no means cosmetic, as the Chopster will accelerate to 100km/h from standstill in under 5.0 seconds, which is hellishly quick for a vehicle that measures almost 4.8 metres long and weighs more than 2000 kay-gees.

Rinspeed's engineering prowess has unlocked some 445kW of power, or 600 ponies if you like, while almost 800Nm of torque ensures the outrageous AWD coupe is always punishing occupants with high G-forces. It also has a top speed of 290km/h.

Rinspeed says that "Exclusivity is also guaranteed by the Chopster's price." If your pockets are deep enough, expect to spend between €325,000 and €375,000. That's about 550,000 to 640,000 Australian dollars.