Heuliez Murène

The Heuliez Murène was a one-off prototype built in 1970 by the French coachbuilder Heuliez on the chassis of one of the first Porsche 914/6 cars. Designer Jacques Cooper drew the restyle while working for Brissonneau and Lotz, which could not afford to build it, so the project passed to Heuliez, who turned the sketch into a driving prototype in about ten weeks. Nearly all the original panels were replaced, giving a wedge shape with upswept lines toward the rear, widened B-pillars carrying cooling gills, taillamps unique to the car and a hatchback in place of the Porsche's coupe roofline. It was shown at the 1970 Paris Motor Show as one of three wedge-shaped 914 design exercises that year, alongside ItalDesign's Tapiro and a third from Eurostyle Torino. Porsche dropped the restyling idea and the Murène never reached production. Heuliez bought it from Brissonneau in 1971 and owned it into 2012.