The Daewoo Matiz is remembered as an inexpensive city car whose design was created in the 1990s by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign. He drew on development work from the canceled project to revive the Fiat Cinquecento.
Independent designer Timur Dautov looked at the familiar silhouette from a different angle and saw in it the Porsche 911 of the 996 generation. In a series of renders, he added the characteristic features of the German sports car to the Matiz to prove that this combination could actually work.
The project began with an image of the Matiz Carrera 4S, which was shown at the EREVO Sinsa gallery in Seoul, South Korea. The work was presented alongside other projects built around the distinctive “fried-egg” headlights of the Porsche 996. The idea proved successful enough for Dautov to continue and create more realistic renders. It was after these that the desire arose to see such a car in the metal.
The main feature of the transformation is the headlights from the pre-facelift Porsche 996, neatly integrated into the short hood of the tiny Daewoo. They look as if they were originally part of the design rather than simply bolted-on parts from another car. Below them sits a front bumper in the style of the 996 Turbo, with enlarged air intakes and an integrated splitter.
Along the sides are widened fender flares, 996-style graphics, and new alloy wheels with Porsche’s signature five-spoke design. The taillights are connected by a wide red reflective strip that runs the full width of the body, reminiscent of the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S solution.
It is complemented by a small roof spoiler, black decorative elements that resemble a lower-back tattoo, body-color bumper extensions, and two exhaust tips peeking out from the stock diffuser.
Dautov studied design in Moscow, then worked at Mitsubishi in Japan before moving to South Korea, where he joined an unnamed local automaker. In his social media post, the designer wrote:
The first-generation Daewoo Matiz was introduced in 1998 — just one year after the debut of the fifth-generation Porsche 911. The city car was equipped with a 0.8-liter three-cylinder engine producing 52 hp, while the base Porsche 996 Carrera featured a naturally aspirated 3.4-liter flat-six producing 300 hp. The power difference between them was substantial.
For now, the Matiz Carrera exists only in the digital realm. It will only become real if someone with a spare 996 parts car and a serious tolerance for ridicule decides to bring the project to life in metal.
Interestingly, several years ago an unusual Matiz from PowerCrazy Automotive appeared, fitted with a 3.2-liter V6 and Porsche alloy wheels. In theory, that very car could have been the perfect donor for the proposed conversion.
