Porsche Restores a First-Gen 2009 Porsche Cayenne GTS With a Manual Gearbox and It’s Stunning

Porsche’s Sonderwunsch division is at it again, and this time they’ve gone back to where the Cayenne story really started. They’ve taken a first-gen 2009 Porsche Cayenne GTS, stripped it down, and rebuilt it under their Factory Re-Commission program with the kind of obsessive care usually reserved for museum pieces.

This one was special even before Porsche touched it. It’s a GTS with the 4.8-liter V8 and a six-speed manual, a combo almost nobody ordered back in the day. 

The car belongs to American entrepreneur and collector Phillip Sarofim, who dropped off a well-used 2009 GTS with about 50,000 miles on it and basically told Porsche, “Have fun.” His only demand was a towbar so he could pull his Airstream. Fair enough.

The revamped 2009 Porsche Cayenne GTS wears a Paint to Sample color called Blackolive, a shade that somehow makes the Cayenne look both retro and tough. The lower body and wheels are now matte black, and Porsche fitted new all-terrain tires to complete the look. Inside, everything’s been redone in English green leather with Pasha-pattern fabric in black and olive.

Porsche showcased the car at a massive Middle East car festival, and even the brand admits that this project pushed Sonderwunsch into new territory. Alexander Fabig, who heads Porsche’s Individualization and Classic division, put it bluntly: they usually do this level of restoration for old 911s or unicorns like the Carrera GT, not 16-year-old SUVs. But the fact that a Cayenne now gets the same treatment speaks volumes about how iconic the first generation has become.

As for cost and timeline? Porsche politely dodges specifics, saying both depend on “the vehicle and the scope of work.” Translation: if you have to ask, it’s probably not cheap. Still, Porsche says the door is open for anyone who wants to build their own dream-spec Cayenne—or whatever else they’ve been imagining.