Porsche insiders recently commented that the plan for the 4-door convertible has been cancelled but the paper trail for patent applications in the United States point in the other direction.

The design reveals that the new car using a 4-door configuration will need some stiffening on the Panamera’s bulkhead and floorpan so that sufficient integrity and rigidity of the structure can be achieved.

It will be quite a bold move to bring a four-door convertible to the showrooms. It will be a more daring step than rolling out the usual two-door top down, but it will be giving Porsche an advantage in having unique points to sell to consumers.

Retaining the 4-door architecture gives the convertible the same space of the interiors as in the saloon. The boot will somehow be compromised by the roof. Looking at the design of the four-door Panamera, it seems that the car will be sporting a fabric roof.

Other car manufacturers have also considered producing 4-door convertibles but the additional weights to provide the required structure stiffening remain to be the stumbling blocks.

We still don’t know if this Panamera convertible will ever go into production. Check out the drawings and the renderings that we have here.

The car can is a welcome development for most consumers with only the sports car elitists raising their arms in objection. Sports car lovers would love the balanced and easy to drive rear or mid engine sports car. The affordable price tag will satisfy those who want to get their hands behind a Porsche steering wheel without draining their savings account.

The sub-Boxster model might be the rebirth of the 356 which rocketed Porsche to the sports car scene. The collaborative platform will share elements with the Audi R4 and the Volkswagen Bluesport. The three cars will share elements to produce the new Porsche roadster.

The R4 from Audi is expected to hit the market by 2011 so the new Porsche car might come a year after if everything on the development side goes smoothly. The powerplant is expected to have a displacement of 1.9L with a supercharger or mild turbocharging to have an output of around 250 horsepower.

The reborn 356 is expected to get a new treatment for its interiors and exteriors to distinguish it from the other siblings in the Porsche garage.

According to experts, the lightweight car may rival the performance of the Lotus Exige with a less stiff price tag in the United States. The Porsche Boxster and its S variant is priced near the line of the Lotus Exige and Elise but their heavier poundage and more horsepower placed them on a different class.

This information came from a reliable source but a lot of things can still happen before 2012 since Porsche is on soft grounds in terms of finances.