Inside Porsche heir's controversial plans to build tunnel and 12-car garage beneath road to his mansion

Porsche is one of the most iconic car brands anywhere on Planet Earth.

The Stuttgart marque prides itself on building some of the best cars to ever hit the roads.

In recent months, the heir to the Porsche throne has been making quite a bit of a stir.

And the controversy comes from a plan to build a Batcave-like tunnel.

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Hang on – what exactly is going on here?

Allow us to give you a bit of context – because it is extremely important for this story.

Wolfgang Porsche is the grandson of firm founder Ferdinand Porsche.

Back in 2020, the Porsche prince purchased a 17th century mansion in Salzburg Austria.

According to various reports, the grandson of the founding father paid around $9 million.

There is a good reason for the hefty cost, too.

Wolfgang’s humble home sits on the Kapuzinerberg – a wooden hill overlooking downtown Salzburg.

The area also surrounds various landmarks made famous by Wolfgang Mozart.

At the moment, there is just one one small problem for Wolfgang in accessing his house.

He currently has to use a narrow, winding road to access his house on the hill.

Why has Wolfgang Porsche caused such an uproar?

Now, if you ask us, the brand’s cars are perfect for using such a road to access the house.

However, Wolfgang doesn’t see it that way – he wants to build a 12-car garage underneath his home.

The Porsche heir also wants to build a tunnel through the mountain so that he can access it from downtown.

Initially, things were fine – Salzburg’s previous mayor had no problem giving the project the green light.

However, 2024 saw an election – and a new mayor, Bernhard Auinger ( this will become important later).

The opposition is not happy with Porsche, with many complaining that he only got permission because of his wealth.

Others are unhappy because the wheels of bureaucracy normally take much longer to spin for other issues.

Wolfgang has offered concessions, worth up to $11 million, to make the project more palatable.

When are we going to get a decision on the tunnel?

Because the project would make a change to the city’s zoning plan, the council needs to vote on it.

That vote is expected to take place sometime next month, in May.

Remember when we mentioned that the new mayor would become important to the story?

That’s because Auinger, the new mayor, used to sit on the board of Porsche’s holding company.

Specifically, Auinger sat on the board as a labor representative.

Reports suggest that the new mayor has not decided which way to vote.

In fact, he might even abstain from the vote to avoid a conflict of interest.

One thing is for sure – Wolfgang Porsche will be hoping that his tunnel gets approved.

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