These Unseen Porsche Concepts Reveal The Awesome Cars That Could’ve Been
From a roadgoing version of the Le Mans-winning 919 hybrid race car to a VW bus-inspired minivan.
For the dizzying number of Porsche 718, 911, Taycan, Panamera, Cayenne and Macan variants in the German marque’s current core lineup, there are even more concepts that never met the public’s eye…until now.
A new book fittingly titled Porsche Unseen offers a look at 15 vehicle design studies captured in captivating images by writer, photographer, and lifelong Porsche enthusiast Stefan Bogner. Each began as a sketch that was then rendered in multiple sizes of 3D forms, including 1:3 and 1:1 models.
“The virtual world is the first step, but you especially have to experience the unusual models in reality in order to understand whether a car has small, large or surprising proportions,” Michael Mauer, Vice President Style Porsche, said in a statement.
Three concepts with entirely different purposes have been been unveiled to tease the new tome. The most visually striking is the Porsche 919 Street, a 1:1 clay model. This is a roadgoing version of the multi-time Le Mans-winning LMP1 race car powered by the 900-plus horsepower, twin-turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder and an engine recovery hybrid system.
The dimensions and wheelbase are exactly the same, while the ultra-aerodynamic shell is dressed in a silver paint coat instead of the white livery. A roof-mounted fin takes the place of the race car’s intake.
The Vision Spyder, a 1:1 hard model, is a throwback to the 1954 Porsche 550 RS Spyder with a sparse cockpit, radiator grilles over the mid engine, rear fins and a flat-lined silhouette. Porsche writes that the roadster was “intended to further develop the design identity of Porsche and provide a pool of ideas for future details,” including an aesthetically pleasing roll bar.
The Porsche Vision Renndienst (German for “Racing service) imagines an all-electric six-person minivan with Porsche-like proportions and surface modeling. To us, it looks like an unlikely cross between a new Panamera and an old-school Volkswagen bus. No interior images were provided, but it’s reportedly filled with modular seats, the driver’s being oddly placed in a central position.
More previously undisclosed Porsche concepts like a “coupé-like 4-seater in 911 design” and “a single-seater roadster with the spirit of the 50s” are featuring in Porsche Unseen, available here for about $80.
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