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Following the original sneak peek story below, we haven't had to wait all that long for Porsche to divulge further information about these coveted concepts.
Porsche has revealed 15 unseen concepts in a new book called Porsche Unseen. The coffee table book features a number of design studies which had not seen the light of day until now, detailing the stories behind the concepts and illustrated with stunning photography.
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Porsche explains that not all the designs were specifically intended for production, but were more about exploring Porsche's design language and direction for the future.
“When it comes to the visions we develop, it is not about bringing every car onto the road. Instead, it is more a question of establishing creative space and a relationship with the future,” says Porsche vice president of style Michael Mauer.
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Based on this idea, many of the 15 prototypes in the book were a long shot. However, there's undoubted resemblance between what these concepts represent, and design details you'd find in the current Porsche range.
Porsche has provided a taste test in the form of three design concepts, with the further 12 designs reserved for the new book.
Porsche 919 Street
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Presenting as a modern-day equivalent of the Porsche 911 GT1 ‘Strassenversion’, the 919 Street takes all of Porsche's learned experience at Le Mans with the 919 Hybrid and adapts it to a street-application.
Under the outer shell are the carbon monocoque and powerful 661kW hybrid racing drivetrain that helped the Porsche 919 to three consecutive victories at Le Mans. Also carried over from the race car are the dimensions and wheelbase.
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Porsche Vision Spyder
As suggested below, the Porsche Vision Spyder is a reincarnated 1953 Porsche 550 Spyder. Featuring a mid-mounted engine and flying buttresses over the rear deck lid tied to a space-age roll bar, the Vision Spyder is the rarified hardcore sibling to the production Boxster Spyder. It even got to a 1:1 scale hard model before it was canned, too.
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Porsche Vision ‘Renndienst’
Certainly left-field for Porsche, but it seems as though that this space-age six-person people mover was once in consideration for the sports car maker. Like the Vision Spyder above, it too made it to 1:1 scale model before the project was shelved.
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It features a modular seating layout for passengers, a central driving position for the driver and an all-electric drivetrain.
Original story 10/11/20:
Porsche has revealed an incredible series of photos showing off some of the cars that were designed at its Weissach design studio - but which never got the green light.
The social media initiative is marked by the #PorscheUnseen hashtag, and details some of the designs that its team has produced in recent history.
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The first hidden treasure Porsche says “harks back to the racing cars of the ‘50s” – no prizes for those who immediately thought of the Porsche 550 Spyder.
It features an open-top cabin, solid roll hoops over the seats and exaggerated wheel arches reminiscent of the original.
This would suggest that Porsche was – at one point – considering producing a modern-day rendition of the 550 Spyder.
Who knows what the special car would be based upon – we’d guess a 718 Boxster – but there’s no doubt it’d be a mid-engined, lightweight weapon if they actually decided to go through with it.
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The original 1953 Porsche 550 Spyder.
Next up is what appears to be a slightly toned-down version of the Le Mans-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 car.
Porsche notes that this design was conceived to bring a taste of its racing pedigree to privateer customers – indicating that this car was once intended for anyone with enough cash. If only…
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The 919 Hybrid won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015, 2016 and 2017
It’s a shame that the pictures were intentionally shadowed – we’ve had to artificially brighten them up in order to glean as much detail as possible.
Hopefully, Porsche sheds more light – both literally and figuratively – on these prototypes in the future.
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In the meantime, stay tuned to Porsche’s social media pages which will unveil more secret prototypes over the next fortnight.
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