Porsche 918 Spyder recall announced

An innocuous printing error in the German manufacturer’s parts catalogue which confused a seatbelt mount screw with a seatbelt reel mount screw has resulted in the firm issuing a voluntary safety recall to its hybrid hypercar; the third one so far.

In a you-can’t-help-but-be-amused way, Porsche issued a mea-culpa statement confessing to the misprint, saying it couldn’t rule out the possibility that technicians who were installing the hypercar’s seatbelts obediently followed the parts catalogue and “might have been led to install the wrong screw in the wrong location.”

Without making light of the situation – and fully aware of the potential implications of the error could have significant impacts on Porsche 918 Spyder drivers if they were to find themselves in a collision – the fact that Porsche picked up on the misprint before any seatbelt mount defects were reported is testament to the firm’s otherwise meticulous ways, and is exactly why this latest recall brings a wry smile to our – and, we suspect, a few Porsche personnel – faces.

While previous recalls affecting the 2016 918 Spyder only applied to certain models in the limited production run, this new recall has been issued to each and every one of the 918 units produced.

Australian Porsche owners can breathe easy though; the latest 918 Spyder was only built in left-hand drive options and isn’t currently available in Australia.