Porsche Unseen: Five Futuristic Concepts That We Wish Were In Production Today

11/29/2020 | A look into the secret archives of the Porsche Design Studio.

With the recent release of Porsche Design Studios' new book, Porsche Unseen, images of stunning never-before-seen concepts have been making their way through the internet. From street legal hypercars such as the 919 street (pictured above) to the 911 Vision Safari, which pays tribute to the 911 SC Safari race car from 1978. Porsche has done a great job at keeping the traditional design that we loved and adding a futuristic twist to some current models.

The book features 15 projects that the German brand has been working on behind closed doors since 2005, going into great detail on each model. The 328-page manual is filled with photos from Stefan Bogner and text written by Jan Karl Baedeker, who do a great job bringing the models to life. Many of the book prototypes seem to be a bit too far away for us to picture being on the road today; however, there are a few that have contributed to current models in the Porsche lineup resemblances are clear.

After having some time to ponder these new prototypes, we ask ourselves, which models would we like to see come to reality? Here are five designs from Porsche Unseen that we would like to see in production.

Porsche Vision Turismo

Porsche only officially entered the fully electric segment last year with the highly anticipated Taycan; however, the idea of a fully electric four-door sedan has been in discussion longer than that.

The Taycan and Vision Turismo are actually derived from a sketch of the 918 hybrid hypercar. Chief designer Michael Mauer explained, “When walking past, I saw a schematic representation of the Porsche 918 on a designer’s drawing board in our studio. A line had been redrawn with a felt-tip pen to clearly show the falling contour”, Mauer stated. “From the corner of my eye, it looked like a rear door joint. I was astonished!”

From this interaction, the idea of a four-door supercar was born with the Vision Turismo Concept. The design team was torn between a rear mid-mounted engine or a rear-mounted option in the beginning stages. In the end, a fully electric option was chosen. These decisions led to what is now one of Porsche’s most in-demand new models, the Taycan.

Porsche 919 Street

Quite arguably the most exciting car in the Porsche Unseen vehicle lineup, the Porsche 919 Street. If you are questioning why this amazing supercar looks so familiar, you have likely seen the 919 hybrid LMP1 race car that it is derived from in action.

Coming to life in 2017, the 919 Street uses the same carbon fibre monocoque and 900- horsepower hybrid setup as its predecessor, the 919 Hybrid. The platform that made the 919 Hybrid a three-time winner of the 6 Hours of Le Mans.

While we would love to see the German Automaker produce another flagship supercar, Porsche ultimately decided that the 919 Street is a bit more than we can handle at the moment; I think they’re right.

Porsche 911 Vision Safari

Porsche 911 safari builds have been getting attention from the car community for quite some time. With celebrities such as Matt Farrah creating their own in recent years, it’s no surprise that Porsche has played with the idea of bringing one to production.

The 911 Vision Safari is based on the legendary Porsche 911 SC Safari that competed in the East African Safari Rally in the 1970s. The Rally tested drivers through a rugged 5000 km race in the Kenyan backcountry, and the Porsche dominated. Porsche decided to pay tribute to their heritage and created the 911 Vision Safari in 2012.

Porsche Vision Race Service

The “Renndienst” or race service van, is a subtle nod to the Volkswagen auto group's deeply engrained van heritage, specifically the Volkswagen T1 microbus. This T1 was commonly used as dealership shuttle vehicles and for race-team support in the ’60s and ’70s. Fast forward 50 years and mix in space shuttle design with a zero-emission power train, and we have the “Renndienst.”

The batteries for the EV powertrain have been positioned under the body to maximize space, allowing six people to be seated inside the van comfortably.

This hard model was created in 2018 to explore options for the future of race service vehicles at Porsche. While this is just a concept, I could see it having great success as a future EV vehicle for everyday consumers.

Porsche Vision Spyder

With today's strict guidelines on safety, the Vision Spyder is unlikely to make it to a road near you, but can we dream? Based on the classic Porsche 550/1500 RS Spyder from 1953, the Vision Spyder strikes a bold image while keeping classic design cues from the 550, such as the small windshield and roll bar.

The Vision Spyder hard model was created last year. While there are currently no plans to create a road-legal version of this model, Porsche has said that the Vision Spyder served as a way to develop new ideas that could eventually be implemented in cars customers will be able to buy at some point in the future.

As with all of the designs released in Porsche’s new book, the Vision Spyder won’t be going into production. However, it will be on display at the Porsche Museum next year with some of the other models that were talked about above.