New book showcases unseen Porsche concepts

‘Porsche Unseen’ is an appropriate title for a book showcasing 15 lost concepts from 2005 to 2019.

It provides a tantalising glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes. Design studies that are otherwise off-limits to the general public. Genuine cases of what might have been.

Although ‘spy shots’, concepts and test mules might surface, there’s an awful lot that remains behind closed doors. Drawings, clay models, even ideas that never progress beyond the tussled mind of a designer.

“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,” said Michael Mauer, vice president of Style Porsche.

“There are two possibilities for continuing to develop as a brand: either you improve your products from the present, that is to say step-by-step. However, it is difficult to be really innovative in this process. Or you give free rein to your creativity.

“The idea is to let your thoughts jump to the day after tomorrow, and to then move back from there to tomorrow.”

Flights of fancy

As car enthusiasts, we tend to covet the forbidden fruits of car design. The lost concepts. The ones that got away. These flights of fancy appeal to our childlike enthusiasm for cars that push boundaries and break new ground.

Often, the desire for concept over reality is justified. Harris Mann’s 1968 sketch of the Austin Allegro is enough to break the collective hearts of a nation. More recently, in the wake of the iX electric car, social media has been calling for BMW to return to the relative elegance of the Vision iNEXT. Note the word ‘relative’.

The Porsche Unseen book is out now. A selection of the unseen Porsche studies will also be on display at the Porsche Museum in 2021.

In the meantime, here are three of the unreleased Porsche concept cars. If you want more, it’s time to start dropping hints for Christmas.

Porsche Vision ‘Rennidienst’

Porsche must have been serious about building an electric van, because this concept made it as far as a full-size hard model.

It seats six, so Porsche had visions of an electric MPV, but the best bit is the McLaren F1-style central driving position.

Porsche 919 Street

The 919 Street promised to ‘make the exhilarating driving experience of the LMP1 race car available to amateur drivers’.

It’s a clay model built to the same dimensions as the Le Mans car, with visions of it having the same 900hp hybrid powertrain. Wow.

Porsche Vision Spyder

Along came a Spyder. This 1:1 hard model is a nod to the Porsche 550-1500 RS Spyder from 1954.

The number plate reads ‘Little Rebel’ – a nod to actor James Dean, who met his demise at the wheel of a Porsche 550 Spyder.

Ultimately, these cars turned out to be concepts without a cause. At least the book and exhibition will give them a new lease of life.

Read more:

Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS backdate review: Retro Road Test

A brief history of the Porsche Boxster

‘The Porsche of the East’: Skoda celebrates 50 years of sports cars