Are Ferry Porsche's words prophetic?
The founder of the brand bearing his name used to say that the last car built will be a sports car.
A Porsche?
He never said it but he had to mean it very strongly.
Still, seventy-five years after its birth, the German sports car brand has never been in such good shape.
In 2022, the manufacturer delivered nearly 310,000 vehicles, 3% more than in 2021. Europe, up by +7%, largely contributed to the result.
The two SUVs, Cayenne and Macan, remained the top-selling models, with the former taking the top step of the podium with 95,604 deliveries.
But with 40,410 deliveries (+ 5%), the 911, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, still occupies an enviable position.
On his side,
S.BOGNER
It is therefore in a favorable context that Porsche blows out its seventy-five candles in 2023.
An event that the brand intends to celebrate as it should with a succession of events.
The first of these takes the form of a concept car called Vision 357. Based on a 718 Cayman GT4 RS platform, this style study by Michael Maurer's design team is a modern interpretation of the 356 In profile, we easily recognize the silhouette of the first Porsche in history born in Gmünd at the end of the war in wooden barracks.
Far from lapsing into nostalgia, the Vision 357 concept reveals the evolution of the brand's style and the aesthetic codes of the next Porsche sports cars.
The treatment of the front panel lets you imagine the face that the next 911 could take in particular.
Michael Maurer acknowledges this: “The brand's history is a source of inspiration.
Returning to our tradition with a concept car is not as paradoxical as it seems.
Creative freedom is also important: this is where valuable ideas can emerge unhindered, ones that help us imagine our consistent design philosophy in new, innovative directions.”
S.BOGNER
Among the details that distinguish the Vision 357, we note a particularly marked shoulder, door handles integrated into the side windows and rear lights concealed in the bodywork.
Unveiled on the occasion of an exhibition on the 75 years of Porsche which is held until mid-February at the "Drive" forum of the Volkswagen group in Berlin, the Vision 357 will then cross the Atlantic to be exhibited from 10 March in Austin, at South by Southwest in Austin.
Then, we begin to dream of finding this prototype in June at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, on the occasion of the centenary of the endurance event.
