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Supercar + Herbie = Porsche 918?

August 7, 2013 by Matt

Porsche 918 and Herbie Love Bug VW Beetle

So…I’m a little confused.

You’re Porsche. You have a brand-spanking-new supercar stuffed to the gills with the very latest electronic trickery and a bleeding-edge hybrid powertrain. You’re charging the few lucky buyers somewhere north of $800K to drive one home. And…you tart up the unpainted exterior with flame decals and plain round number stickers that look like they belong on your neighbor’s 16-year-old son’s dented Accord?

I don’t get it.

Furthermore: The panel gaps. They’re huge. I could insert my finger in the space between the fender and bumper. I understand your fancy new range-topper is made of carbon fiber and Inconel and other difficult-to-work-with materials, but you’re such a famously exacting, perfectionist automaker and the price of admission is so outrageous that the fact that parts of it look worse than a rebodied Fiero is, well, shocking.

Here’s what your new supercar should have looked like:

Porsche 918 RSR Concept

You drew that, remember? It’s your 918 RSR concept. You penned that tidy, aggressive, cohesive shape, complete with nods to your extensive racing pedigree and a few details that hint at the technological sophistication under the sultry contours of the bodywork. It’s racy, it’s beautiful, it’s…not tacky. It’s one of the best-looking cars you’ve ever envisioned. I wish I could say the same about what actually rolled through the factory doors.

Scratching my head here, Porsche.

Image credits: rawautos.com, automobilesreview.com, netcarshow.com

Filed under: Aesthetics, Porsche

4 Comments

  1. Ryan says:

    You are correct…. 918RSR Concept >>> Production 918

  2. John D says:

    I must say it looks a lot better without the retro graphics. They don’t complement the car at all. That being said, I’ll see if I can’t dig up Porsche’s mailing address so you can send this out to them…

  3. John D says:

    It also looks a lot better with the rear wing. (http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/4fb272a0eab8ea8a4700000e-960/porsche-918-prototype.jpg)

    I must say that I do kind of like the exhaust exiting out the rear deck lid. It’s very unique and alluring…and apparently sounds pretty good, too.

    • Matt says:

      The rear wing does help balance out the silhouette.

      And I do like the exhaust placement as well. The fact that the engine shuts off and then barks to life on command would be really disconcerting as a driver, though.

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