Supercar + Herbie = Porsche 918?
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:
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
You are correct…. 918RSR Concept >>> Production 918
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…
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.
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.