zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
Porsche Is Showing Off This Street Version Of The 919 Hybrid LMP1 Racer And Other Incredible Cars That Never Came To Fruition
Porsche Is Showing Off This Street Version Of The 919 Hybrid LMP1 Racer And Other Incredible Cars That Never Came To Fruition-April 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:12:33

Image for article titled Porsche Is Showing Off This Street Version Of The 919 Hybrid LMP1 Racer And Other Incredible Cars That Never Came To Fruition

is showing off some design concepts that never came into existence, and among the most interesting are a weird van-like vehicle called the Porsche Vision Renndienst, and a street version of the legendary 919 Hybrid LMP1 Le Mans winner called the 919 Street. Check these things out.

Porsche, on the prowl for some publicity for a new book called “Porsche Unseen,” has released photos and details of design studies that the company’s stylists have penned over the last 15 years. Perhaps most interesting is the 919 Street, a beautiful sports car that apparently drew inspiration from the .

Image for article titled Porsche Is Showing Off This Street Version Of The 919 Hybrid LMP1 Racer And Other Incredible Cars That Never Came To Fruition

The idea behind this full-scale clay model, Porsche says, was to create a road-going version of the legendary race car. “The Porsche 919 Street (2017; 1:1 clay model),” the brand writes in its , “was developed on the basis of the technology used in the Porsche 919 Hybrid, promising to make the exhilarating driving experience of the LMP1 race car available to amateur drivers.” The literature goes on to say that the carbon fiber monocoque chassis and 900-ish horsepower hybrid drivetrain is the same as what was in the Porsche 919, as is the wheelbase and other exterior dimensions.

In the scripted interview shown below (incidentally, a rather awkward format that European carmakers seem to like to employ during press briefings for some reason), chief designer Michael Mauer says the concept car actually had a chance at becoming a real thing.

“What is always our intention,” he says, “is that these models always are a starting point for discussion in the company if it would make sense to realize this, to bring it on the street.” That never happened because, per the design boss, “This racing technology is so complicated and highly complex, that it would be hard to give it really into customer hands.”

I’m going to assume this means it would have been too costly — financially and time-wise — for Porsche to build a compelling business case for the program.

I won’t go too deep into it, but since we’re talking about the 919 Hybrid, it’s worth mentioning just how incredible of a machine it was. Porsche’s got an article titled “” to satisfy your nerdy hybrid race car needs, so definitely check that out.

Image for article titled Porsche Is Showing Off This Street Version Of The 919 Hybrid LMP1 Racer And Other Incredible Cars That Never Came To Fruition

One of the coolest things about the Le Mans winner is the fact that it has two recuperation mechanisms to feed an 800-volt lithium-ion battery powering the electric motor on the front axle: One recuperation mechanism is brake-based, and the other generates current via an exhaust-driven turbine. Here’s Porsche’s rundown:

During braking, a generator at the front axle converts the car’s kinetic energy into electrical energy. In the split exhaust system, one turbine drives the turbocharger while another converts surplus energy into electrical energy. The braking energy contributes 60 per cent, with the remaining 40 per cent coming from exhaust gas.

The recuperated electrical energy is stored temporarily in a lithium-ion battery and feeds an electric motor on demand. “On demand” means: the driver wants to accelerate and calls up the energy at the press of a button. In accordance with the latest regulation changes, the power from the combustion engine is just under 368 kW (500 HP), and the output from the electric motor is well over 294 kW (400 HP).

Image for article titled Porsche Is Showing Off This Street Version Of The 919 Hybrid LMP1 Racer And Other Incredible Cars That Never Came To Fruition

Between this hybrid tech and the lightweight carbon fiber body, you can imagine how awesome the Porsche 919 Street would have been had it ever come to fruition.

Image for article titled Porsche Is Showing Off This Street Version Of The 919 Hybrid LMP1 Racer And Other Incredible Cars That Never Came To Fruition

Porsche also showed off an odd, van-like design concept called the Porsche Vision Renndienst. Per Mauer, the idea behind this study was to push stylists to try to infuse Porsche design “DNA” into a rather un-Porsche-like vehicle — a tall van.

Image for article titled Porsche Is Showing Off This Street Version Of The 919 Hybrid LMP1 Racer And Other Incredible Cars That Never Came To Fruition

What we see here is not a clay model like the 919 Street, but a “hard model,” which defined in its 2016 story about the continued prevalence of clay into the field of automotive design. From that story:

As a design reaches maturity, items like headlights and turn signals get added to clay to turn it into a “.” The entire model is then coated with a stretchable modelling film (known, Kleenex-like, by the original trade name DI-NOC) that mimics the look and feel of a painted surface. (“From 10 feet away you’d never know it wasn’t a functioning car,” says VandenBrink.) The design remains flexible, though, with clay being smoothed on or scraped off until the final design is approved by corporate executives milling around in some secret interior courtyard. Once that happens, a model (still nonfunctional, but very expensive) of fiberglass or resin, perfect inside and out, is created for people to see at press events and car shows.

Per Porsche, the Renndienst concept features (or perhaps “would feature,” since this isn’t a functional vehicle) a central driver’s seat, an all-electric drivetrain below the floor, and lots of interior space for six passengers.

Image for article titled Porsche Is Showing Off This Street Version Of The 919 Hybrid LMP1 Racer And Other Incredible Cars That Never Came To Fruition

I think both of these vehicles look great and really complement one another. You’ve got a clean, spacious van-ish, hatchback-y looking thing for daily driving with the family, and a hybrid race car-turned-supercar for punishing canyon roads. It’d be a thoroughly wacky garage, but a complete one, I think.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
The Coolest Design Features On The 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S
The Coolest Design Features On The 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S
The debuted yesterday as the German performance car brand’s first attempt at a production electric car. While the fact that it makes up to 750 horsepower and goes from 0 to 60 mph in a claimed 2.6 seconds is impressive, there’s a bunch of cool details that really set...
Apr 20, 2025
We're Talking Garbage Trucks, Rally, And AMG On /DRIVE Returning Sept. 8
We're Talking Garbage Trucks, Rally, And AMG On /DRIVE Returning Sept. 8
Above, you’ll see beloved Jalopnik editor emeritus flipping a monster truck, as one does. It can only mean one thing. is back and kicking for its sixth season! Together, hosts Alex Roy, Chris Harris, Mike Spinelli, Zack Klapman and I delve into the most fun, quirky and exciting aspects of...
Apr 20, 2025
The Alpine A110 Is A Rally Car Once More
The Alpine A110 Is A Rally Car Once More
Part of what gave and its much-loved A110 street cred was how dominant the car was in rallying. It was small and lightweight, but it beat out pretty much everybody anyway. The new A110 brings that legacy to modern light with the Rally. Signatech and Alpine are working together...
Apr 20, 2025
Reminder: Cars Can't Surf
Reminder: Cars Can't Surf
Right now, right outside my window, things are dark and weird and windy, like some big storm is about to hit. Which is because that’s exactly what’s happening; Hurricane Dorian is on its way. For those just south of me, in the lesser Carolina, South Carolina, Dorian has already...
Apr 20, 2025
Volkswagen Will Now Convert Classic Beetles To Electric Power Which Is Maybe Even Better Than A New EV Beetle
Volkswagen Will Now Convert Classic Beetles To Electric Power Which Is Maybe Even Better Than A New EV Beetle
I knew that even though , they wouldn’t everreally be able to not build some sort of Beetle, and I think this announcement proves that to be correct. VW is partnering with German EV conversion company eClassics to do conversions of classic, air-cooled Beetles into EVs with modern electric...
Apr 20, 2025
Here's Every Generation Of The Glorious Audi RS6 Avant
Here's Every Generation Of The Glorious Audi RS6 Avant
For a very long time, the Avant was the forbidden fruit of wagon nerds in North America. It was the bitchin’ German battle-wagon that we could only eye enviously from across the Atlantic. Here’s a walk through them all, right up to the , which we can finally have. The...
Apr 20, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved