2016 Porsche Vision Turismo Concept

The design process: from the first drawing to the drivable prototype

The design process starts with a sketch. This is visualised in the next step as a 3D model. As soon as an idea is to be developed further, small models are produced in a scale of 1:3, then followed by hard models in the scale 1:1. “The virtual world is the first step, but you especially have to experience the unusual models in reality in order to understand whether a car has small, large or surprising proportions,” says Michael Mauer, Vice President Style Porsche. In contrast to the development of a production model where several models are always developed with different styling formats, the vision projects, on the other hand, concentrate on a single vision model which serves as a protagonist for the central idea.

Not every successful series production model is developed in a linear design process. Sometimes there can be a series of coincidences and unexpected alignments of the stars that lead a designer, via a few detours, to the final destination. The story of the Porsche Taycan – the brand’s first all-electric production sports car – also started with a misunderstanding.

The idea of a super sports car with four seats was born. The next question was that of the appropriate drive system to allow realisation of the especially sporty proportions: could this exciting athlete of a car be powered by a mid-mounted engine? Or should it receive a rear engine in the tradition of the brand – as the first full four-seater Porsche 911? “In view of the question of the proportions and the emergence of the topic of electric mobility, we discovered that the idea could be realised even better with a purely electric powertrain,” remembers Michael Mauer. The first evolutionary stage of the Porsche Taycan was therefore developed from a four-seater super sports car.

2016 Porsche Vision Turismo Concept Front View 3/4

The Porsche Vision Turismo also set new trends in terms of style: the continuous light bar with the Porsche logo at the rear was adopted as a fixed element in the brand identity and it can now be found on almost all models. The new design identity of the electric vehicles has also been further developed and defined on the basis of the front lights.

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