Drawing design cues from the 959, GT1, and 917, Porsche’s next-gen hypercar gets a visual treatment worthy of its legendary ancestry.
I’m a car photographer. I started shooting advertising campaigns in the ’90s after working as a photo assistant, and had the privilege of working for Clint Clemens—a true master who helped pioneer modern car photography. One of the first projects we shot together was the 1997 Porsche 993 campaign. It blew open the possibilities of what car photography could be. “Kills bugs fast.” “Like your own amusement park.” “Sticks to the road like peanut butter.”
This was the last generation of the air-cooled 993 911 Turbo. Between the photographs, the headlines, and the awards it won, that campaign set a standard. In my opinion, no Porsche campaign since has come close to its simplicity, creativity, or impact.
I mention this because seeing the new Porsche Mission S last week brought me right back to seeing that 911 Turbo for the first time. I’m honestly excited about this car. The more I look at it, the more details I find and become enamored by. Why am I so excited about the Mission S you might ask? Because it’s got all the good stuff form the Porsches I love.
The 911 shape is there. You know immediately it’s a Porsche. There’s something of the 959 in the rear and the GT1 in the nose, with its questionable “runny egg” headlights reworked into something that isn’t, well, ugly. The rear fan feels straight off the 917, famous for its Le Mans wins and its role in the Steve McQueen movie. Still the coolest guy ever.
Inside, the five-gauge layout takes me back to the Porsches of the mid-’80s, updated with digital-mechanical technology. There’s some of the 918’s styling in there, too. Somehow, all these pieces work together without making the car look like Frankenstein stumbled into Stuttgart. It feels fresh, original. That’s hard to pull off when you’re borrowing this much from your own history.
The new design will push Porsche well into the future, setting its sights on Lamborghini and McLaren. In my opinion, the current 911 GT3 RS already delivers supercar performance, but people still see it as a 911. Porsche wants to run at the top in both performance and design. And no matter how many wings, bits, and vents they strap onto the current 911, it’s always gonna be seen as a 911. Porsche knows this, so they had to kick the throttle down and make a change. The Carrera GT and the 918 are long gone, and Porsche needed something to put the fear of God into the competition. I’m guessing the price will match the attitude, so strap into that five-point harness before you look at the invoice.
We’ll have to wait for the actual performance figures. My guess would be a turbocharged flat-six hybrid with well over 1,000 horsepower. The dash appears to show an 8,000-rpm redline, and the gearbox looks to be a PDK with paddle shifters. The cabin takes a minimal approach; no enormous digital screen dominating the dash. There’s a holder for your phone, which appears to integrate with the car’s systems. I couldn’t agree more with keeping it simple.
My favorite detail is the steering-wheel button marked “on your own.” If that means what I hope it means—that all the driving assists are off—then 1,000 horsepower could get you into some lovely trouble.
I took this opportunity to use some of my best locations with existing photos of the new car, much like Porsche blending the past with the future. Seeing the reveal, the temptation was too much to leave Porsche’s stock images alone. With my brain full of Porsche hallucinations dancing in the clouds, I had to show the world how I’d do it. I think the car fits well in this new landscape.
I haven’t been this excited about a new Porsche in a long time, maybe since the 918. I’d love to get behind the wheel, but first I need to snap some more photos.
