More from Porsche’s Unseen vault in the light

Unveiled last week as part of the “Unseen” collection of prototypes and design studies, four more concepts or one-off Porsche models are being looked at with three falling in the Hypercar category and one in the Spin-offs section.

Spin-offs

911 Vision Safari

Year: 2012

Before it competed in the Dakar Rally in 1984 with the 911 and then with the 959 in 1985 and 1986, Porsche entered rounds of the World and European Rally Championships with the former, albeit without four-wheel-drive and with considerable modifications.

Based on the 991 generation 911, the Safari pays tribute to the 911 SC the late Björn Waldegård and his Kenyan teammate Vic Preston campaigned in the gruelling Safari Rally in 1978 with respective finishes of fourth and second place. Decked-out, albeit not in name, with the same Martini decals, the Safari features a raised suspension, wider wheel arches, revised front and rear bumpers, plus a stripped-out interior with a roll cage and even a shelve with a fan to cool the helmets of the driver and co-driver. A drivable one-off, it is unlikely to enter production soon as a 992 spin-off.

Hypercars

917 Living Legend

Year: 2013

Unlikely to be confused for anything but Porsche’s first overall winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the study 917 only made it as far as a 1:1 scale clay model painted in the same red-and-white Porsche Salzburg livery as the 1970 winning example piloted by Hans Herrmann and Richard Attwood.

Despite being based off of the 918, the model bears a few resemblances to the 917 K that won the 38^th French endurance classic in the shape of wheel arches and cabin. Meant to celebrate 50 years of the 917, it became part of the Porsche Museum last year.

Hypercars

906 Living Legend

Year: 2005

Well before the 917, and even the mentioned scale model mentioned above was introduced, the 906 served as Porsche’s entrant in sports car racing as the replacement for the four-cylinder 904 used until 1966, with its 2.0-litre flat-six engine pumping out a reported 155 kW.

One of the oldest studies, the 1:1 hard model was made in two parts, then inserted, in a move Chief Designer Michael Mauer describes as a necessity due to aerodynamics. “Modern hypercars are greatly dependent on their aerodynamics and openings resulting from the enormous ventilation requirements,” Mauer said.

Hypercars

919 Street

Year: 2017

Envisioned as the road-going version of the car that netted victories at Le Mans from 2015 to 2017, and which broke the lap record at the Nürburgring for the fastest ever lap the following year, the Street boasts the same dimensions as the 919 Hybrid, and even comes with a road-ready version of the V4 hybrid powerunit rated at 662 kW.

Actually planned for limited production, it made it as far as a 1:1 clay model with Porsche attributing the complex LMP1 mechanicals relating to the engine and other factors as the main reasons for the 919 Street ultimately not seeing production.

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