Behind the Scenes: an exclusive look at the development of the Mission X
Michael Mauer, Head of Design, responds when questioned about creating the upcoming hypercar, "It's a dream. And a great deal of worry. He right now is the definition of calm. Just in time for the 75th anniversary of the sports car manufacturer, the Mission X was recently unveiled at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. The invited guests have gathered around the lowered concept car in Rocket Metallic at this point. The outside colour, which was developed internally, is unusual since it has a brown tone that changes based on your angle. This stunning depiction of a Porsche hypercar offers numerous attractions.
Actor Patrick Dempsey is filming the concept car with his smartphone while former race car driver Mark Webber consults with developers. Chairman of the Supervisory Board Dr. Wolfgang Porsche is nodding in agreement as he observes the Mission X live and in colour for the first time today. A handful of the designers who have spent the previous year working nonstop on the concept automobile watch the activity with a relieved expression on their faces. The hypercar seems like it might be produced tomorrow due to its carefully considered proportions and design.
The Porsche practise of technically implementing all concept studies made the project seem like a sprint, perhaps in spite of this. In essence, Mauer explains, "We worked on the concept car right up until the end." By the conclusion, "your heart is racing, and you hope that everything works."
“I’m more than just a hypercar”
In the middle of 2022, a choice was taken about the endeavour with the working name XS23. What would be the ideal symbol for Porsche's next 75 years, as determined at the outset? It was soon obvious that it had to be the following all-electric hypercar in the family tree of the 959, Carrera GT, and 918 Spyder. The goal was to maintain the smallest possible proportions while utilising the most advanced high-performance technology. The innumerable theories and notions from the previous five years were first reviewed and reevaluated. "We felt that it was crucial to give the car a clear visual message that said, 'I'm more than just a hypercar. I was born to race," declares Mauer.
The great symbols of the 1970s served as another source of inspiration for the designers, in addition to race vehicles like the 919 Hybrid, which between 2014 and 2017 made history at Le Mans. The Daytona windows, the upward-swinging Le Mans doors, and the lightweight glass dome with exoskeleton, for instance, are reminiscent of the Porsche 917. All of that, according to Mauer, is a reminder of our illustrious past in motorsport. And we're fortunate enough to have access to this amazing pool. The headlights show how tradition and modernity coexist together. The Mission X's arrangement of the four-point light signature's components—which are typically oriented horizontally—was motivated by classic Porsche race cars like the 906 and 908.
Although the car is an uncompromising hypercar, the cabin was not created to resemble a race car cockpit. Mauer asserts that you don't have to demonstrate your ability to drive the fastest lap at the Nürburgring to anyone in person. The interior is covered in fabric that matches the color of the leather rather than Alcantara. The Head of Design states, "We concentrated on design quality, the materials, and the optimum integration of all the features. Together with the Color & Trim department colleagues, a unified whole composition was produced. Instead of a signal color, the car is painted in Rocket Metallic, a subdued, conservative brown shade. Color schemes that convey delicate understatement and are frequently utilized by premium apparel firms.
The lightweight carbon components have complementary colors, making them only partially apparent at first. According to Michael Mauer, the juxtaposition between opulent, sumptuous equipment and racetrack design creates excitement. And one of our most crucial design ideas is "excitement."
Qualities typical of Porsche
It is impossible to overlook the Mission X's expansive matching surfaces. Mauer chuckles, "Many new hypercars are practically totally composed of holes. The Mission X, in contrast, has a lot of flat, unbroken surfaces. The exterior has a sculptural, monolithic aspect that is typical of Porsche. The meticulousness is also characteristic. When the electric sports car with the proposed high-performance battery and 900-volt system design is charging, the front lights, the light strips, the inside start-up button, and the "E" in the Porsche branding all pulse.
When it comes to developing a concept car, it’s essential to be able to test, toss out, and optimize ideas without the pressure of series production. But this also comes with challenges of its own, explains Mauer: “The prototypes are built in our workshop. Most of the parts are specially produced. Sometimes they just don’t fit like they should. I don’t know how often we experimented with coloring the carbon parts until we were satisfied with the results.
Engineers, racing technicians, aerodynamics specialists, and experts in many other areas supported the project to ensure that the Porsche Mission X can be implemented at least theoretically. “This has allowed us to open a window to the future. And our understanding of sustainability is that even our concept cars can have sufficient impact on the brand’s future path.”
A dream car that could become a reality
If the concept study were to get the go-ahead, what would the next steps be? “We still need to work on the aerodynamics,” says Mauer openly. “We need to optimize the body to make it the fastest street-legal car on Nürburgring Nordschleife. There will be hundreds of hours of fine-tuning in the wind tunnel. The front of the car, including the headlights, is very advanced aesthetically, and even the interior is feasible with very little modification.” Mission X – a dream car that could become a reality.
It’s a little later on the evening of the anniversary show at Porscheplatz, and the guests have made their way into the museum, where the special exhibition has just opened. Michael Mauer is standing next to the concept car, which is slowly turning under the spotlights. He carefully inspects his team’s work once again and then shares a brief story: “We designers love stickers. At some point, the idea took on a life of its own, and we designed an animal sticker for each new concept car.
World premiere: Head of Design Michael Mauer presents the Mission X and thus the Porsche vision for the future.
There’s a dinosaur sticker on the Porsche Vision 357 – as a humorous reference to the fact that we built a concept study with a combustion engine at the dawn of the electric age. The sticker on the Mission R was a wild boar, but it was removed just before the trade fair and is now on my company car.” Mauer points to a small, inconspicuous sticker in front of the rear left wheel of the Mission X – a cheetah, the fastest land animal and a silent hunter, in mid-jump.