Porsche Vision 357 concept honours glory from past

German sportscar brand under the Volkswagen Group, Porshe, has chosen to unveil a fresh concept car that comes bearing glory from the past. Christened Porsche Vision 357 concept, the car honours the automaker's first-ever model 356, which was introduced in June 1948. The automaker also claims that this is how the OEM is celebrating its 75 years in business. The Porsche Vision 357 concept comes bearing a style close to the 356 but blends it with modern elements.

As Porsche claims, the concept car is an attempt to combine the past, present and future with coherency. The new concept model adopts the original 356's proportions while featuring styling elements that are futuristic at the same time. It appears sleek from all the angles at the exterior.

The concept car wears a dual-tone paint with Ice Gray Metallic covering most of its exterior and Grivola Gray Metallic at the front bumper. The doors and hood adorn large 75 decals, while subtle 357 stickers are located on the front fenders and rear fascia. Its air intakes in the rear windows get Air decals, and arrows point to the inlets. The exhaust sports a bluish titanium treatment with ceramic interiors.

The concept gets no conventional door handles, as designers have hidden them in the rear side glass. In place of traditional wing mirrors, the car gets cameras. Porsche has also hidden the lights behind perforations in the body panels, while the third brake light has been integrated into the rear grille motif. This is certainly a callback to the original Porsche 356. However, Vision 357 has some design elements that significantly differ from the original 356. One such styling feature is the windshield.

Early Porsche 356s had a split windshield with a bar down the middle, while the new concept doesn't have that. Instead, Porsche tried to make the glass different looking by wrapping around the black A-pillars to connect all three window elements into a single piece, which resembles a helmet visor. The concept car runs on 20-inch magnesium wheels that have an aerodynamic advantage. Also, the wheels come with carbon fibre hubcaps sitting at the corners.

Speaking about the powertrain, the Porsche Vision 357 concept is built on the 718 Cayman GT4 RS architecture. The concept gets a naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six engine capable of churning out 493 hp of peak power. Porshe claims that it would design the mid-mounted engine to accommodate synthetic fuels.