Here is the press release and photos of this new car which I think is way cool!
The Geneva Auto Show is on this week, giving forth a bounty of automotive treats and even a few glances into the future. One of the most exciting cars we’ve seen from the show has been Porsche’s 918 Spyder concept. Because it’s a Porsche (yet neither a sedan nor SUV), it’s beautiful on the outside.
What’s inside is even more interesting. The 918 Spyder is really a “super hybrid” — pushed by both a 500-horsepower V8 and a pair of electric motors. The electric motors are attached at each axle, giving the car an additional 218 hp. Porsche says that means the concept can hit 60 mph in just over 3 seconds. That is incredibly fast, Porsche or not. The fact that it’s a “hybrid”? Well, that’s even better considering all the weight it’s pulling around.
The part about this that is so compelling isn’t just the pure speed — it’s that Porsche claims the car is wildly efficient from a miles-per-gallon perspective, too. Porsche says the 918 Spyder hits 78 miles per gallon, burping out just 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer. It can go 16 miles on pure electric power alone.
The 918 Concept can operate in either electric mode or gasoline mode, or a blended mode of both, making it a parallel hybrid. This is the more efficient way to create a hybrid car (“series” hybrids aren’t as efficient in terms of pure MPG savings). Porsche says there are four modes that the 918 Spyder can drive in, either dialing in more performance or more efficiency per the driver’s request.
Concepts being concepts, this 918 isn’t available for sale. The company is carefully watching how the consumers will react to performance cars with a green edge (Tesla already sells its 6-figure roadster, while Ferrari’s hybrid sports car from this week’s Geneva show will prove instructive for the German company, too). If you’re really burning for a Porsche hybrid, you’ll be able to buy one shortly: the Cayenne SUV will offer a hybrid model at the end of this year.
In this installment of the John McClure archives, the November 7, 1954 running of the Orange Empire National Sportscar Races at March Air Force Base. It is a real treat seeing the racing action ahead of scores of aluminum planes in the background.
Unfortunately, the Briggs Cunningham team that swept the previous year’s race was a no-show. This race, however, was significant for Porschefiles as the first US race run by a 550 Spyder. Sadly, the car crashed and burned in practice with the driver escaping reasonably unscathed. Instead, Ferraris ruled the day, with 7 of the top 10 spots in the featured over-1500cc race. Also in the film is a parade lap of Historic cars (teens and 20s).
Look at this fire breathing beast; this terrifying, gigantic thing.
This is the very aptly named 1923 Fiat “Mefistofele”. This was the car that a very brave Ernest Eldridge attempted to wrangle to a World Land Speed Record in 1924. This mammoth machine—powered by a 350-horsepower, 21 liter airship engine—certainly looks up to the task, and despite it’s truck-like size, which surely is larger than she looks, Eldridge somehow managed to control the mighty Fiat long enough to achieve the record.
Eldridge and Mefistofele topped out a 146.013 mph over a flying kilometer in Arpajon, France. He had earlier piloted Mefistofele to a standing start half-mile record of 23.17 seconds at 77mph. Now a 23 second half mile might not sound like much to the muscle car fans among us, but I imagine that the only way to simulate the experience would be if you ran your ‘Cuda at the drags while strapped to the front bumper.
This, my friends, is a proper racing car: a little scary, a little elegant, a lot purposeful looking. Let me just say again 21 Liter airship engine. Traction control? Automatic shift? Anti-lock brakes? No. Driving this machine must be like trying to tame a dragon. Mefistofele indeed.
Let us all salute this impressive monster, and the man who tamed her as an example of the bravado and determination that so roused our collective passion for motorsport.
A few weeks ago we looked at the Sven Voelker book Go Faster: The Graphic Design of Racing Cars, now Gestalten Video has interviewed Voelker at the Porsche museum about the project. It’s a nice piece of video, combining historic footage, excerpted images from the book, and Voelker’s thoughts on the design, colors, typography, and randomness of some of the most iconic racing cars. Definitely worth a watch.
Sven makes a interesting point on what he considers the high point of racing car design. My natural gut instinct is to long for the national racing colors without corporate sponsorship. Sven argues that the initial years of the late 60s and early 70s, when sponsorship was just entering racing, but there were few sponsors per car, provided the greatest opportunity for graphic design greatness. When you consider the Gold Leaf Lotus, the Gulf Porsches and Fords, and the Jagermeister 911s, it’s hard to argue with him on the point.
While I would have liked the book itself to have more text, it’s still a fun project and definitely worth checking out, available here.
Look at the enthusiasm of the flag waiver in this shot of Jim Clark winning the 1967 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. I’m sure Jimmy was well pleased to win his 3rd GP of the season, but the flagman here is the real expression of joy in this photo. I’m pretty sure that flagmen aren’t leaping into the air today in their little balcony over the start/finish line.
And don’t you think we should really be reintroducing the laurels to the victors of today’s races? Then again, I suppose that they would cover the sponsor logo patches. Drivers are far more important as walking billboards than they are as athletes or sportsmen. Alas.
I’m no fan of crash porn, but I caught this 356 crash in the Hurry Downs complex at Road America during the SVRA Vintage GT Challenge last year. I was trying to capture the silver 356 of Edmond Ross, which I have a bit of a soft spot for because an image of Edmond’s car was the header image on this site for The Chicane’s first year. The crowd’s reaction caused me pan back in the field to John Winter just as he was losing his car into the wall, apparently a suspension or steering problem according to other spectators. Does anyone know if we’ll see this car on the track this year? It looks like a fair bit of damage, but seemed that the spin only managed to take out one corner of the car’s suspension and steering. Anyone know the status of this car?
You don’t often think of the Porsche 914 as a rally car, but this shot from the 2010 Boucles de Spa rally in Belgium shows it’s versatility yet again. She may among the forgotten and unloved Porsches but I’m always impressed by them at vintage races, where they often participate in 4 or 5 different race groups—another sign of their range. This is, after all, a car that finished sixth overall at the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans, and deserves more props than it gets.
It’s game time, friends. Can you guess the make and model of this famous racing car from her engine sound?
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It’s hard to think of any modern car that would look even remotely good in blue with a red interior. Hard to argue that it isn’t just killing it in this Gullwing Mercedes and the Porsche 356. Wonderful.
I can’t imagine that civil engineers consider the needs of the “road enthusiast” when designing roads today. Let’s all hope that Mulholland (currently closed indefinitely due to erosion) is restored soon.
Here’s more footage from 1982, right before the LAPD helicopters put an end to the nightly Mulholland races for good.
More on Mulholland racing, and the “King of the Hill” custom Porsche 911 RSR at Pelican Parts.
What’s inside is even more interesting. The 918 Spyder is really a “super hybrid” — pushed by both a 500-horsepower V8 and a pair of electric motors. The electric motors are attached at each axle, giving the car an additional 218 hp. Porsche says that means the concept can hit 60 mph in just over 3 seconds. That is incredibly fast, Porsche or not. The fact that it’s a “hybrid”? Well, that’s even better considering all the weight it’s pulling around. 
The 918 Concept can operate in either electric mode or gasoline mode, or a blended mode of both, making it a parallel hybrid. This is the more efficient way to create a hybrid car (“series” hybrids aren’t as efficient in terms of pure MPG savings). Porsche says there are four modes that the 918 Spyder can drive in, either dialing in more performance or more efficiency per the driver’s request.
