Porsche Vision 357

An homage only Porsche could dream up.

- Justin Banner

Seventy-five years ago, Ferdinand “Ferry” Porsche—son of the man who designed many Daimler-Benz cars of the 1920s, Auto Union Grand Prix cars, and Volkswagen’s first car—developed a vehicle with his family’s name on it. He called it the 356, and it looked spectacular for a car of its time. Like its VW cousin, it used a rear-mounted, air-cooled four-cylinder engine that drove the rear wheels and used a unitized pan chassis—but unlike the Volkswagen, this was a pure sports car.

To celebrate its first production model, Porsche wondered what Ferry would have built-in 2023. The Vision 357 concept, based on the 718 Cayman GT4 RS, is the answer.

The sculpted body instantly recalls the 356’s beautiful curves, but there’s no rear-mounted engine in the modern version. Unlike the 356’s 1.1-liter boxer-four engine making only 40 hp, the 357’s mid-mounted 4.0-liter naturally aspirated GT3 flat-six makes 493 hp. Despite diverging from the production 356, the layout is true to the very first 356 prototype, dubbed the 356/1, which was a mid-engine roadster.