Porsche Vision 920 Concept (2019)
The Porsche Vision 920 is a race car concept, designed and built by Porsche in 2019, to preview what essentially could be a successor to their highly successful LMP1 race car, the Porsche 919 Hybrid. Porsche designers basically envisioned what a road-going replacement to the 919 Hybrid might have looked like and this is what they came up with.
For four years, the Porsche 919 Hybrid successfully raced in the LMP1 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans but when Porsche retired the three-time Le Mans-winning racer following the 2017 season and instead focused its racing efforts elsewhere, things went quiet. The 919 Evo, free of racing restrictions, set some records and did a tour of the world, but that was about it. Porsche designers did create street iteration of the 919 called the 919 Street Concept, but this Vision 920 is the next step, essentially a view of what a future racer could look like.
Porsche says the company designed the concept as either a super sports car for the road or as a possible racing car that could be used in a customer motorsport series. Design elements include a red, black, and white livery, a pair of slim LED headlights and large air intakes on both sides of the motorsport-inspired splitter, visible in-board front suspension. The concept has a small cabin with a central driving position. The concept also features a reverse shark fin on the roof to help with high-speed stability, along with the decklid and engine cover being long and low. The concept also includes a thin LED light bar and a massive diffuser to help to stick it to the pavement, all design elements harkening back to the Porsche 919.
Personally, I love it. The low-slung Porsche could easily be an exotic supercar for the streets, or a racing vehicle for privateers, a competitor to cars like the Aston Martin Valkyrie and the Toyota GR Super Sport. Porsche notes the Vision 920 shares its key mechanical bits with the LMP1 racer, which we presume includes nearly 1,000-hp gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain. Note however, this Vision 920 is only a model and not a running prototype, so any mechanical provisions are likely theoretical.
The Vision 920’s real story, then, is its design, which is absolutely breathtaking. Swollen fenders surround the cockpit, while a myriad of air ducts make this concept appear as though it’s racing down the Mulsanne Straight even at rest. But it’s the little details that really wow. We’re talking about the exposed inboard suspension featuring bright yellow springs fore of the cabin, and inboard brakes sporting equally bright yellow brake calipers peeking out through the car’s rear end.
