November 28, 2024

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Porsche Vision 357 (Porsche Korea)

Porsche Korea on Thursday showcased its Vision 357 sports car for the first time in Asia at the Seoul Mobility Show 2023, celebrating its 75 years of sports car history.

The car model is an homage to the first-ever Porsche sports car, the 356, the dream sports car made by Ferry Porsche, the legendary car designer and founder of the German carmaker.

The symbolic car made its Asia debut in Korea, Porsche's sixth-largest market.

“We have sold around 310,000 vehicles worldwide last year and Korea was one of the contributing countries, selling a total of 8,963 cars,” said Porsche Korea CEO Holger Gerrmann, during a media preview at Kintex in Ilsan.

Sharing a common feature with the 356 of a monolithic form, the Vision 357 underscores Porsche’s legacy and timeless design, the carmaker said. The 20-inch magnesium wheels remind one of the legendary 356 A and 356 B, two of the three 356 models that had large bolt circles of 205 millimeters.

But the car also combines the brand’s past, present and future, finding an answer to this question: What would the dream sports car of Ferry Porsche might look like today?

A distinctive feature that sticks out the most is the enhancement of the signature four-point headlights, adopting a futuristic concept. Instead of traditional side mirrors, the car is equipped with a camera-based outside mirror on the edge of the roof.

Its six-cylinder boxer engine powers the car up to 500 horsepower which can use the brand’s eco-friendly synthetic fuel, called eFuel. The wide wheel track enables powerful yet stable driving performance as well. The wheels’ center cabs are made of carbon fiber, designed to reduce the drag caused by air while driving.

Aside from the Vision 357, the Korean unit of the German carmaker showcased 14 car models, including the 356 A Speedster, racing cars 963 LMDh, Mission R and 911 RSR Pink Pig. Other limited editions are the Taycan 4S Cross Turismo exclusively designed for K-pop sensation Blackpink’s Jennie and the 911 Porsche Design 50th Anniversary Edition.

By Byun Hye-jin (hyejin2@heraldcorp.com)