Vehicles like the Ferrari Monza SP1 and SP2, as well
as the upcoming Lister Knobbly, may help to re-ignite the passion for
speedsters, a niche that seems to have gone into hybernation for a long time. Porsche is the exception to the
rule, as it continues to build speedsters, albeit in limited numbers – and
these renderings from Clement Lacour depict something that could supposedly
come out of Weissach. Well, not right now, but sometime in, say, 2040 or so.
In designing the vehicle, dubbed the 357, Lacour
took inspiration from the Porsche 356 as well as the original Porsche
Speedster. The German car manufacturer has a long and proud history of building
Speedsters ever since the mid-1950s with the 550 Spyder. In 1987, Porsche even
revealed a rigid tonneau cover at the Frankfurt Motor Show which could
transform the Speedster of the day into a single-seater.
With all of this in mind, designing a Porsche
Speedster single-seater for the 21st century isn’t easy, but Lacour has taken a
swing at it anyway. The front of the vehicle is incredibly low, lacks traditional
headlights and turn signals and features bulging wheel arches. Smooth bodywork
stretches from the nose over the rest of the vehicle’s exterior, only making
way for a small opening where the driver sits. Past the tiny driver compartment
is a rear fascia just as streamlined as the front. The 357 also incorporates a
single LED light bar stretching the width of its rear.
In the decade since the global financial crisis,
demand for limited-edition and one-off supercars and hypercars has reached
unprecedented heights. Companies like Ferrari or Bugatti have built one-offs
for wealthy customers and, although Porsche doesn’t play that game, if it
decides to, it could do much worse than something like this.
