Concept

When you think of Porsche sedans today, the Panamera and Taycan immediately come to mind. These cars are stunning examples of how Porsche blends sports car DNA with four-door practicality. But what if I told you Porsche experimented with a rear-engine sedan long before these models became household names? That’s where the Bertone Karisma concept comes in. Now I’ll admit, hearing the name Carrozzeria Bertone usually brings up images of exotic wedge-shaped masterpieces like the V12-powered Lamborghini Miura, and a personal favourite of mine the Lancia Stratos. The idea of Bertone collaborating with Porsche, a brand known for precision and understated design, sounded almost too good to be true. But it did happen, and the result as you can see from these images was nothing short of spectacular.

Let’s face it, folks. Crossover convertibles are the automotive equivalent of a mullet: business in the front, party in the back, and a whole lotta "what were they thinking?" in the middle. A niche market indeed with a distinctive taste. Sure, the idea sounds cool on paper, but the reality, as with most things that sound too good to be true, is a bit… off as you’re about to find out. Also, since we’re a brand focused on Porsche, I wanted to explore why the German automaker never considered going down this rabbit hole.

The Porsche 718 EV will soon join the Porsche Macan electric and four-door Taycan as the third model in Porsche’s lineup. This shows that regardless of a slowdown in sales, Porsche is going to continue models that it already had in the pipeline. So besides the 718 EV, the Cayenne and even a rumoured Taycan will be here before the end of the decade. However, the flagship model of the Porsche brand, i.e. the iconic 911 won’t be going electric until well into the early 2030s. So until then, it begs the question, why doesn’t Porsche use something that’s already here to cater to the discerning luxury car buyer, who’s looking for a sleek coupe in the form of a Taycan Two-door? Okay, this may sound preposterous and unrealistic in the real world, considering something like this will involve a considerable amount of retooling on the production line, but let’s just try and make the case for such a model, hypothetically.

Modern digital tools and computing power, give pretty much anybody (with some level of skill of course) the ability to manipulate images like never before. A.I. has only taken that narrative further, with endless ways to come up with silly stuff. But it can also be put to good use as we have here with this rendering based on the already stunning 2021 Mission R concept car, this time sans the wing. But here’s why I think this one is a bit more special when compared to previous Mission R renderings that cropped up online.

The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan houses one of the largest collections of automobile memorabilia in the world. The collection is so extensive that the museum even features a substantial secret collection of special cars, carefully preserved in a hidden bunker away from prying eyes. Imagine getting the opportunity to spend time in such hallowed halls—this is exactly what Top Gear’s Ollie Kew experienced. During his visit, he also had the chance to converse with the museum’s Curator of Transport, Matt Anderson, who is essentially a living encyclopedia of every vehicle in this collection. We get to see some of the rarest and most exotic cars ever made by the Blue Obal and hear their stories, straight from the man who has seen the collection grow over the years.