No less than 15 concepts were revealed in 2020 during the release of the book “Porsche Unseen”. These cars were all designed in secret between 2005 and 2019 before Zuffenhausen finally decided to discover them all. The most surprising concept of the lot was undoubtedly Vision Renndienst. Yes, it’s that futuristic looking minivan.
Imagined with an electric powertrain, the people-mover vehicle was more than just a drawing since Porsche built a full-size model. A new video offers us the rare opportunity to get to know the improbable minivan and its very special interior better. It has a central driver’s seat a la McLaren F1/Speedtail, Lamborghini Egoista and Gordon Murray T.50. It is, however, much more practical than the others since it has five additional seats in the back, thanks to a pair of seats in the middle row and a three-seater bench behind them. Well, maybe just two rearmost seats since there are only two “floating” headrests.
The Vision Renndienst had an asymmetrical door layout with a single door on one side and two on the other. They’re all sliding doors, and since there’s no B-pillar, getting in and out is a breeze. The floor is completely flat since Porsche imagined the minivan with a tailor-made EV architecture with batteries piled under the vehicle. The driver’s seat also slides forward, making it even easier for second-row occupants to climb into their individual seats.
The instrument cluster is flanked by a pair of screens that presumably show images taken by the side cameras replacing the mirrors. The electric minivan has one of the strangest greenhouses we’ve ever seen, especially among minivans, with a small sunroof just for the driver. There are also touch controls on the doors as well as on the ceiling but this is just for show since they are not functional. After all, this is a 1:1 scale model.
You can imagine that Porsche had no intention of putting the Vision Renndienst into production. If that had happened, purists would probably have sold their beloved 911 the next day. This was done just for fun and as a tribute to the Volkswagen Transporter-based Porsche service vehicles of the time. VW returned the favor last year with an ID.Buzz emblazoned with Porsche Renndienst (Race Service) branding.
The minivan was arguably the least exciting concept in the Unseen concept. Cars such as the 904 Le Mans Living Legend, the 919 Street and the Vision Spyder were all much more interesting to someone who likes sports cars sporting the famous crest. There was also a Vision Turismo which became the Taycan. Porsche created Safari versions of the 911 and Macan, the former evolving into the limited production 911 Dakar model.
