Porsche Vision 357 Emulates the Iconic 356 on Its 75th Birthday

• The Porsche Vision 357 concept is an homage to the German automaker's first sports car, the 356, which entered production 75 years ago in 1948.

• Although it's based on the new 718 Cayman GT4 RS, the Vision 357 echos the classic 356 proportions and the curvy, sleek bodywork of the original Porsche sports car.

• The Vision 357 is packed with unique details, from the delicate headlight and taillight designs to the motorsports-inspired front splitter and comedic decals on the windows and side sills.

Porsche loves to celebrate an anniversary. Sometimes the homages can feel forced, honoring a vehicle or event that has faded from memory or creating a limited edition as a cash grab for customers who just want an exclusive museum piece. However, the Vision 357 concept, revealed in Berlin at the Volkswagen Group’s “DRIVE” Forum, feels truly special and salutes a worthy forebear, commemorating 75 years since the launch of the first Porsche sports car, the iconic 356.

Surprisingly for a concept car released in 2023, the Vision 357 is not electric. Instead, the slinky coupe is based on the bones of the 718 Cayman GT4 RS, including the glorious 4.0-liter flat-six that cranks out 493 horsepower. Porsche envisions the mid-mounted motor in the Vision 357 running on carbon-neutral synthetic fuels—as indicated by the "eFuel" logo on the gas cap—which Porsche has committed to developing in hopes of keeping the internal combustion engines that made the brand famous alive.

But the real focus of the Vision 357 is design. Despite sitting on a modern platform, the 357 retains the 356's proportions, with a narrow cabin, squat stance, and wide rear haunches. The bodywork is ultra-smooth, lacking the hard creases in the metal that were impossible to create when the 356 first arrived in 1948. The door handles are hidden next to the side windows and the headlights and taillights are barely perceptible, represented simply by a series of dots arranged in circles and rectangles, respectively. The brake light is sneakily integrated into the rear grille that runs from the rear glass down to the diffuser, another reference to the 356.