Lienhards

New era. In September 2013 the first production example of what is currently known as part of the “Holy Trinity” of hypercars of the 2010s emerged from a factory in Zuffenhausen. The moment that the engineers decided to use a V8 engine derived from that of a Le Mans prototype – the RS Spyder – as the main power unit, it became absolutely clear that the 918 was aiming for performance heights previously unseen by any Porsche road car. The same 90° V8 architecture was used, this time with 4.6 liters of displacement, a massive increase when compared to RS Spyder’s 3.4-liter engine. As previously mentioned, the release took place in the first half of the 2010s, a time when electrification of the automotive industry was already underway and, as was bound to happen, started impacting the hypercar and supercar segment. The 918 was one of the first cars in its class to have electric motors accompany a classic ICE. Two electric motors were installed, powering the front and rear axle respectively, which gave the car an additional 285 horsepower, with 154 horsepower given to the rear axle and 127 to the front, on top of the 599 provided by the V8. With a combined output of 881 horsepower, Porsche’s PDK transmission and its 1,674 kilogram weight with its base specification, the 918 is granted a top speed of 339 km/h, and a 0-100 km/h acceleration in 2.2 – 2.5 seconds as reported by Porsche as well as independent tests. For the clients who desired more, a special Weissach Package was available for an extra $84,000. Thanks to this version’s new, super-lightweight magnesium wheels, carbon fiber windscreen frame, roof, rear wings, and rear-view mirrors that replaced heavier aluminum parts, an additional 41 kilograms of weight was saved. Additionally, it featured an extended carbon fiber rear diffuser, and Alcantara interior.

Lienhards. The production of the 918 lasted until June 2015, and in that same year a car with the numbers 127/918 on the plaque (as only 918 were built) was delivered to its current place of residence, a facility in a small Swiss town at Lake Constance in Romanshorn. Despite being a somewhat unremarkable place at first glance, the town is quite important from an auto enthusiast’s perspective, and to understand this importance we will share some historical insight. In 1880 the Swiss Federal Customs Administration had built a brick hall with a portion of it in the shape of a 12-sided polygon, where a steel reservoir for industrial alcohol was stored. In 1996 the land and facility were bought by Freddy Lienhard, a Lista Racing team founder and racing driver with quite a number of achievements in his racing career, including the win in the 2002 24 Hours of Daytona, the 1997 24 Hours of Zolder, and others. The building was purchased to store his racecar and sportscar collection that he accumulated over years of participating in all sorts of racing series from the 1970’s up until 2008. Alongside it, a large workshop was built where customers could have their cars repaired and restored. The collection has been open to public visits since 2009. In 2016 Lienhard’s son, Fredy Alexander Lienhard, took over the collection and brought everything up to modern technical and aesthetic standards. With time the collection has been expanded to include some of the more recent cars, and the Porsche 918 Spyder is among them. Since 2015 it has never changed ownership outside of the Lienhard family, and always remained a part of the collection. In August 2018 during a “Roll Out” event at the mini-racing course right next to the museum, it was driven by Neel Jani, a Swiss racing driver and a winner of the 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Our popular opinion. Undoubtedly, the 918 Spyder can now be considered a modern classic. While we still have close to 5 years to see and evaluate its spiritual successor, it’s evident that it does a spectacular job following the guidelines of the 959 and Carrera GT. Some could argue that it could have had a naturally aspirated V10 and a manual transmission, but we think evolution is as important as performance and design choices, and the 918 delivers its best when it comes to all of these aspects. For reasons that speak for themselves, Porsche takes its well-deserved place among the “Holy Trinity” of hypercars for another decade.