Photo: Gary Lin via Instagram
You can count Porsche's questionable designs throughout history on the fingers of your hand, with a few of them taken up by the Cayenne SUV (particularly the first two generations).
It would seem hard to go wrong when you keep things simple (the way the German manufacturer does), but if it were that easy, wouldn't more brands steal the recipe? The truth is Porsche managed to find a unique identity thanks to the architecture of its bread-and-butter model, the 911, and stuck to it, spreading it over to the rest of the models as best it could.
Looking at the current lineup, you could say the Porsche design department is fully earning its wages. Even the more questionable models such as the Cayenne and Panamera are in the best place they've ever been, with the latter even going from a weird-looking fringe body style to one of the most desirable, in terms of looks, in the manufacturer's entire range. It even manages to make the wagon version (called Sport Turismo) look cool.
Speaking of good-looking wagons, Porsche recently introduced the Taycan Cross Turismo, the more practical version of its all-electric model that also claims to have a few off-road credentials, thanks to its (ever so slightly) higher ground clearance and plastic cladding. Let's be real, we all know all that is just for show, but that doesn't mean we're not enjoying the spectacle.
This rendering from Gary Lin, a young automotive designer with a bit of experience, seems to transpose the Cross Turismo recipe to an ICE-powered model while also bringing a few retro elements into the mix. The most obvious one is the rear, where his unnamed creation (we'll call it "Baby Panamera") seems to fuse some cues from the current 911, the often forgotten 968 model, and the always remembered Jaguar E-Type to great effect.
With the front design pretty much set in stone for Porsche, it's actually at the back where the bulk of the creativity can be allowed to flow. And with its short overhang and the pointy edge where the taillight bar sits, the Baby Panamera gets plenty of character to set it apart from anything else wearing a Porsche badge while still being easily identifiable as part of Stuttgart's finest.
The real question now is whether there is still room for a car like this in Porsche's lineup in the future, and the simple answer is "no." With more models planned to make the switch to electric powertrains, even if this one were to go through a similar conversion, it would find its place already taken by the Taycan Cross Turismo. Gary doesn't mention what type of propulsion it has, but judging by the size of the vents in the front, we'd guess it's something that needs air to burn fuel.
As a styling exercise, though, the Baby Panamera hits a straight home run. It just goes to show how versatile the seemingly constrained Porsche design language actually is when placed into the right hands.
Looking at the current lineup, you could say the Porsche design department is fully earning its wages. Even the more questionable models such as the Cayenne and Panamera are in the best place they've ever been, with the latter even going from a weird-looking fringe body style to one of the most desirable, in terms of looks, in the manufacturer's entire range. It even manages to make the wagon version (called Sport Turismo) look cool.
Speaking of good-looking wagons, Porsche recently introduced the Taycan Cross Turismo, the more practical version of its all-electric model that also claims to have a few off-road credentials, thanks to its (ever so slightly) higher ground clearance and plastic cladding. Let's be real, we all know all that is just for show, but that doesn't mean we're not enjoying the spectacle.
This rendering from Gary Lin, a young automotive designer with a bit of experience, seems to transpose the Cross Turismo recipe to an ICE-powered model while also bringing a few retro elements into the mix. The most obvious one is the rear, where his unnamed creation (we'll call it "Baby Panamera") seems to fuse some cues from the current 911, the often forgotten 968 model, and the always remembered Jaguar E-Type to great effect.
With the front design pretty much set in stone for Porsche, it's actually at the back where the bulk of the creativity can be allowed to flow. And with its short overhang and the pointy edge where the taillight bar sits, the Baby Panamera gets plenty of character to set it apart from anything else wearing a Porsche badge while still being easily identifiable as part of Stuttgart's finest.
The real question now is whether there is still room for a car like this in Porsche's lineup in the future, and the simple answer is "no." With more models planned to make the switch to electric powertrains, even if this one were to go through a similar conversion, it would find its place already taken by the Taycan Cross Turismo. Gary doesn't mention what type of propulsion it has, but judging by the size of the vents in the front, we'd guess it's something that needs air to burn fuel.
As a styling exercise, though, the Baby Panamera hits a straight home run. It just goes to show how versatile the seemingly constrained Porsche design language actually is when placed into the right hands.
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