Porsche Mission S revealed in New York: a mid-engined super sports car platform above the 911

Porsche has shown the car it wants to sit above the 911. The Mission S, unveiled on October 15 on a pier in Queens, New York, is a white mid-engined concept, which Porsche calls a vision model, that previews both a new design language and, more importantly, a new tier of Porsche: a super sports car platform that the company says will be a permanent part of the range, not a one-off hypercar. Porsche didn't announce an engine, power figure, price or launch date.

For buyers, the headline is in what CEO Michael Leiters said rather than what the car showed. In Porsche's reveal release, he describes the Mission S as a mid-engined super sports car platform 'positioned above the 911 – not as a one-off hypercar, but as a permanent and versatile addition to our customer offering.' That confirms what Top Gear reported last week and sets the Mission S apart from the Carrera GT and 918 Spyder, which were limited runs.

Where and why New York

Porsche picked the location for its history. The company says the first photos of the mid-engined 550 Spyder were taken on this same Queens pier in 1953, and it calls the 550 its first super sports car and an early foundation of its success in the US. The reveal is part of 'Sportwagenschmiede '35', the strategy Leiters presented on October 7, which we covered in Porsche's reset under Michael Leiters.

The design: a greatest-hits list, reworked

Head of Style Tobias Sühlmann, who followed Leiters from McLaren, says the Mission S illustrates a direction Porsche 'will soon be translating into our future product portfolio.' The car borrows openly from Porsche's past, and the release names the sources:

• Round headlights and torpedo-shaped front fenders that echo the 911.
• Shut lines that run into the light graphics, a nod to the G-model 911.
• A flat front taken from the 911 GT1, and a 'car-in-car' rear concept also derived from the GT1.
• A roofline beneath the rear wing that recalls the 959 and runs all the way to the tail.
• A visible cooling fan at the rear, which Porsche links to the radiator fan of the 917 race car.
• Wheels based on the 928's 'dial' design, reworked for low weight.
• A fully integrated active rear wing and a wraparound line that connects the front and rear lights.

The show car's colors are new too: Firn White Metallic and Light Red Metallic outside, with Black Chrome and Special Black inside. Porsche says they reinterpret its classic motorsport white, grey and red. The overall look matches what leaked early: the video that leaked hours before the reveal, reported by Carscoops, showed the rear fan and stacked quad exhausts, and both are on the finished car.

Inside: no center screen, a red button and an aluminum key

The cabin is where Porsche departs most from its current cars. There's no permanent center display and no passenger screen. Instead a retractable, MagSafe-compatible holder lets the driver's own phone act as the navigation or information display when wanted. Other details from the release and Porsche's Mission S page:

• Five round instruments behind the wheel, with a digital rev counter that keeps an analog-style needle. Porsche says the dials rearrange, and the rev counter moves closer to the driver, depending on the drive mode.
• An 'On your own' driving mode, a red button on the steering wheel that switches off the driver assistance systems.
• A height-adjustable gear lever, a reworked Sport Chrono dial and push-pull controls in the dash.
• An aluminum key that sits left of the steering wheel, as on other Porsches.
• Seats with the seatbelt buckle built into the center bolster and relocated electric adjustment controls.

The gear lever is worth noting. Last week's teaser showed Park and Drive indicators, which pointed to Porsche's PDK dual-clutch. Porsche hasn't said what gearbox a road-going version would use, and a shifter on a show car doesn't settle it.

What Porsche confirmed, and what it didn't

Confirmed today: a mid-engined super sports car platform, positioned above the 911 and planned as a permanently available model line. Porsche's release says the goal is 'the highest level of engineering excellence and maximum flexibility.' After the reveal, Porsche told Car and Driver that the future model line the Mission S previews will support pure gasoline engines as well as conventional hybrid and plug-in hybrid options, and that there will be no fully electric version because the company sees no demand for one in this segment. That updates earlier Autocar reporting that CEO Michael Leiters had framed the car as combustion-only.

Still not confirmed: the specific engine, power, weight, price, production volume or timing. Reporting before the reveal disagreed on the engine layout, with Car and Driver citing rumors of a flat-eight and Automotive News reporting a V8 with a heavily modified 911-based structure. The reveal release doesn't settle it, and neither does the official Mission S page. Car and Driver had named the Ferrari 849 Testarossa and McLaren 750S as likely rivals. Porsche's official Mission S video is on its preview page, and the full release and photos are in the Porsche Newsroom.

Market perspective

A permanent Porsche above the 911 will compete for the same buyers who now pay the most for 911 GT cars. Exotic Car Trends tracks about 1,200 US and Canadian 911 listings a day, and at the top of today's range the median asking prices we recorded on October 11 were roughly $511,000 for a 992 GT3 RS and $801,000 for a 991.2 GT2 RS. Those are asking prices, not sales. We'll watch whether the top end softens now that buyers know a higher tier is coming. Live numbers are on the Porsche dashboard.

What happens next

• Powertrain family: Porsche told Car and Driver the future model line will support gasoline, hybrid and plug-in hybrid; no BEV. Specific engine, power and gearbox still unannounced.
• Price and timing: not announced. We'll update when Porsche confirms either.
• Production design: Sühlmann says the Mission S ideas will 'soon' reach Porsche's product range.
• Our data: we'll report how top-end 911 asking prices move in the weeks after the reveal.