Tobias Sühlmann didn’t have much time to settle into his new role as Porsche’s vice president of style. “It was full on from the first day,” he tells Car and Driver in his first one-on-one interview with the American press.
Just a few months after his start in February, he received a call from Porsche CEO Michael Leiters—“on a Saturday evening,” Sühlmann notes—that set out his first major task. “He said, ‘There should be a car above the 911, and it could be a mid-engine car, and let’s develop some ideas.’ ”
The resulting vehicle is the all-new Porsche Mission S, which was just revealed in New York. This production-ready two-door mid-engine super sports car came about on a startlingly rapid timeline, which seems like it would be a challenge. Fortunately, going fast is something Sühlmann enjoys. “I like to work quicker,” he says. “You have to have a clear vision, you have to translate the vision into surfaces, you have to talk to the team, and the team has to have the same mindset.” The handsome, purposeful, and impassioned design of the new car demonstrates the efficacy of his efforts.
Sühlmann came to Porsche after stints running design groups for McLaren, Bentley, Aston Martin, and Bugatti, so he knows the sport/luxury category well. But, like many automotive aficionados, he has a primal affection for the cars from Zuffenhausen. “I’ve loved Porsches since I was a kid,” he says.
Still, he had some catching up to do to prepare for the job. “I looked into our history. I went to the museum. I went to the archives. I wanted to really study the brand, to really understand and to dig deep,” he says. “The foundation is our legacy.”
One of his favorite vehicles from the Porsche back catalog is similarly foundational, the so-called “F-Model,” the initial incarnation of the 911. He’s also a fan of the form-follows-function purity of the 550 Spyder. And he loves the 959 for its audacity, and the way it pushed the limits of the brand’s current platforms, a supercar developed out of a 911. Perhaps most charmingly, for those of us who love (and own) one, he threw some love to an underappreciated transaxle model. “The 928 was one of the cars that was mind-blowing, because it was a complete break from the 911 before—complete different package,” he says, drawing a shark-nosed egg in the air with his hands. “There are so many things I love about that car.”
Halo, Plus, and Core
Another of Sühlmann’s initial responsibilities was to create an organizational structure for Porsche’s future vehicle development. Moving forward, he says, the brand will narrow its focus, dividing its lineup into just three categories: “Halo” supercars, like the new Mission S; “Plus” vehicles, like the Cayenne, Macan, and Panamera, that offer more space for passengers and cargo; and “Core” vehicles, in which, he says, “the 911 is the center of gravity.”
He’s also helped define design standards for the brand that will exist across all these categories. These include “torpedo” front fenders, a “flyline” fastback roof profile, a clean wraparound main body line, and a haunching muscular rear. These elements are all, notably, all derived from the 911, and the 356 before it. This made us wonder if the genetic patrimony of the 911—the design of which has been startlingly consistent over the past seven decades even as competitors such as the Mercedes SL and Chevrolet Corvette have evolved wildly with the times—ever feels like a prison.
Cars as Athletes
“Clearly, we have a lot of legacy, a lot of heritage to work with. And maybe that to some people can be like weight on your shoulders,” he says. But instead of looking at this as a liability, he found a positive and unifying thematic approach. “I said, okay, let’s see all of our cars as athletes. But they have different characters and different body shapes, different body types—like a boxer has different muscles and a different body type in comparison to a cyclist or a sprinter. And then that gives you the basis on how to separate the characters. So, that was also part of the fun of that.”
One of the most intriguing elements in the Mission S project is its inclusion of a manual transmission and analog switchgear and gauges (or at least an analog gauge needle) and its exorcism of integrated LCD touchscreens. According to Sühlmann, this is derived from client feedback. “There were customers who were saying, ‘The only screen I need is my windscreen.’ ”
This made us wonder if such direct engagement could filter back into other product categories beyond Porsche’s race-car-inspired moonshot “halo” vehicles. After all, it wasn’t that long ago (well, 2006) that a Carrera GT, 911, and Cayenne could all be had with real gauges, a stick, and minimal screens. Sühlmann does not take our bait.
“I have a 992 GTS that I drive every day. But in London where my family lives, I have a Taycan. I can go more digital in that car, so my kids, when they go on a long trip, maybe they also like their iPads,” he says. “All Porsches, all good cars, but different needs.” He likens this to the powertrain-agnostic philosophy Porsche is adopting. “You can have hybrids, you can have EVs, and you can have full combustion charge engines. Give the customer the choice.”
Since he admitted to owning a 992 and a Taycan, we wrap up our chat by asking Sühlmann if he has any other Porsches in his collection. “I had a 996 3.4-liter that I sold,” he says almost dolefully. “It was black on black, and I loved that car. That was my first Porsche. And yeah, it was a manual gearshift and it was fantastic.”
As with many designers, the conversation inevitably returns to design. “Back in the day, people said to me about my 996, ‘Oh, what a big car.’ Back then, of course, they’d compare it to a 993,” he says. “But if you compare it nowadays to a 911, it seems like a compact car.” If he finds the time, perhaps automotive size creep can be the next challenge that Sühlmann tackles.
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Brett Berk (he/him) is a former preschool teacher and early childhood center director who spent a decade as a youth and family researcher and now covers the topics of kids and the auto industry for publications including CNN, the New York Times, Popular Mechanics and more. He has published a parenting book, The Gay Uncle’s Guide to Parenting, and since 2008 has driven and reviewed thousands of cars for Car and Driver and Road & Track, where he is contributing editor. He has also written for Architectural Digest, Billboard, ELLE Decor, Esquire, GQ, Travel + Leisure and Vanity Fair.