Automotive

Porsche in space: Yes, that new Star Wars fighter has Taycan headlights

Porsche in space: Yes, that new Star Wars fighter has Taycan headlights
The Pegasus: another iconic Star Wars spaceship?
The Pegasus: another iconic Star Wars spaceship?
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Porsche is hoping you'll think of sports cars when you see the Tri-Wing S91X Pegasus Starfighter
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Porsche is hoping you'll think of sports cars when you see the Tri-Wing S91X Pegasus Starfighter
Those buttresses behind the cabin remind us of Porsche convertibles
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Those buttresses behind the cabin remind us of Porsche convertibles
She's pretty aerodynamic for something that spends so much time outside the atmosphere
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She's pretty aerodynamic for something that spends so much time outside the atmosphere
Tail-light clusters echo the Taycan's headlights
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Tail-light clusters echo the Taycan's headlights
The Pegasus: another iconic Star Wars spaceship?
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The Pegasus: another iconic Star Wars spaceship?
Pilot-central 3-seat cockpit layout
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Pilot-central 3-seat cockpit layout
The Porsche Taycan - see any resemblance?
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The Porsche Taycan - see any resemblance?
View gallery - 7 images

Here's a bit of next-level product placement for you. Porsche has let part of its design team off the chain to co-design a spaceship for the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker movie. Meet the Tri-Wing S91X Pegasus Starfighter.

What fun this project must have been. The Porsche guys outside Stuttgart worked together with Lucasfilm designers in San Francisco for two months to get the tiniest bit of recognizable Porsche DNA into the movie.

The Pegasus, a "new republic light assault starship" piloted by the good guys, has lines around its headlights to echo the droopy teardrop of the Taycan's headlight cutouts. It's got a gently tapering cockpit design and 911-style buttresses toward the back, surrounding the little droid co-pilot; indeed, the whole thing seems very aerodynamic for something that spends most of its time in the void of space.

Porsche is hoping you'll think of sports cars when you see the Tri-Wing S91X Pegasus Starfighter
Porsche is hoping you'll think of sports cars when you see the Tri-Wing S91X Pegasus Starfighter
The Porsche Taycan - see any resemblance?
The Porsche Taycan - see any resemblance?

The pilot-centric three-seat cabin layout owes more to Gordon Murray or the McLaren Speedtail than to any Porsche, but we won't dwell on that.

Really the only thing people are likely to register even on the most subliminal of levels would be the four-lens headlights on this thing, which echo the Taycan's distinctive headlight clusters. They're echoed at the back of the ship, albeit turned on their sides, and the effect is nice enough that we wonder if we might see them on the back of a Porsche soon.

One wonders how much money changed hands for this tiny branding nod. The team has built a 1.5-meter (5-foot) long model of the ship, which will be in show at the movie's premiere in LA.

Tail-light clusters echo the Taycan's headlights
Tail-light clusters echo the Taycan's headlights

It's a weird idea, and a strangely subtle little bit of crass product placement, but the Porsche team's reverence and excitement for the Star Wars world is palpable, and the result is an elegant, fast-looking spaceship to add to the long catalogue of iconic Star Wars vehicles like the X-Wing, Tie Fighter, Millennium Falcon, Star Destroyer and dozens of others. Time will tell if it sticks in the culture the way those others have.

If you're a fan of Porsche, Lucasfilm or design itself, you might enjoy this video following the collaboration, which also shows some footage of the thing in flight, that I don't believe has been in any of the trailers thus far.

Porsche x Star Wars: “The Designer Alliance”

Source: Porsche

View gallery - 7 images
5 comments
5 comments
alexD
i dont see any resemblance; I dont think in cars and you should know that wings in space are useless..
Jmnsnow
I agree with wing design problem., maybe if they were thicker and would appear more functional. The original Porsche with the young, egg, bathtub look, might have been a better starting point.
buzzclick
Thing is, if the Pegasus had to swoop down into the atmosphere of a nearby planet, the wings would make it able to perform flight maneuvers. It's the headlights that are useless, but they sure made enough hooplah about the design process, and it does look spiffy. I have no doubt it will appeal to the Star wars crowd. Personally, I don't see much of a connection to Porsche cars, and where is the third wing? Or is "Tri-wing" a reference to its ability to take 3 pilots?
Gregg Eshelman
If you want obvious Porsche inspiration for a Star Wars spacecraft, compare Torra Doza's fighter in "Star Wars: Resistance" to a Porsche 917 race car with the GULF OIL paint scheme. Exactly the same colors and many common styling cues.
Imran Sheikh
I wish the scientists and corporate leads of the aerospace industry were gutsy enough to approve these kind of designs, because "This design can actually fly" by bevelling the front and increasing the tail length, and replacing the booster engines with Jets - Imran Sheikh