Porsche's Mission S swaps big screens for mechanical switches
Top Gear's Tom Ford explores a combustion-powered design study intended to put a production supercar above the 911.
Top Gear
Story of Why this story? 2,794,933 views so far, and here is what is inside it.
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- 0:00The Mission S previews a planned mid-engine, combustion-powered production supercar positioned above the 911.
- 4:06Ford explains that primarily metal body construction is intended to support higher production volumes.
- 4:55A flat-eight engine and hybrid assistance are possibilities Ford discusses, not confirmed specifications.
- 5:38The cabin replaces large screens with mechanical switches, a pop-out MagSafe phone mount and a sequential shifter.
- 9:20Sühlmann explains how airflow, deployable rear elements and mid-engine proportions shape the exterior.
- 12:12Mechanical watches provide a reference for making automotive components visible and interesting.
The phone gets a pop-out mount. The dashboard gets mechanical switches. Inside Porsche's Mission S, Tom Ford finds a cabin that has deliberately made room by taking the big screens away.
That is one of the clearest ideas in Top Gear's walkaround: a supercar need not make its interior feel like a consumer-electronics display. There is a sequential shifter, too, while outside, a horizontally mounted cooling fan and deployable rear elements give Ford plenty of machinery to inspect.
The important qualification comes at the start. This is a design study previewing a planned production car, not a finished model ready for customers. Ford describes a mid-engine, two-seat Porsche with an internal combustion engine, positioned above the 911. Top Gear frames the intended difference from Porsche's limited-run halo cars as scale: metal construction rather than a carbon-fiber body, with production in the thousands rather than hundreds.
What powers it remains an open question. Ford floats a flat-eight and possible hybrid assistance, but neither is presented as a confirmed specification.
The walkaround becomes a conversation with Porsche design chief Tobias Sühlmann at a New York launch event. He explains how mid-engine proportions emphasize the rear of the car, and how airflow and moving aerodynamic parts help determine its shape. Later, the discussion turns to mechanical watches and the appeal of seeing components at work.
Viewers are picking up on that physical approach. Comments dwell on the absence of a giant touchscreen, whether a well-placed phone mount is enough, and the older Porsches they recognize in the rear bodywork. Several want the design study itself built, rather than merely used as inspiration.
Published on Trari
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What viewers say
It is nice to see a manufacturer developing something without a 3-foot touchscreen as the centerpiece
@aggiamyraSee it on YouTubeLess Silicon Valley. More Stuttgart.
@pennydomeSee it on YouTubeBack end Is a 928 coming out of a 959
@BoxxArtSee it on YouTube
4 more comments
A perfectly positioned phone mount is just as good as the old screen console.
@emi_lanoSee it on YouTubeDear Porsche, don't just make this a "preview" of thing to come; build this exact car. It's absolutely sublime.
@djsteinkSee it on YouTube0:58 headlight from this view can't get more classic than that. It's astonishing how they manage to make something that looks so classic and familiar and so futuristic at the same time
@freezby7585See it on YouTubeI'm one for more old school design to be honest but ngl, thats a pretty Porsche
@CaptK27See it on YouTube
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- Channel
- Top Gear
- Subscribers
- 9,550,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 7,970,119
- Channel views, pace per day
- 324,414 (on a normal day: 958,340)
- Video published
- October 19, 2026
- Video views so far
- 2,794,933 (5 days online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 357,130 (on a normal day: 725,990)
The numbers
The Mission S walkaround has drawn about 2.8 million views in five days. Its viewing total is not unusual for Top Gear; the story here is Porsche's proposed direction.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which Porsche model is the planned Mission S production car intended to sit above?
Ford introduces the Mission S as a preview of a car positioned above the 911 in Porsche's range.