Tag Archives: Porsche

News

Porsche Digs Into Its Archives to Revive Iconic Interior Fabrics—Pepita, Pasha, Tartan, and More Are Back

Porsche has always understood that design doesn’t stop at the sheetmetal. Yes, the Stuttgart brand’s silhouette work—long hoods, fastback roofs, the unmistakable 911 profile—gets much of the glory. But inside, Porsche has spent decades building a second, quieter legacy: textiles. Pepita, Pasha, tartan, pinstripes—patterns that became as much a part of the Porsche identity as air-cooled flat-sixes and whale tails.

Now, those storied fabrics are making a comeback.

“By reissuing these fabrics we are closing a gap,” says Ulrike Lutz, Director Classic at Porsche. With many owners eager to return their classic or young-timer Porsches to exact factory specification, the brand saw demand for authentic upholstery rise sharply. The problem? The market was flooded with look-alike materials—patterns that resembled the originals but didn’t hold up to the quality standard Porsche demands. “We want to offer our customers a tested original alternative again,” Lutz adds.

Authenticity, Down to the Last Thread

These aren’t mere tribute reprints. Porsche dug into its company archives, retrieving original samples and specifications to ensure the new runs match not only the look, but the feel, durability, and color accuracy of the factory materials. Because often restorers aren’t redoing an entire interior—just one heavily worn seat bolster, a faded insert, or a single sun-bleached door card.

“Often, the upholsterer only has to reupholster the driver’s seat,” explains product manager Lukas Werginz. Matching a 40- or 50-year-old passenger seat requires ruthless precision, particularly with complex patterns. To that end, Porsche subjects the revived fabrics to a battery of durability tests: fire resistance, abrasion resistance, and light and color fastness. The new materials are sold as Porsche Genuine Parts in 1.5-by-2-meter sheets, ready for everything from seat centers to side panels.

The lengths Porsche went for accuracy are almost archaeological. In the U.S., the Classic team uncovered a pristine, unused 911 seat from 1975—still wearing immaculate green tartan upholstery. “Stored in a light-proof cupboard, and therefore perfectly preserved, this new-old-stock item was gold dust for us,” Werginz recalls.

Pepita: The Checkered Icon Returns

Pepita—its checked pattern linked by diagonal stripes—first appeared in the 356 in 1963, then in the early 911 two years later. The name traces back to 19th-century Spanish dancer Pepita de Oliva, but the pattern’s fashion fame came courtesy of Christian Dior. In Porsche lore, Pepita is synonymous with the brand’s early years: light, simple, and classically European.

Tartan: Turbo-Era Attitude

Tartan carries a different energy: heritage, confidence, and a bit of rebellious flair. Porsche offered three distinct tartans in the 1974 911 Turbo, expanding availability to the standard 911 lineup shortly after. It even appeared in concept form at the 1973 Frankfurt IAA on a 911 RSR Turbo study trimmed in Black Watch tartan.

Perhaps the most famous tartan Porsche ever delivered belonged to Louise Piëch—daughter of Ferdinand Porsche and mother of Ferdinand Piëch—whose silver “No. 1” 911 Turbo featured deep red leather and McLaughlan tartan inserts. It doesn’t get more Porsche-family-royalty than that.

Pasha: The Lounge-Racer Statement Piece

And then there’s Pasha—the most divisive, unmistakable Porsche textile ever created. Inspired by racing chequered flags and conceived under the wild design team of Anatole “Tony” Lapine and Vlasta Hatter, Pasha is a hypnotic grid of expanding and contracting rectangles that seems to pulse with movement.

First shown in a 928 in 1977 and later offered in the 911, 924, and 944, Pasha became the unofficial interior of Porsche’s late-’70s and early-’80s aesthetic. Its name was meant to evoke an Ottoman sultan lounging on luxurious cushions. Subtle, it was not—but unforgettable, absolutely.

Today, Porsche has revived Pasha not only for restorations but for new vehicles as well, debuting the pattern in the 911 Spirit 70 special edition. It’s a bold callback to a time when Porsche interiors weren’t afraid to swing for the fences.

Source: Porsche

News

Porsche Leipzig Clinches Automotive Lean Production Award—Here’s Why It Matters

Porsche’s Leipzig plant just added another trophy to its display case, but this one isn’t about lap times or horsepower. This week, the consulting firm Agamus Consult and the industry magazine Automobilproduktion awarded the factory the 2025 Automotive Lean Production Award in the OEM category—an accolade that has become something of a global benchmark for manufacturing excellence. The ceremony took place at Volkswagen Poznań in Poland, where leaders from across the automotive world gathered to spotlight plants that aren’t just building cars, but redefining how cars should be built.

For Porsche, the win underscores more than its reputation for precision engineering. According to Albrecht Reimold, Porsche’s Board Member for Production and Logistics, the Leipzig operation stands out because of its “technical expertise” and its “clear strategy that is rigorously pursued and continuously developed.” Translation: these folks don’t just follow a playbook—they write a new one every year.

A Two-Stage Test—And a Tough One

Earning this award isn’t as simple as filling out a form. The evaluation unfolds in two rounds: first, a comprehensive questionnaire, and second, an on-site inspection where a team of experts digs into the plant’s processes, challenges assumptions, and looks for real-world proof that lean principles are more than managerial buzzwords.

Plant manager Gerd Rupp—whose team has now taken top honours in the OEM category—frames the recognition not as a finish line but as a pressure test. “Competitions like these are opportunities to benchmark ourselves internationally,” he says. “Recognising potential and continuously improving—that reflects Porsche’s pioneering spirit.”

Robots, Data, and the Future of Craftsmanship

At the heart of Leipzig’s achievement is a production ecosystem where high-tech automation works hand in hand with human expertise. You see it in the Macan Electric body shop, where 77 automated guided vehicles (AGVs) shuttle components directly to the line. These aren’t simple robotic carts—they react dynamically to production demands, forming an intelligent logistics ballet that keeps the line fed without friction.

Quality control, too, is getting the digital treatment. In the axle assembly area, a fully automated inspection system now checks 550 different criteria across multiple component variants. Total time per inspection? Just 80 seconds.

But perhaps the most compelling example of “digital intelligence,” as the jury called it, is in an area where Porsche has always flexed: the test drive. Every vehicle produced in Leipzig gets driven before shipment, but until recently, the routine was the same for every car. Now, data-driven classification software assigns one of three custom test-drive profiles based on what the car’s production data reveals—turning the final check into a precision-tailored shakedown.

Lean Thinking, Porsche Culture

Although the cutting-edge tech stands out, Porsche insists that the real secret sauce is people. Employee involvement is central to the plant’s lean methodology, and daily decision-making happens close to the action—at the Gemba, where value is created.

Leipzig organizes its production into “centres of excellence,” each an interdisciplinary micro-team. In assembly, for example, a shift supervisor, production planner, and quality controller function like a tiny company within the factory, empowered to make fast, joint decisions. Rupp describes it simply: “One team, one goal—without silo thinking.”

The approach seems to pay off. Short communication loops, direct accountability, and fast problem-solving give the plant a startup-like agility—no small feat given the scale of Porsche’s output.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As part of tradition, this year’s winner will host next year’s Automotive Lean Production Congress. So in November 2026, leaders from across the automotive world will converge on the Porsche Experience Center Leipzig—not just to celebrate lean excellence, but to see firsthand why the Leipzig plant keeps setting the standard.

In an industry racing toward electrification, efficiency, and digital transformation, Porsche Leipzig isn’t just keeping pace—it’s pulling ahead.

Source: Porsche

NEW CARS

Porsche Panamera Turbo Sonderwunsch: When Personalization Becomes Performance Art

Porsche has never been shy about blurring the line between production car and personalized sculpture, but the Panamera Turbo Sonderwunsch might be its most compelling argument yet for the art of bespoke automotive design. First revealed with a custom exterior that looked more at home in Monaco than in a configurator, the brand has now pulled the curtain back on an interior that’s every bit as audacious as the paintwork. The unveiling took place at the Icons of Porsche festival in Dubai—fittingly, a city where the ordinary rarely survives.

A Cabin Built Like a Concept Car—But for a Real Customer

Porsche’s Sonderwunsch program exists for one purpose: to turn a customer’s imagination into metal, leather, and lacquer. According to Alexander Fabig, Vice President of Individualisation and Classic, this Panamera’s interior is meant to demonstrate “our passion for making every customer’s personal dream a reality with the utmost precision.”

Precision is an understatement. The cabin mirrors the exterior’s dramatic fade from Leblon Violet Metallic to black, but trades violet for a sunset hue. A gradient shift from black into Sunset Red Metallic sweeps across seat centers, the parcel shelf, and even the vehicle document folder—because in this car, the details don’t take days off.

Avium Metallic: A Color Born for One Customer

A custom paint shade—Avium Metallic—was created specifically for this project. Outside, it highlights pinstripes, wheel faces, and window frames. Inside, Porsche lets the color take a victory lap.

Avium appears on:

  • The Sonderwunsch lettering on the console
  • Switchgear
  • Sport Chrono display bezel and hands
  • Seat piping
  • Door handles
  • Audio speaker grilles
  • Even the Drive Mode switch ring

It’s rare for a color to feel like a narrative thread, but Avium Metallic binds the cabin and exterior into one synchronized design language.

Craftsmanship That Borders on Excess—In the Best Way

The dashboard and door panels are wrapped in black leather with double stitching in Barrique Red, contrasting cleanly against black-stained chestnut wood inserts. The aesthetic is both quietly traditional and deliberately extravagant.

But the detail likely to spark the most conversation is stitched into the seats themselves. On the driver’s side, the badge carries the coordinates for Zuffenhausen—Porsche’s birthplace. On the passenger side: Leipzig, where the Panamera comes to life. It’s a subtle nod to heritage, and an invitation for future Sonderwunsch customers to embed their own story.

A Humidor and Champagne Cooler—Because Why Not?

If there were any doubt that this car was built for the most particular kind of connoisseur, Porsche’s design team erased it by integrating two concept features that feel straight out of a luxury yacht.

The cigar humidor sits beneath a glass lid in the center console. Cedarwood inserts and a hygrometer keep the microclimate just right, while removable trays hold a cigar cutter and lighter.

Not to be outdone, the illuminated Champagne cooler is tucked into the rear seat, tailored for a small bottle and two glasses. The bottle holder is leather-wrapped, Avium-painted, and embossed with the Sonderwunsch name.

Yes, it’s excessive. No, Porsche doesn’t apologize.

A Luggage Compartment That Laughs at the Concept of ‘Trunk’

Open the rear hatch and you won’t find carpet or plastic trim—everything is clad in leather. Black anodized metal strips framed in Avium guard against scratches, while the loading-sill protector includes real gold flakes suspended in the finish. It’s a trunk you treat like a showroom floor.

The Final Touches

Illuminated door sill plates with brushed black aluminum frame the Sonderwunsch branding. Even the key case and charging cable bag—both leather, both contrast-stitched—are crafted to match the cabin’s palette.

The Panamera Turbo Sonderwunsch isn’t simply a special edition—it’s a rolling argument for what happens when a manufacturer hands over the design reins to a customer with vision and a team with the craftsmanship to deliver. Porsche didn’t just match interior to exterior; it created a cohesive design universe where every stitch, shade, and piece of hardware contributes to the story.

This Panamera isn’t built for mass production. It’s built for the one person who dared to imagine it—and for the rest of us to admire from a respectful distance.

Source: Porsche