Skip to main content

A supercar is born: Watch the hand assembly of a Porsche 918 Spyder

Lots of car reviews like to throw around the term “well crafted,” but it isn’t too often that we get to see that craft taking place. In this video posted on YouTube, we’re treated to the sight of the men and women doing such work, assembling one of today’s most preeminent supercars: The Porsche 918 Spyder.

At the assembly plant in Zuffenhausen, Germany, a team at Porsche put together the hyper hybrid by hand. Everything from the door upholstery being fitted to the door panels to the components of the 4.6-liter V8 engine coming together is done this way.

Porsche 918 Spyder Assembly

It’s all incredibly clean as well, no dingy, grease-covered factory. Here, the white-gloved engineers combine carbon fiber shells with electric motors in a pristinely white environment. It looks like what an auto shop would be like on the Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back.

The end result is a wonderful composition of automobile, a hybrid sports car that has 608 horsepower on tap from just its V8, which combines with two electric motors to deliver a whopping 887 hp at maximum output. The $845,000 Porsche uses all this power to launch from 0 to 60 in under three seconds, capable of climbing to speeds upwards of 211 mph.

We’ll give you this head’s up: as intriguing as the video is, there’s no music and barely any sounds in the video as the stalwart assembly personnel go about building Spyder no. 904 for some lucky car collector. We’ve found that queuing up the theme to The Office to run along side it works amazingly well.

Alexander Kalogianni
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Alex K is an automotive writer based in New York. When not at his keyboard or behind the wheel of a car, Alex spends a lot of…
These new NASA EVs will drive astronauts part way to the moon (sort of)
NASA's new crew transportation electric vehicles.

Three specially designed, fully electric, environmentally friendly crew transportation vehicles for Artemis missions arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week. The zero-emission vehicles, which will carry astronauts to Launch Complex 39B for Artemis missions, were delivered by Canoo Technologies of Torrance, California. NASA/Isaac Watson

NASA has shown off a trio of new all-electric vehicles that will shuttle the next generation of lunar astronauts to the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center.

Read more
5 upcoming EVs I’m excited for, from luxury SUVs to budget champions
Lotus Eletre

Almost every major automaker has released an EV by now -- or plans to soon -- and makers like Ford and Kia already have a variety to choose from. But if you haven't found one that's right for you yet, hang tight. There are dozens of announced electric car models that have yet to come out, and it's clear that the future of EVs is bright.

From longer range to lower prices, the next batch of EVs gives us plenty to get excited about. Here are five upcoming EVs that we can't wait to drive.
Volvo EX30

Read more
Tesla shows off first Cybertruck after two years of delays
The first Cybertruck built at Tesla's Giga Texas facility.

The first Cybertruck built at Tesla's Giga Texas facility. Tesla

Tesla has shown off the first Cybertruck to roll off the production line at its new Gigafactory plant in Austin, Texas.

Read more