Yes, wrecking cars is part of the process

By Gary S. Vasilash

This is a picture of a Porsche Taycan after it hit—under controlled circumstances, not randomly—a barrier while it was going 50 km/h, a.k.a. 31 mph.

You think that slow-speed accidents aren’t a big deal?

Look at the picture and think again.

Now as you look at the picture you may notice that the setting is not some engineering facility.

Rather, it is the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen, where a special exhibition, “50 Years of Porsche Development at Weissach” opened today. It runs through December 5.

The objective of the exhibition is to show various aspects of how vehicles are developed, from concept through design, engineering, and so on.

Said Achim Stejskal, head of Porsche Heritage and Museum, “Sports cars for the road and thoroughbred race cars have been developed in Weissach for half a century. Dreams are designed, created and tested in the middle of idyllic countryside.”

And as that crunched Taycan shows, it is necessary to do unidyllic things during vehicle development to assure that when the vehicles are on the road or on the track the occupants have measures of protection.