Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Porsche-Embraer?
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Porsche-Embraer,
My friends all fly Praetors, I can’t take the stares
Worked hard all my lifetime, I just want my share,
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Porsche-Embraer,
With the holidays approaching, you may be struggling to find a present for a partner or friend. They like flying, driving fast cars, travelling (perhaps some luggage?) and collect watches. How do you choose?
Well those nice people at Embraer and Porsche have solved this problem for you with the Duet. For $10.9m (it should be $10.911m) you can get a limited-edition Phenom 300E and Porsche 911 Turbo set. But only if you are quick. Just 10 of each are being made.
To be fair, the two manufacturers – who first came together benchmarking production and quality – have worked hard on the Duet. It is not just a case of them coming up with a logo and sticking it on the side. There are lots of details bringing the two together.
The two aircraft match on the outside. Porsche will hand-paint (which is exclusive to the Duet project) all the 911 Turbo cars – using matching colours to the aircraft. The car’s wheels are painted in Platinum Silver Metallic, with a laser then exposing a Speed Blue underlay on the rim flange – the first time Porsche has done this. The air intakes of the car are painted in Brilliant Chrome to match the leading-edge nacelles of the aircraft.
When the car doors are open, the Duet logo is projected on the door. The door stills also have ‘No Step’ lettering – matching the aircraft’s wing. Inside the cabin, the seats on the Phenom 300E match the car. The seats on both have red pull straps,
Embraer and Porsche are targeting owner-pilots (or really cool flight departments) and the cockpit has been re-designed (and re-certificated) to match the car. “We redesigned the cockpit seat, so that the owner gets out of the car, gets into the cockpit, and feels truly connected – a seamless experience without any disappointments,” Jay Beever, Vice President of Embraer Design Operations, told Corporate Jet Investor. “They are getting places fast: on the ground and in the air.”
Porsche has also created a new steering wheel design to match the aircraft’s yoke. The car’s clock also has an artificial horizon like the aircraft cockpit.
The aircraft registration number appears on the car’s rear wing and on the key. “When the vehicle hits 72 miles per hour, that rear wing goes up,” says Beever. “Whatever it’s passing knows not to even try because this is a jet owner and there’s a registration number matching an aircraft. So, once the project is known publicly, when this car is seen on the street, people will know it’s in a league of its own. That this is a $10m-plus car because it had to come with an aeroplane.”
Some may see $10m as expensive for a car and an aircraft. But it also comes with a Swiss watch, weekend bags and a pilot bag.
If you miss out on one of the 10, you can always just give them a bumper sticker saying: “My other ride is a business jet.”
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