My other car's a jet
The Duet collaboration between Embraer and Porsche is not just a gimmick. The two have worked hard to link the car and the aircraft together. Words: Alasdair Whyte
IT WAS A UNIQUE launch for a unique project. Embraer flew the launch customers from its Melbourne headquarters to the Kennedy Space Center. Porsche then hosted a race-driving experience in the Porsche 911 Turbo S on NASA’s shuttle runway.
Embraer and Porsche Duet first started working together benchmarking production quality. Over the years, the engineering teams suggested collaborating on a design project and then started looking at what products would work together. They soon settled on the Embraer Phenom 300E with the Porsche 911 Turbo S.
“Once the products were chosen, the next step was to make them match so that the customers could have a seamless and unique experience from driving to flying,” Alvadi Serpa-Junior, director of Product Strategy at Embraer Executive Jets, tells Corporate Jet Investor (CJI). “It wasn’t hard for us to come to a common understanding of what we had to do. And we very quickly noticed how much our engineering and design teams think alike and shared the same passion for details.”
The two companies worked together to create hundreds of design links between the aircraft and the car.
On the outside these include: the 911 being hand painted, the car intakes colour matching the leading-edge nacelles of the aircraft; “No Step” written on the car door sills; the car’s wheels are painted in Platinum Silver Metallic, with a laser then exposing a Speed Blue underlay on the rim flange.
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,” Jay Beever, Vice President of Embraer Design Operations tells CJI . “Whatever it’s passing knows not to even try because this is a jet owner and there’s a registration number matching an aircraft.”
Embraer Phenom 300E
Range (5occ, LRC) 2,010nm
High speed cruise 464kt
Take off distance 3,209ft
Landing distance 2,212ft
Engine 3,478lbf
Max payload 1,196kg
Ceiling 45,000ft
Max Passengers 10
Baggage Volume 84ft³
Duet logo is embossed on the seat headrests of the aircraft to represent lift...
….and then debossed on the seat headrests of the car to show downforce.
Porsche 911 Turbo S
Displacement 3.8 litre twin-turbo boxer 6
Max Power 640hp 590 lb-ft
Acceleration (from 0-60mph) 2.6s (from 0-1/4mile 10.5s
Top speed 205mph
Transmission 8-Speed Porsche
There are just as many details inside. “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,” says Beever. “They are getting places fast: on the ground and in the air.”
Buyers also get an exclusive Porsche-built Swiss watch, pilot jacket and luggage.
“Knowing our customer base well, we have many self-made people who found a way to not only be successful but learnt to fly an aeroplane, then certify in a jet and then buy one,” says Beever “There is a special mind there. They drive for perfection and that’s why this car and plane together are a celebration of those people who have changed business and often their country.”
Normally when aircraft manufacturers build an aircraft they want to sell as many as possible. But Embraer and Porsche are only building 10 of each with deliveries beginning in 2021.
The unique collaboration also has a unique price – reflecting the two products. It is yours for $10,911,300.
