Deepika Agrawal 
Porsche hosted the third edition of the ‘Icons of Porsche’ annual festival in Dubai, over the weekend. With more than 27,000 fans in attendance, the festival had many highlights. One of these was a giant inflatable red sports car adorning the skyline at the Dubai Design District. Placed at the heart of the event, the huge balloon has officially entered the Guinness Book of World Records for being the ‘largest inflatable vehicle’.
Largest inflatable vehicle on Earth
It measured almost 20 metres in length, more than six metres in height and eight metres in width. Towering over the event, the inflatable Porsche was visible from several kilometres away. It was based on the shape of the first-generation of the 911, which was in production from 1963 to 1973.
Highlights from ‘Icons of Porsche’
The two-day event marked the brand’s 75th anniversary as well as 60 years of the 911. Other highlights of the festival included the new third-generation Panamera and a 911 Turbo Sonderwunsch. While it was the first public display of the former, the latter paid homage to the first-ever 911 Turbo, which was commissioned for Louise Piëch, daughter of Ferdinand Porsche. It was given to Piëch on her 70th birthday. The special 911 was a collaboration between Style Porsche, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur and the Porsche Middle East and Africa regional office with support of colleagues from Heritage & Museum.
Apart from these, 718 Spyder RS and Vision 357 Speedster concepts made their regional debuts. The all-electric Mission X hypercar concept, a 911 S/T and a host of cars from the Porsche Museum collection were also on display across the eight festival zones. These were: 60 Years of 911, an Esports Arena, The Pit Lane, The Boulevard, Mission X, Porsche Museum heritage truck, Art Beach and the new Panamera Cube.
Manfred Bräunl, CEO of Porsche Middle East and Africa FZE, said the aanual event wasn’t just a show of cars, art and culture, but a display of “the passion and strength of the region’s Porsche community”. He added, “Our third edition of this event was our biggest yet. I want to thank every Porsche owner that exhibited their car on-site. We truly appreciate their support and commitment in sharing their ‘dream’ sportscar with our festival audience.”
