Porsche to Produce Spare Parts for its Vintage Models using 3D Printing!
Classical luxurious vintage cars are often the greatest love of many avid collectors. However, there’s one problem plaguing these cars – one that becomes apparent once things stop working as they should. In many cases it is very difficult, or perhaps even impossible, to obtain replacements for missing or broken parts. Porsche found a solution for this problem using modern technology.
It used to be difficult to get historical parts
Recently, Porsche Classic announced that they will begin 3D-printing parts for classical cars, with a goal of making it much easier to obtain the most important parts of vintage cars. This should make things much easier for owners of luxurious vintage Porsches. For instance, a clutch lever for a Porsche 959 requires complex production, and since there are only a mere 292 models remaining in the world, you won’t find these parts in shops that usually sell them.
Greater availability thanks to 3D printing
3D printing technology can be used to make steel or metal parts. It is a slow, expensive and virtually useless process for mass production. That being said, for owners of vintage cars this option will be much easier and cheaper than trying to find the parts they need for sale or having them custom-made. Porsche currently uses this technology to make a mere 8 parts, but in a few months it is expected that the program will span an additional 28 parts. Just to get an idea, in total we’re dealing with 52,000 parts that could be required by the owners of luxurious vintage Porsches.
In the automotive industry, 3D printing is mostly used to test parts – in that respect, Porsche is far from the only automaker that relies on this groundbreaking technology. For instance, Bugatti uses 3D printing to create their brake calipers.
