15 Oct 2026 · Texas and New York
Tesla vs Porsche, same day
Same day, two big reveals. Tesla finally rolled out the production Roadster at a SpaceX test site in Texas. Porsche parked the Mission S, a mid-engine car meant to sit above the 911, on a pier in Queens. One's a promise nine years late. The other's a concept with zero numbers. Here's what each said, and what nobody said.
Tesla Roadster · then vs now
The 2017 promise got smaller
Back in 2017 Tesla promised 620 miles, 250+ mph, four seats and a $200,000 starting price. The car in Texas claims 300+ miles, 230+ mph in the one-seat Rocket, and two seats max. Production? 2028 now, after 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 all came and went. Deposit: $5,000, then $45,000 within ten days. Price: still a mystery.
Performance · Thrust · Rocket
Three Roadsters, only one for the road
Performance does 0–60 in under 1.6 seconds and is the one you can actually drive. Thrust bolts cold-gas thrusters on the back for under 0.9 seconds, limited release. Rocket gets one seat, thrusters everywhere and under 0.59 seconds, and Tesla itself says it's not road legal. So the wildest numbers belong to the car you can't take home. Classic.
Tesla Roadster · thrusters and fan
Electrons, plus a lot of air
The secret sauce is compressed air. Tesla says the thruster cars carry about 600 litres of it, feeding up to ten thrusters, while a fan sucks the car onto the road. That's where the drive-upside-down party trick comes from. Nobody outside Tesla has driven one yet, so every number here is Tesla's word until someone independent straps in.
Porsche Mission S · Queens, New York
Same pier, 73 years later
Porsche revealed the Mission S on the Queens pier where the 550 Spyder was photographed in 1953, the car Porsche calls its first super sports car. Nice flex. The Mission S previews a mid-engine super sports car that sits above the 911, and it's meant to stay: not a limited-run hypercar, a permanent model. Still a concept, though, and no date.
Porsche Mission S · design
A Porsche greatest-hits album
Spot the references. Round lights and torpedo fenders: 911. Shut lines: G-model. Flat nose and car-in-car rear: GT1. Roofline under the wing: 959. Cooling fan: 917. Wheels riffing on the 928’s ‘dial’ design. Basically every Porsche nerd’s bedroom poster wall, in one car. New face or tribute act? Your call.
Porsche Mission S · inside
No screen. Your phone is the screen.
No centre screen, no passenger screen. A pop-out MagSafe holder turns your phone into the display, and you get five round gauges up front. Flick to a sportier mode and the analogue rev needle slides closer to you. After ten years of dashboards turning into TVs, this was the boldest move of the day. Dead battery, though? Good luck.
The fine print
The stuff they didn't say
Tesla: no price, no battery size, no power figure. Porsche: no engine, no power, no price, no date. The flat-eight talk? Rumours, not Porsche. One car takes your deposit for 2028 after six missed dates. The other's a concept with no promise to break. Which one would you actually wait for?