The Milivié 1 is a car that is instantly recognisable yet is a vehicle that has never been imagined. An iconic automobile that was created for the masses completely evolved into a machine for the very select few. Milivié is the brainchild of Jonathan Engler, an active, innovative artistic engineer with the vision to celebrate extinct German automotive icons and discreetly re-engineer them anew to unimaginable standards.

In a perfectly executed interpretation of contemporary nostalgia the Milivié team have pushed the envelope of restomod into a new area, executing a vehicle that challenges and delights on every level. A car of the people evolved into a pinnacle automotive experience. The Milivié 1 is a unique celebration of the world’s most loved vehicle. The intensely detailed vehicle delivers a fusion of everything the analogue driver desires blended with effortless integration of cutting-edge technology.

The Milivié 1 starts from a hand-selected donor 1303 model. Sourced by the Milivié team this vehicle provides a base for total evolution, with over a thousand hours of craftsmanship and engineering in each build – resulting in a car that shares little other than the metal monocoque section of body and the floorboards with the donor. Even these components are vastly modified from the original car. No element of the concept has been sacrificed in the development of a driving feel that is tactile, active and agile – whilst every single component has been enhanced with a spec list that rivals the ultimate performance classic. The chassis is enhanced to be an air-cooled autophile’s nirvana. The 2.28L flat four powertrain is precision-built for each car, tuned to the specific car’s use case and eventual environment. The Carrera 2-sourced ZF 4HP transmission is totally reworked to deliver the engaging, thrilling drive that will be the car’s signature. The body, at first glance seemingly unchanged, is elegantly and artfully crafted to produce a smoother, more contemporary silhouette that combines shared DNA with a unique stance. The interior echoes familiarity but welcomes modernity. This is a car that is endlessly absorbing in detail and thinking. 

The concept for the car is as original as the execution. Founder Jonathan Engler had a longstanding desire to build his own car brand – but with a difference. Engler’s cars were always destined to be astonishingly detailed but he wanted to create a car that created a positive and relaxed social impression – so often witnessing the jealousy and negativity that could be attached to pinnacle vehicle ownership. This perspective allows Engler’s designs to combine a subtle and unobtrusive exterior appearance with a complete reappraisal of driver and passenger desires that blends an old school driving feel with cutting edge UI technology and contemporary comforts.

Engler himself cites an incredible fascination for cars, an unstoppable passion for design and the constant urge to create something interesting as his driving forces. His intriguing background includes studies in motorsports engineering, with a focus on design, designing and building his own house, a German youth karting championship and hosting the largest contemporary festival in his native city’s park. Building on this cocktail of wide-ranging experience, the development of Milivié is equally attentive to the full range of UX aspects, allowing for high end details beyond drivetrain and body such as bespoke textile development, complex audio system engineering, ground up infotainment design and tailor-made LED technology to the highest standard. Jonathan’s extroverted bias also aids in driving the open and expressive side of how Milivié 1 is communicated and configured.

Engler has created an uninhibited team of designers and engineers who have each added their unique energy and talents to the project, along with partnerships with 44 top-tier component and process suppliers – each the absolute leaders in their field. The entire team has drawn on 70 years of air-cooled history and acted to build on the 78,000 incremental OEM changes made by the original manufacturer during the vehicle’s production period. To the Milivié team, the original story is an unfinished one deserving of a final, respectful yet totally modern evolution to mark the final chapter. The 22 vehicles that make up the project honour the 22 million total production output of the model’s OEM lifespan, making each car representative of one in a million.

In creating a car that is not only approachable in style but exclusive in every single detail the Milivié team looked back not only to the donor vehicle’s extensive DNA, but also to wider evocation from air-cooled classics. Complimenting their evolution study references were drawn to pay homage to early Porsche designs, enabling them to respect and embrace the design vision of the car’s original creator – Ferdinand Porsche. 904 bodyline elements lead into the distinctive ducktail, the 935 echoes in the exhaust tips, the 956 in the high-cut rear fenders and bumpers. The 964 inspired the concave indents of the rear fenders, not revealed until you glimpse the dynamic top view. The subtly inverted angle rear bumper from the type 64 results in a higher and longer rear end. The list continues. The stunning 718 RSK influences the elegant and dominating single horizontal design element of the front mask and the 1949 356 Gmünd coupe inspired the two-tone splitter – together with the vent shaping of the RS Spyder. The slightly lower and more centered placement of the actual headlights and turn signals are inspired by the Rallye and buggy culture of the donor and once again evoke the 718, whilst the high-tension running lights are the stretched oval outlines of the Porsche RS Spyder headlights. The execution of painstaking design and artfully considered evolution delivers an initial silhouette that seems immediately familiar, whilst the detail intrigues and draws in the passionate driver for closer inspection.

The interior of the vehicle is the centrepoint of Milivié’s uniquely respectful integration of contemporary UX and design into an athletic classic package. The vision for creating the interior design was to entirely replace the dominantly geometric and static design with a ground-up surface dynamic that elaborates on the beautifully intriguing exterior. Yet those shapes that are faithful to the original organic design base are the details characteristic to each generation of the donor vehicle’s history. The Milivié interior provokes a sense of what has gone before but is entirely unfamiliar.  Building on the original design brief of a car which should exceed the average travel speed whilst comfortably carrying 4 passengers, the Milivie interior accommodation features four individual bucket seats with a ground up new center console between each seating row which incorporates wireless charging, 220V and USB/USBC charging. Driver information and control is managed by twin screens with in-house software. Information layout and access can be switched simply by swiping the designs which include a contemporary signature screen focused on representing essential information through dynamic shapes and colors, a classic layout mirroring early brand correct analog instruments and finally an extended data screen showing the readings of all sensors throughout the car in a text-based composition. The infotainment screen also displays an analog clock echoing the character of the 1200 OEM clocks. Using smart textile and sensor integration for non-screen interfaces throughout the car allows Milivié to create an interior that is historically respectful in the sense that there are virtually no buttons throughout the cabin with the essential controls being managed by the discrete and plain surface smart textile interfaces and stepless touch controls.

Each Milivié 1 is presented to the customer as a completely collaborative process, with an extensive concierge program that allows a truly bespoke experience. Every one of the 22 cars to be produced is individually tailored and set up for the future location and driving style of its owner.

First reservations for the Milivié 1 are now open with entry pricing for a commission starting at €570,000. The first car will be delivered in July 2023 with the production run to be completed and delivered May 2025.

The Milivié 1

Powertrain
Each Milivié 1 is powered by a precision built 2.28L type 1 flat four based on the original Magnesium/Aluminum short stroke block. Fueled via dual Weber carburetors with fully electronic ignition each individual engine is tuned to deliver optimum performance due to the environmental characteristics of the owner’s location – down to the considerations of average air temperatures, humidity, altitude and owner driving styles. Each engine is configured with expanded oil channels, two oil pressure regulating pistons and individually balanced crankshafts. Every engine is matched with an individually created free flow stainless steel exhaust system. The 2mm wall thickness Swedish stainless system is seal free with titanium wrapped headers. The exhaust exits in a 64mm twin centre pipes that pay homage to the original layout, with the owner selecting exhaust tip designs in titanium or black chrome that echo early Porsche designs.

The engine is fed from a 56 litre handcrafted aluminum cell. The fuel cell also features an integrated fuel pump and surge tank. Access to the fuel tank mimics the under-bonnet layout of the pre-1970 car, with a CNC machined filler port.

Transmission
The Milivié 1 transmission is a fully stripped and rebuilt Carrera 2 sourced, ZF 4 HP transmission using a tailored final drive gear, CNC machined adapter set and early engaging torque converter. The gearbox is controlled by Milivié’s own soft and hardware enabling 3 settings:

Drive – A soft, slow and early shift pattern embracing comfort and the torque of the flat four engineSports – Lateral/longitudinal forces, throttle position, rpm and vehicle speed are monitored to create a dynamic mode which keeps the engine in the desired powerband by aggressively yet precisely downshifting when braking into corners.

Manual – The driver can take control of gear selection using the optional 20mm thick short shift paddles which enable a truly manual, lock-in-gear style gearbox operation. The length of the full carbon fiber switch bodies is personalized to each client’s hand size and driving style. The paddles are finished either in paint or upholstery, revealing only the up/down symbols in carbon.

Chassis
Each chassis is completely disassembled by the Milivié team on arrival before completely stripped and refinished to give the starting point for the build. The chassis is rebuilt with fully independent double wishbones front and rear. Bespoke V3 Competition 2A springs, developed solely for the project, combines with twin tube dampers offering separate compression and rebound adjustment. The chassis is set up to suit the owner’s profile with height, toe, camber and caster set to compliment the individual’s handling preference and usual driving environment.

Brakes
The Milivié 1 features specifically engineered lightweight monoblock race-proven calipers, (six piston front, four piston rear) designed to deliver a firm analog pedal feel to the driver. 343mm friction face furnished discs represent the pinnacle in durability, control and performance. The Milivié calipers are fitted with pin mounted low noise pads and aerospace specification bells by Alcon.

Wheels
Yet another addition to the Milivié 1’s stance is the 19” alloy wheels which blend the distinctive spirit of 60s five spoke designs with a lively modern half-moon nuance. Crafted entirely from machined aluminium the wheels are offered in three different bespoke finishes to compliment the customer’s selected exterior livery.

Exterior Design
The exterior development process beginnings with cleaning up the lines of the original shell and removing the donor’s visual anchors to a specific era. Included in this initial process are the vent glass, window frames, fuel lid, drip rails, door handles, mirrors, antenna, cabin air vent, top mounted indicators, bumpers and all chrome décor.

From this point the evolution of the car’s visual form begins. The bodywork proportions are adjusted for aerodynamics and a more confident, timeless stance. The Milivié team has invested great attention into designing the bodywork predominantly with concave and convex shapes which would have been feasible to implement using traditional coachbuilding techniques. The bonnet is moved forwards eight centimetres creating a high contrast nose from the side perspectives and flattened to improve the silhouette’s sporting line. Following this methodology, the revised engine cover is flattened and pushed inwards with a distinctive ducktail featuring an integral third brake light, to bring a dynamic profile to the rear.

Milivié’s bespoke front and rear fenders draw on design influences from earlier OEM and Porsche models whilst also increase in overall size to house the larger and broader wheels complementing the design. The idea of a slightly sportier appetite is increased with a raked rear stance. Subtly improved aerodynamic attitude is enhanced by moving the windscreen base forward, continuing the evolution of the curved windscreen from the 1303 variant. The visual flow of the exterior is supported by a clear horizontal base line achieved by aligning the wheel centre caps with the stepboard, the splitter transition and the lower edge of the rear fenders. Finally, the fenders and bumpers are stretched outwards respectively with increasingly inverted angles towards the edges -increasing the poise of the overall vehicle. Exterior paint selection is from an extensive palette evolved from a unique selection including both heritage and contemporary shades. Curated by the Milivié design team and applied with flawless artistry the exterior is complimented by the client choice from a tasteful offering of upholstery and finish options.

Without doubt one of the standout visual cues of the Milivié Type 1 is the striking lighting package. Inspiration for the exterior lights comes from the final 1303 model. As the original car offers few large plain surfaces the design team decided to embrace more bodywork in the light design, creating a cohesive, flowing and more elegant character. The contemporary expression evidenced in the light package starts with inspiration from the 718 RSK. The running lights reflect a contoured texture across the flow of the body and relate back to the original vehicle. At the rear the shape of the original “elephant foot” lighting is echoed in the flush, elegant illumination that delivers high visibility without interrupting the smooth fender lines.

Interior Design
The Milivié 1 interior immediately creates a contemporary environment for the occupants. Whilst the dramatic treatment is contemporary in every aspect there are inspirations from numerous models across the entire genealogy of the donor. The larger and deeper dashboard, with the open storage compartments, echo the 1938 prototypes. The door cards have familiar inputs from the iconic 911 whilst the under-dash climate control unit silhouette from the first production series is mirrored in Milivié’s central dashboard controls.

The twin display screens, in a handcrafted pianowood housing, sit above the dash with a plain surface to the left and right in a similar fashion to the 1303. The driver information and infotainment systems are represented by twin 12.3” screens for which bespoke software has been developed in-house by the Milivié team. The three selections of display can be switched by simply swiping. The instrument screen designs include a contemporary signature screen focused on representing essential information through dynamic shapes and colors, a classic layout mirroring early brand correct analog instruments and finally an extended data screen showing the readings of all sensors throughout the car in a text-based display. The infotainment screen also displays an analog clock echoing the character of the 1200 OEM clocks.

Driver and passenger accommodation take a significant departure from the original vehicle, highlighting the Milivié 1 as a pinnacle vehicle. 4 individual bucket seats create a purposeful interior space, with a ground up new centre console positioned between each row – a layout more common in the latest contemporary sports machinery. Each seat is heated via thermal structures within the carbon fibre honeycomb and features bespoke controls delivering 0-100% power. Upholstery comes from Germany’s most experienced upholsterer and is delivered flawlessly using cutting edge techniques, having delivered upholstery in over a million cars. The process includes the use of a semi-mechanical membrane lamination for the upholstery process. Each upholstered panel is then lifespan simulated with extreme heat cycle and vibrational tests. A bespoke chemical surface treatment is applied to adjacent areas in the interior to ensure no squeaking sounds are able to be produced.

Continuing the adoption of the latest in interior automotive technology is the use of smart textile and sensor integration for non-screen interfaces. This allows the entire of the interior to be historically correct with no additional buttons, switches or controls. Complimenting the interior visual impact is a dynamic audio system specifically designed for optimal performance within the passenger space.

In a final salutation to the original, each MIlivié is accompanied by a bespoke Bill Amberg-designed luggage piece reflecting the interior design of the commission. This has a dedicated set-in placement within the rear firewall mimicking the OEM luggage compartment behind the rear bench.

Audio
The unique audio system incorporated into the Milivié 1 is as precision engineered as the rest of the vehicle. 9 speakers sit in covers meticulously water pressure cut from magnesium – a material selected to reflect the engine block. The radius of each panel, the cavity volumes, the edges and shapes of the interior fit are all carefully engineered to break or resonate frequencies where needed.

A large help in creating a studio clear sound is the system’s intelligent amplifier which monitors and adjusts each of the speaker outputs at a rate of 1.2 billion operations per second, to create the optimum performance based on the the current passenger, noise and luggage volume. The amplifier also adds a subharmonic bass over the existing audio signals which increases the human perception of frequencies between 50-100hz, creating a thorough “deep and dark” bass experience. Through a dynamic algorithm the amplifier also processes the center signal into true right and left-hand side signals giving the appearance of a broader audio environment, as if standing in front of an outdoor stage.

Additional Technology
Additional technology incorporated into the Milivié 1 includes:

• Automatic wipers
• Electronically assisted steering calibrated to each exact speed
• Automatic high and low beam
• 8 sensor, dual camera, parking alerts
• Hybrid mechanical heat exchanger/electronic heater/air conditioning working with a complex airway system allows infinite blends between climate zones – including the front luggage compartment
• Milivié app controls:
  Remote data display for range, interior temperature, battery level, GPS with Google Maps routing