Exotic car furniture

Car designers regularly cite furniture as inspirations for their designs, but in this case it's the other way round.

Cars are the inspiration for Polish designers Luc & Andre, who first showed off their 9Eleven furniture collection at the 2014 Geneva motor show in Switzerland.

The Porsche 911-inspired collection well and truly caught our attention at the international motor show, and in particular the 9Eleven sofa, which features several genuine 911 parts.

Apart from the obvious appeal of having half a Porsche in your lounge room, complete with working LED brake lights, the fascinating couch has a few nifty surprises.

Modelled on the rump of a 991 Series Porsche 911, the 9Eleven sofa can be optioned with a hidden minibar, remote controlled via smartphone app. The concealed bar is designed to mimic four engine cylinders and is also chilled for your drinking pleasure, the temperature also remotely adjustable.

The sofa can be ordered painted, 100 per cent carbon composite, or with an aluminium finish, the latter more than doubling the price, and the integrated cushions are upholstered in leather, alcantara and velour.

The sofa has enough room for two people to watch the Porsche Carrera Cup on the telly, measuring 182cm long, 154cm wide and 93cm high.

Other pieces in the 9Eleven collection include a Porsche steering-wheel inspired table, along with stylised office chairs, and even a full length conference table.

The basic 9 Eleven sofa is not cheap, at €14,000 or about $20,000, which rises to €38,000 ($57,000) if you want the aluminium version. More affordable options include the aluminium and carbon coffee table at €12,000 ($18,000), or the office armchair for €3500 ($5200).

Although the pieces are not sold in Australia yet, the company is actively seeking a sales agent in this country, so it could be just a matter of time before well-heeled car buffs can have a Porsche in their lounge room.

Luc Siodmok and Andre Sapierzynski, the pair behind the furniture creations, told motoring.com.au they use actual Porsche 911 parts in the sofa.

"Yes, we always use some genuine parts. In the 9Eleven sofa we assemble original rear lamps and seat-leather from the current Carrera 911. We also use genuine paint."

They also explained the reason behind the almost $60,000 price tag on the aluminium sofa: "It takes 500 hours to create one 9Eleven sofa made from handcrafted aluminium".

Unlike modern techniques, which use machines and robots to fashion aluminium into different shapes, Luc & Andre's mob do it by hand.

"The technology used is identical to the one employed to produce the luxury cars in the mid-20th century. Our main engineer has more than 20 years experience and unique skills in this area," they explain.

Previously he worked for Boeing, Aston Martin, Shelby and the Polish military, and as it happens, the carbon versions of the couch take a lot less time to fabricate.

"Obviously to produce a carbon or composite sofa is a little bit easier and this is half of the time as for the aluminium one, but it also requires precision and hand-work."

Apart from creating unique automobile-inspired furniture, Luc & Andre are also working on a shooting-brake adaptation of the Maserati Ghibli (pictured).

The most important appraisal of the striking furniture pieces would have to be from Porsche, and according to the company its creations didn't disappoint.

"People from Porsche had visited our stand at Geneva auto salon. They were impressed!" said the pair.