At the Frankfurt Motor Show, Porsche introduced it's first all electric concept, the Mission E. It's a car that looks like it could be a preview of the next Panamera, since it's a four door sedan and has an electric powertrain. And that could be very correct. But I see something different. I see the next 911.

Porsche is also a company that doesn't make concepts for the sake of making concepts. When they come out, they tend to preview two aspects of future Porsches: Powertrain and design.

The last time Porsche had a concept like this was the Panamera Sport Turismo, which was shown at the Paris show in 2012. At the time, everyone was saying that the car was a preview of the next Panamera. And while the design language very well could make it to a Panamera in the next couple of years, it hasn't yet. Instead, the design of that concept is very much evident in the Macan small SUV.

The plug-in hybrid powertrain of that concept is not in the Macan. It is in the Panamera.

That same sort of concept structure could theoretically exist with the Mission E. When a new Panamera does debut, I'd expect that it'd have elements of Sport Turismo styling and an all-electric powertrain option like this concept.

To me, this design language is not something that screams sports sedan. It screams sports car.

What Porsche has done is create to throw people off the scent is add a couple extra doors and some seats that aren't totally useless, like those in the 911. The entire focus of what they discuss is performance oriented. The gauges, the seating position, the performance.

Imagine this car, but without those rear doors. You have a shape that is pure 911, with a design that is a much further evolution of the 911 ethos, but still feels like the car we've seen for 50 years.

Everything about this car screams 911. It's low and sleek, with a long hood and a short rear deck. The tail light is a modern vision of the classic 911 light bar. Nothing about it says it's comfortable, family-oriented, or great for a road trip. Sure, it has two trunks, but the one in back looks like the perfect place to stuff a flat six. It's also ready for plug-in or electric variants, which will come to the 911 in time, but not the current generation.

Finally, when Porsche had the first drive of the Macan in early 2014, Porsche design boss Michael Mauer mentioned that his team was getting to work on the next generation 911, just two years after the 991 generation 911 had made its debut.

Now, 18 months later, we have a concept from Porsche that is a look at where they see the future of the sports car. This is not a coincidence.

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