If there were ever a vehicle with a mixed bag of information, this one would be on top. Porsche's mid-cycle facelift is apparently off, and the launching of the new 911 is pushed forward a bit.

At a quick glance you might think this is a prototype of the current car, but its not: In fact, this is an early prototype of the future 911 Carrera Cabrio.

Under the cleverly disguised body, this prototype carries the completely new mechanics including new engines and new chassis. If you study the pictures closely you'll recognize the coverings placed over the front and rear wings, disguising the true shape of the new car. However, it is clearly visible that the next generation 911 will get circular headlamps, while turn signals and fog lights will be mounted in the bumper rather than built into the headlight units.

After strong criticism regarding the shape of the current headlamps, Porsche is returning to the traditional 911 face for the new model.

Like their predecessors, the upcoming 911 and Boxster will again share major components, although the designs will even further separate the two models.

The new 911 Carrera will be yet another evolutionary sportscar, yet a step back into the tradition of the 911 design with obvious interpretation -- not just around the headlamps, but also obvious with the roofline, rear wings and rear side windows. This is clearly a successor to earlier 911's.

Power will continue to come from a 3.6-liter 6-cylinder Boxer in the rear, delivering around 335 HP in the normally aspirated Carrera and some 440 HP in the Turbo. The V8 -- rumored to be available in the upcoming model -- will not be offered after all.

The 911 Cabrio will make its debut at the Paris Motor Show in 2006, one year after the coupe which is to debut at the 2005 Frankfurt Show.

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I am shocked to see Porsche going back to the pre-996 design cues with circular headlamps. I love it however :thumbup: I can't wait to see what they do with this baby.

 

It's kind of odd though that after that insane porsche concept (I forget what is was called exactly), that they are going back to earlier stuff.......I'm not against it at all, as the one thing I hate about current porsche's are the stupid look headlights.......but I would have liked the new 911 to inherit some of the beautiful modern design cues from that concept.

 

Porsche doesn't "do" concepts. Are you talking about the Carrera GT?

https://www.honda-acura.net/forums/s...threadid=53922

That's the production version...the concept was very similiar and was built to make sure that there was an interest in a Porsche supercar.

 

that's what I mean, the Carrera GT......I would have liked to see some of that styling trickle down to other Porsches.

 

Didn't they already do that by switching to 911 turbo-style headlights across the board and bumping the output to 320 hp? Oh well.

What is it with Porsche cutting short versions of the 911? At least they let the 996 stay around for a while (1999 to 2005). It seems like as soon as they perfect one generation they come out with the next one. With the schedule of the schedule of the unveilings set as it is, it appears that maybe they'll let the current iteration run its course before coming out with the new model instead of coming out with the 996 as soon as it was ready.

The 997 does seem to be a minor evolution from the 996 (kind of like the 964 to the 993) though, so I guess it's no huge issue. The 993 had "new mechanicals underneath" as well but for the most part was a kind of smoothed-over and modernized 964. They must be pretty far along in their development work to have a 911 Cabrio running around, unless that's a 996 with 997 front bodywork grafted on.

 

I C&P'd...but yeah, I'd say the turbo headlights were the refresh.

I agree with your analogy...I'm also shocked that it's coming out so soon, and that the design is a step backward. I can't wait to see what they have in store though :thumbup:

 

 

I for one love it

993 design> rest

give me a 993 body with 997 chassis/drive train and I'm sold!

if i had the money

 

reminds me of the 959:


which is really a step backwards.

 

looks the same to me....