Porsche 960 Vision Turismo (2016)
The Porsche 960 Vision Turismo is a mid-size sedan concept, designed and built by Porsche in 2016 that previewed some of the future design cues that Porsche would incorporate into the Porsche 911 (generation 991.2).
The supposed powertrain wavered between mid-engine format and electric format. The latter was chosen, and preceded the plans for Porsche to make an electric car, specifically the Porsche Taycan. The general contour lines and shape of the concept did end up making it on the next Porsche Panamera.
The creation of the concept happened nearly by accident, as the designer, Michael Mauer, chanced upon a sketch of the Porsche 918 Spyder and it looked as though the hypercar had rear doors, which immediately piqued his interest. His first thought was to try and figure out what sort of powertrain would work for a four-seater sports car. A mid-mounted setup was a possibility, but he also didn’t exclude a rear-engined vehicle for a potential 911 with actually usable rear seats. While talking with the rest of the design team, Michael Mauer and his colleagues eventually realized an all-electric powertrain would be the most suitable.
When walking past, I saw a schematic representation of the Porsche 918 on a designer’s drawing board in our studio. A line had been redrawn with a felt-tip pen to clearly show the falling contour. From the corner of my eye it looked like a rear door joint. I was astonished! – Michael Mauer
