The Demo Site

Porsche's next-gen Carrera hits the road with some clever camo and lots of secrets.

Here are the first decent spy shots we've seen of the 2011 Porsche 911 in something resembling its own metal; it's the car which Porsche internals and Porschephiles alike will refer to as the 998. Clearly, this prototype wears the expected placeholder front lighting elements—these ones cribbed from a pre-face-lift version of the current 997-gen Carrera—bulging from tacked-on front fender extensions that conceal a flatter, Panamera-like nose. The roofline and doors appear very close in design to the current model—no surprise there—but the rear fenders of this car conceal a vastly wider track than the current 911, leading us to believe that this car could be an all-wheel-drive 4 or 4S model.

Active Aero?

With its signature sloping rear, the 911 has always needed all the aero help it can get. Thus, the appendage on this prototype's back end, which appears to be sprouting the grille of a Kenworth, is in fact merely shrouding the latest iteration of the deployable rear spoiler that has helped keep the rear end of every standard Carrera since 1990 on the ground at triple-digit speeds. New, however, is the roof-mounted spoiler that deploys from the leading edge of the rear window. Front active spoilers are also said to be in the works, which this car's odd, droopy lower front air dam and hash-style flaps on the fascia must be intended to impersonate.

Keep Reading: 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera (998) - Spied