Earlier this week the 66th International Automobile Ausstellung (IAA) kicked off with some of the best, exciting, and craziest cars of the year. With key model launches for next year’s models, interesting concept ideas for cars of the future, and new variants of existing cars, this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show had something for everyone.

In no particular order, here is a quick round-up of some of the highlights from the show.

Porsche Mission-e
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Stuttgart’s Tesla killer, the Mission-e (e, I’m guessing, is for a Dalek-style extermination of Tesla) is a 600bhp/441kW, 900NM all-electric four-door super sedan – think four-door 911 rather than baby-Panamera. It can get from 0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds. Porsche says the batteries will be able to charge 80% in just 15 minutes. The numbers are only predictions on the technology available in 2018, when Porsche plans to release a production version. Porsche, please make it and don’t change the looks. It’s shockingly pretty.

Mercedes Benz IAA Concept
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Whereas the Mission-e is a simple, elegant, and gorgeous take on the cars of the future, the Mercedes IAA (Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile) goes the extra mile. No, it literally does as this car changes its shape the faster you go. The theory is the IAA extends its body to become more aerodynamic saving more fuel. Its body is the slipperiest of any car with a co-drag efficiency of 0.19. It’s unlikely we’ll be seeing this in the next C-Class but the aspects of the interior will make its way to the next E-Class.

Audi e-tron quattro Concept
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Another EV concept, this time hinting at a future ‘electric-only’ SUV from the four-rings brand. It’ll go on sale in 2018 and will have a range “in excess of 500km”. An additional 1000km per year can be had thanks to the solar panel on the roof. It’ll be powered by three electric motors, two at the rear and one at the front making this a rear-biased Audi. The e-quattro can deliver up as much as 503bhp/370kW and 800NM of torque. 0-100 km/h can be reached in 4.6 seconds.

Honda Project 2and4 Concept
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What happens when you take inspiration from a 1960s F1 racecar and power that idea with an engine from a MotoGP? You get this epic looking machine. It’s 3 metres long, 1.8 metre wide, and less than a metre tall. The whole thing weighs a tad over 400kg and that MotoGP engine is a 999cc V4 pumping out 212bhp. It redlines to 14,000 rpm ad sends its power to the rear wheels through a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission. For the love of all that is holy please Honda, make it!!

Nissan Gripz Concept
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This could be the next Z-Car. Rumour have circulated that Nissan were thinking about replacing the 370Z with a, deep breath, sporty crossover. Gasp, shock, and horror. The Gripz is a study into the possibility of this. Apparently taking inspiration from the old 240Z rally cars, the Gripz is roughly the same size as the old 240Z too. Hopefully this could turn out to be the next Juke or a Z-branded crossover with room left for a proper Z sports car.

Mazda Koeru Concept
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It’s yet another crossover concept but this one seems quite production ready. It’s a sporty/rakish crossover roughly the same size as the CX-5. It’s not known if/when it’ll go into production whether it’ll be based on the CX-5 or will slot above it in the Mazda lineup (i.e. a CX-7 successor). Should it get the green light expect it to be in Mazda showrooms by the end of the decade.

Toyota C-HR Concept
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If this looks familiar that’s because this is the second version of the Concept first seen at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. This hints at a closer design to the eventual production first, possibly unveiled at next year’s Geneva Motor Show. It’ll fit below the RAV4 in the ever expanding Toyota SUV range and rival the likes of the Mazda CX-3 and Honda HR-V. The design is said to carryover (fingers crossed) to the production version. It’ll be powered by a petrol and possibly a hybrid powerplant driving the front or all four wheels.

Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo Concept
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They could’ve kept it a fantasy. They could’ve kept it in virtual reality. However Bugatti decided to take it out of the Gran Turismo game and onto the floors of the Frankfurt Messe convention centre. It’s an extreme no-holds-barred design exercise. I wonder if any of the design will influence the Veyron’s replacement which is due sometime soon.

So those were some of the more interesting concepts at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. SUVs and Crossovers weren’t in short supply but then there were a couple of surprises too from Porsche and Honda.

Next time we’ll be doing a round up of the production cars at the show and yes, there were a few crossovers too but there’s also a few cars to get excited for. As you’ll see there’s quite an interesting contrast with the show cars manufacturers think people will want to the ones that are ready to go on sale and will actually be bought.

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Ken Saito
Words cannot begin to describe how much I love cars but it's worth a try. Grew up obsessed with them and want to pursue a career writing about them. Anything from small city cars to the most exotic of supercars will catch my attention.

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