The nature of the concept car must be a rather tedious notion for the world's motoring designers.
To pour your heart and soul into a design — a sketch, a computer render, a clay model, a fully functioning four-wheeled car — knowing in your heart of hearts that none of that work is ever going to make the showroom floor would do my head in.
Of course, concept cars serve multiple purposes, which is highlighted on a grand scale by this video from Porsche. Particularly in the case of two of their favourites chosen in the video — the 754 and the 989.
Both cars never made it to production in their manufactured state, but did help heavily shape the fate of other future models. The T7 754, as pointed out by Porsche Director of Exterior Design Peter Varga points out, pretty much features all of the design queues of the first generation 911.
The 989 meanwhile managed to preview two different future Porsches. As the team's first ever four-door, four-seater, it helped Porsche push towards the successful Panamera. But also, many of its design elements ended up on the 996-generation Porsche 911. The shape of the taillights, the wheels, the front air intake, and even the 'fried egg' headlights that simply took the indicators of the 989 and absorbed them into a revised headlight shape and design.
Perhaps the most important element of the video though is the enthusiastic nod to the Mission E towards the end. First revealed at the 2015 Frankfurt Auto Show, the E looks likely to be Porsche's next big revolutionary addition to their production line-up.
The manufacturer are reportedly developing a production version of the Mission E at the moment. If it looks half as good as the concept, we'll be chuffed.