With its muscular lines and distinctive roar the Porsche 911 has come to epitomize high performance.
But if you squint at the car a little, and maybe turn your head sideways, you might be surprised to see the roots of this incredible car are something quite humble: the Volkswagen Beetle.
The concept of the 911 evolved in the 1950s from Porsche's first production car, the Beetle-derived 356. The bug look is still there in the rounded headlights and fenders, and the original's horizontally opposed, air-cooled rear engine has more in common with its Beetle contemporaries than today's 911s.
The 911 was first displayed at the 1963 Frankfurt Auto Show where it was dubbed the 901. The name changed to 911 before the car went into production in 1964 because French car maker Peugeot claimed the right to any car name with a zero in the middle. The original 911 featured a 2.0-litre 911 flat six that produced 148 horsepower and pushed the car from 0 to 60 mph in nine seconds.
Tapered at the front and with a bulge in the rear, the 911 looks a little like a raindrop. But this raindrop travels backward and this is its fundamental flaw — the engine is in the wrong place.
Ever try to throw a dart backward? That's what driving an early Porsche is all about. That the car works at all speaks to a sheer force of will in engineering and design evolution from Porsche. With its weight and driving force in the rear, original models are extremely tail happy. The car's back end constantly wants to overtake the front and to get behind the wheel of a 911 is to practice the mantra: never lift.
Throughout the course of its lengthy run, engineers have constantly struggled to even out the weight balance and produce a more forgiving performance machine. The mid-'60s 911S even included an 11-kilogram weight attached at the front in an effort to improve the balance.
Early Porsche 911s are cars that rewards the exceptional driver while punishing everybody else.
Particularly unforgiving were the early turbocharged 911s. First introduced in 1975, the car was called the Porsche 911 Turbo in Europe, and marketed in North America as the Porsche 930. This was the first gasoline powered turbocharged car that really gained acceptance by the marketplace — and deservedly so. The four-speed manual saw 0 to 60 mph in just 4.9 seconds and a 250 km/h top speed. Other turbocharged cars came to market, but it was this car that forever linked the concept of turbocharging and performance.
But the handling proved a major challenge. Still never lift, or it'll spin out, but don't floor it either because the power comes on with a burst as turbo spools up -- enticing drivers to lift at the worst possible moment. To improve handling, the turbo brought with it a series of notable design changes including extroverted wheel arches to accommodate the wide tires necessary to keep the thing under control, and a whale tail spoiler for further stability.
It's a true driver's car and if you know what you're doing, it can perform beautifully for you. But poseurs beware.
Speaking of poseurs: how do you pronounce "Porsche?" Purists will tell you that as it's derived from a family name and since the family pronounces it "PORSH-uh," then that's the way you should say it, too. But the "PORSH" pronunciation has evolved into common usage in North America and while German aristocrats and the guy who owns scale versions of every model since 1964 likely say it the first way, I say it the second way. Your call.
Virtually from the start, the 911 has been an incredibly successful racing car and Porsche model names reflect this heritage. The 1966 911 Targa — the one with a removable, foldable top -- is named for the prize plate originally given to racers in the Targa Florio contest. The Carrera name, first applied to the 911 in 1973, comes from the Carrera Panamericana endurance road race in Mexico.
The race heritage has always translated to consumer benefit, with the lessons learned at the track incorporated into models offered for sale. The awesome 959, a mid-1980s model that never made it to North America, was built as a homologation special to qualify the car for FIA's Group B racing. It went 0 to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds and was an astonishing technological powerhouse. Incredibly, much of what made that car special was incorporated into the car's everyday models by the mid-1990s, and in fact have spread beyond the marque into the active all-wheel drive systems of today.
Throughout its evolution, the 911's engine displacement and power grew and tweaks to handling and styling made it an ever-more competent machine. But purists have always resisted the most radical — and some would say sensible -- change: moving the engine up front.
In 1979, Porsche made an effort to replace the 911 with the modern, front-engine, water-cooled, V8-powered 928. It was a terrific car — arguably better than the 911 — but consumers refused to embrace it and ultimately production ended in 1995.
The newest iterations of the (now water-cooled) 911 are so amazingly well engineered and technically advanced that it is difficult for an average driver to feel that they are still rear-engined. But purists know. They know the unmistakable sound of the Porsche flat six at wide-open throttle. They know that it rewards the best of drivers. And they know, and love, that the engine is still at the wrong end.
