Porsche 911: An extremely brief history.
By Andrew Hulse
The Porsche 911 is one of the most prominent sports cars ever and has been an icon for the last 55 years. Let’s take a look at some of the things that have led it to legendary status.
The Porsche 911 has been synonymous with performance since day one of production in 1963. They are great touring cars, have been used as rally cars and have had so much success on track. An argument can easily be made that it is one of the most versatile sports cars ever made. It was even fifth in the 1999 Car of the Century Poll, after the Model T and some other mass market cars.
This isn’t to say there have not been bumps along the road. There have been changes that rustle the jimmies of Porsche purists who only want an air-cooled, manual model. Even with the speedbumps, almost everyone knows the 911 as a sporting legend.
What makes the 911 so prominent?
Porsche has gone with a tried and true, almost robotic formula when designing the car. It has always been a 2+2 seating arrangement with a rear mounted flat six with a range of displacements (except for the 912 that had a four-cylinder). From 1963 to 1998 there were no major changes; the body shell was also largely the same through this 34 year period. Porsche had found the recipe for success and only made small tweaks to improve the drivability and performance.
Porsche has also permanently stamped its name into the racing history books with a myriad of models, however, we see the 911 GT3, GT3 Cup, and other variants. Not only is there a factory team, anyone who comes to Porsche with the proper acumen and some cash can purchase a customer racing car. This puts the Porsche 911 on podiums all over the world.
The only major changes during this time were convertible options, turbos, and all-wheel drive. This meant there were no big changes in the driving dynamic of the car, nothing to spoil the experience.
The water-cooled era, bum bum bum…its actually not that bad.
There are two fairly distinct factions within the 911 community, people who like the water-cooled models and those who don’t. When Porsche dropped the air-cooled motor in 1998, purists handed down heavy criticism since they had been air-cooled for 34 years.
This refresh also came with the first major shell change in the cars history. These changes drew wide criticism from fans and reviewers alike. It became a performance bargain because some of the Porsche loyalists did not like the idea of a non- air-cooled Porsche. This still didn’t slow the 911’s roll, it still sold like crazy and this generation of 911 recently experienced a dip in value on the used market causing them to sell like hotcakes again. This drove the price up again, however it is still a bargain and I have my eye on one.
Next: This Is How The Porsches Of The Future Would Be Like
What will become of the Porsche 911?
Porsche has recently dedicated itself to hybrid and all-electric efforts. The fully electrified Mission-E has been on the radar of Porsche fans for a while. With the 911 set to be redesigned again here in 2019, Automotive News quotes Porsche CEO Oliver Blume, “We will come with the plug-in hybrid with the next battery generation and with the next evolution step, it will be very important for the 911 to have a plug-in hybrid.” This confirms Porsche’s plans to electrify their upcoming vehicles. Though not set in stone yet, it will be happening. We will have to wait and see how fans of the brand react.