History of the Porsche 911

Porsche 911 – magic words to car aficionados. But everyone – whether a car enthusiast or not – has heard of a Porsche 911. From rather humble beginnings in the 1960s, the 911 has gone on to become one of the most influential and most recognizable vehicles in the world, without ever having had a major design overhaul.

It’s an iconic sports car that has remained at the pinnacle of automotive engineering throughout the last 50 years. In fact it is generally regarded as one of the best all round sports cars the world has ever seen and one of the best looking cars in its class. Despite the fact that Porsche’s product lines have expanded in recent years to include the Cayman, Boxster, and Panamera, the Porsche 911 remains the flagship of the Porsche line up.

Many people compare the 911 with the Boxster, particularly since the styling of the front is similar. Enthusiasts believe there no comparison. To quote Jeremy Clarkson, reviewing a Porsche Boxster, “What this car does – what every Boxster does – is sit outside your house reminding you that you couldn’t quite afford a 911.”

Porsches have always been raced and rallied by the factory, professional teams and private individuals. The 911 is no exception and has featured in motorsport ever since it was first produced. Currently Porsches appear in British GT, Le Mans, and American sports car racing. In Britain the Porsche Carrera Supercup is one of the premier national championships, and there are versions of this championship in countries all over the world.

Rally and off-road racing are also important parts of Porsche’s rich motorsports history with notable wins throughout the 1960s and 1970s. These included 4 wins in Monte Carlo (1968, 1969, 1970 and 1979) and the European Rally Championship (1970). Thereafter Porsche still built several 911s to race some less-competitive events, such as Safari and the Paris-Dakar rally.

The water-cooled Porsche 911 996 Carrera was preceded by the 993, which was air-cooled. The water cooled engines were introduced to better comply with emissions tests.

The 996 was first shown at the Frankfurt Motorshow in 1997. It had cleaner body styling, and a wider cabin and body than the 993. It did not need therefore, to have projecting wheelarches to cover a wider track.

The 996 is a great daily driver, some say even more so than the 997 model which succeeded it.

Other features:

• Horizontally opposed liquid-cooled engine
• 3,387cc six cylinders, 4 valves per cylinder,
• Twin double overhead cams
• 296 bhp at 6,800 rpm
• 258 lb ft of torque at 4,600 rpm
• Multipoint fuel injection
• 6 speed manual gearbox
• 4 wheel drive
• Electronic traction control
• Ventilated ABS disc brakes on all wheels
• Independent multi-link suspension with coil springs
• Power assisted rack & pinion steering with telescopic adjustment
• 18” Alloy wheels
• Leather upholstery
• Mohair power hood
• Weight 1555kg
• Length 4466mm
• Width 1852mm