Porsche 911 World

911 HISTORY

Porsche 911 History (beetle,356)

In 1875, Ferdinand Porsche was born. He was to become one of the first engineers, being interested in the new technologies of those days (electricity and combustion engines). Ferdinand got a job as a designer at Lohner and developed a revolutionary electric car. He later combined the electric engine with a combustion engine and was one of the first to realize how important car-racing was for promoting cars and developing new techniques. Despite his successes in several companies, Porsche wanted to build a car for the masses. Hitler enjoyed the idea of all Germans being able to drive their own car and initiated the KdF-project. The idea of the project was to give every labourer the possibility to buy a Volkswagen at a very low prize. For this purpose, the VW38 sedan was made in 1938. It was a little beetle-shaped car with a four cylinder boxer engine (delivering 24hp!). The KdF-project quickly turned out to be a failure (due to the fact that Germany used an increasing part of its resources to build weaponry). The car was all but a failure, it served very well in the army and above all, it was to become one of the greatest legends in car history.

Ferdinand's son Ferry in a pre-war beetle

After the ending of the war, Ferdinand was send to a French jail (for his nazi-collaboration). During these years, his son Ferry founded the Porsche factory in Austria and freed his father (very ill at that time) by paying a huge amount of money. They quickly developed a beautiful sports car, the 356 roadster (pictured below, right), mainly using left-over beetle-parts. The car soon became very popular with the upper class. It had a sleek design and a strong boxer engine, which also proved to be of great use on the race tracks! The roadster was soon followed by other 356's (both cabrio and coupe versions, the latter is shown below, left). Although it's difficult for me, let's not pay too much attention to the 356 on this page, we got to move on to the 911!

Introducing the 911

In 1963, Porsche introduced the 901. A completely new design, based on the legendary 356. Porsche had to change the name 901, because Peugeot had a copyright on all three digit car model numbers with a zero in the middle; the 911 is born. There is no other car that is so well built around and connected to its engine as the 911. The rear-placed six cylinder engine was air cooled and had a volume of 2.0 liters in 1964. It pulled the '64 911 from 0 to 60 mph in 8.3 seconds. Very fast in those years. The 911 immediately did well on the race tracks and is ever since known for its outstanding performance in handling, acceleration and most of all braking. The body of the car, which makes it so easy to recognize a 911, was designed by Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche. The design is so well done that every line seems never ending and the car looks good from every angle. Reason for the Porsche team not to change the car's body very much in 30 years. When Lagaay, Porsche design director, was asked why they hadn't redesigned the new 911's door he simply answered; "it's a good door".

Names and models

A car that has a lifespan of 33 years must have had many names and models. So does the 911. I shall not list all the models on this page, over those 33 years the 911 has taken over 27 forms! In 1973 the first 911 Carrera saw the light (picture above, left) . It had not much comfort and was rather a race car than a street car. Everything was done to reduce the car's weight. For example the engine cover was closed by a leather strap. The script 'Carrera' text on the side was optional. The so-called middle year 911s (built 1974-1977) had 2.7 liter engines that had a notoriously short life span and were replaced by the in 1978. The 'SC' stands for 'Super Carrera', a rather strange name, against Porsche's mentality. These 3.0 liter SCs are powerful and luxurious (picture above, right). In 1984 Porsche slightly changed the 911's engine and its name. The 911 was now again called '911 Carrera' and was given a 3.2 liter engine (3.0 liter before). In 1993 Porsche started the design of a completely renewed 911, development number 993. This was done because the 911 sales had started to decrease. It was introduced in 1995 and is now considered as the last real 911 (it is the last one with an air-cooled engine). Basically the 911 came in 4 body styles: Coupe, Targa, Cabriolet and Speedster. The Coupe is the 'standard' style, the Targa is like a Coupe but has a roll bar and a removable top. The late 911s still have 4 body styles, but the Speedster has been replaced by a 'Turbo-body'.

Above: Two Carrera's 3.2; a turbo and a targa. As you can see the turbo's body differs from the targa's. It has a big rear spoiler and bigger rear fenders (with black protector skirts). Not standard on the targa: the rear spoiler and the cup-wheels. The Carrera's built between 1984 and 1989, are my favourites. They're known for their superb handling and road holding and do not have superfluous luxury inside. The engine differs from the pre-84 models by its injection and improved chain tensioners (that used to require excessive maintenance). These Carrera's have the improved Motronic fuel injection (under). This renewed engine pulls a 1986 Carrera 3.2 from 0 to 60 mph in only 5.3 seconds, 2 seconds less than a 1983 911SC! In 1989 these Motronic Carrera's were replaced by the 911 Carrera 2/4 (development number 964).

Above: A C2 and a C4 cabrio (all wheel drive). These Carrera's 2 and 4 have 3.6 liter engines. They also have engine covers that rise at 50mph to form a wing. 1990 Is the first year for standard dual airbags and ABS. Though its max. torque and top speed is higher than a Carrera 3.2's, its acceleration isn't as good. They pull from 0 to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds. Slightly slower than the Carrera 3.2, due to a weight difference of about 300 kg.

Under: Turbo S (turbo charged Carrera) and Targa (Carrera with sliding glass roof). Two of the 993 Carrera's. They were given development number 993 (with 93 in it; the year its development started). The 911 maybe underwent its biggest changes since 1963. The entire car was redesigned, from body to engine. The result was a sports car that compromised the newest technology with a legendary history. Though the body was redesigned and the headlights were sloped, both the body as the engine still have very much in common with the 901. The famous six cylinder boxer engine is still the beating heart of the 911, though it provides two times as much power as the 1963-version. It still has double ignition (two sparkplugs in each cylinder) and is air cooled, but it underwent some changes to decrease its fuel usage and emission. The brakes are also improved; they're bigger and have better heat-transport. All in all this 911 is often seen as the 'new 959'. I haven't earlier mentioned the 959, because it's no 'real 911', but if one writes about Porsche one cannot omit the 959. Derived from the 911 in 1985, it contained all the high-tech that Porsche had and was (and is still) seen as a super car. Often referred to as 'Porsche's gift to the customers' this car actually wasn't really designed for high sales, rather for racing. A specially prepared version even won Paris-Dakar two times (Porsche's first big rally-success)! As you can see above, the 959's body has many body lines in common with the 911's. Only 283 959's were built, and all of them were sold pre-production. When the production finished, everybody agreed that the 959 was under-priced at $180000. This and the limited numbers resulted in enormous amounts of money paid by some people to get a 959. It was no problem to sell your new 959 for $500000 or even $1000000 (in Japan).

Above: Two 993 coupe's
Under: The famous boxer engine as used in the 993 and the dashboard with the big rev counter in the middle.

1963	2-litre 901 introduced at Frankfurt show as successor to Beetle-based 356
1964	901 renamed 911 after objections from Peugeot - goes on sales
1965	RHD 911s available in Britain. Economy 912 with 1.6 flat four
1966	Enter the Targa, with brushed stainless steel roll-over bar
1967	911S gets ventilated disc brakes all round. L & T arrive. Wheelbase extended
1968	Fuel injection introduced on 911E, Sportomatic clutch less transmission an option
1969	Engine bore increased to create 2.2 litres. Five-speed gearbox introduced
1970	Porsche scores its first win at Le Mans
1971	Floorpan of 911 partly galvanised in bid to beat rust and improve longevity
1972	Stroke of engine increased to give displacement of 2.4 litres
1973	Demand for stripped 2.7 RS Carrera greatly exceeds Porsche's expectations
1974	911 Turbo, the world's first production turbocharged sports car
1975	Fully galvanised body virtually banishes rust. 912 relaunched in the US
1976	Carrera 3.0 replaces Carrera 2.7. World manufacturer's title won in 935
1977	World manufacturer's title again won by 935, now with 630bhp
1978	911 Turbo gets 3.3 litre, 300bhp engine. SC launched with 180bhp engine
1979	SC gets 188bhp and 10% better economy. Cats introduced
1980	SC's power raised to 204bhp

1981	Ickx and Bell win Le Mans in 936 Spyder
1982	Soft-top Cabriolet launched as alternative to Coupe and Targa
1983	Group B 959 revealed at Frankfurt show
1984	Flat-six engine enlarged to 3.2 litres
1985	Ten-year anti-rust warranty introduced, flat-nose option for Turbo, side bars fitted
1986	Paris-Dakar 4x4s finish first, second and sixth in gruelling African raid
1987	Motoring world startled by 270km/h 959; a technology showcase, it sold at a loss
1988	Speedster 'sunshine' special celebrates 911's 25th birthday, Turbo gets five-speed gearbox
1989	Face lifted Carrera 2/4 with new 3.6 engines and 959-based four-wheel drive in 4
1990	Carrera 2-based rear-drive 911 Turbo back with 320bhp
1991	Hard-riding, stripped-for-action Carrera RS re-introduced
1992	Open Speedster re-introduced, along with 3.7 Turbo
1993	New 911 Carrera launched, with 3.6 litre engine and six-speed gearbox
1994	Fingertip Tiptronic transmission, Carrera Cabriolet and simpler 4x4 system on Carrera 4 introduced.
1995	Glass-paneled, push-button Targa, 4S and all-drive 408bhp Turbo join line-up
1996	Enter the Carrera S, with normally-aspirated engine and Turbo-look bodywork
1997	Porsche introduces Boxster - Roadster with a boxer engine
1998	Porsche introduces first brand new 911 in 34 years - water-cooled