The 911? Which 911? Honestly all of them. As we all know, Porsche is greatly known for their engineering and sleek designs on the 911, but what most people do not know is that there have been 8 generations of the Porsche 911 since 1963. To break it down by years and versions we have:
-The Original 911 (1963-1973)
-G Series 911 (1973-1989)
-964 911 (1988-1994)
-993 911 (1993-1998)
-996 911 (1997-2005)
-997 911 (2004-2012)
-991 911 (2011-2019)
-992 911 (2018-Present)
There is no other sports car that has evolved over 60 years and yet has kept the essence of its original design quite like the 911 has.
The Origins
How did it start, what was the thought process behind this beautiful design?
The 911 was first unveiled when it was launched at the Frank-furt International Motor Show on the 12th of September in 1963. Full production of the car started a whole year later at the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen. In fact, during this time, its original name was The 901, it wasn’t even called the 911 yet! When the 901 came about, there was an immediate controversy over trademark on the name of the vehicle (901). During this time, a competing French auto manufacturer, Peugeot, had already reserved the 901 name; they claimed any and all three-digit car model numbers that had a zero in the middle. This made things quite difficult for Porsche as they were already in the middle of their launch. 901 was literally in the process of being affixed to the rear and glove compartments of the vehicles. What an absolute headache that was for Porsche. In short, the easiest thing they could do was to rename the car using the typeface they could already produce most quickly, which meant either putting a 9 or a 1 in place of the zero. Wisely, they chose the 1. Sparking one of the longest lasting love affairs in history.
The first ever Porsche 911 was designed by F.A Porsche- son of the founder of the company, Ferry Porsche- and his team. Ferdinand Alexander Porsche laid the groundwork for the very successful 911 when he designed the 901, he is the first and most legendary 911 designer. A total of four chief designers have left their mark on the 911 over the fifty some years of its existence. Each and every single one of them made a vital contribution to the evolution of this car.
The G Series 911 (1973-89)
Porsche had been producing the first generation 911’s for nearly 10 years when, in 1973, the all new 911 G-series was shown to the public eye. The engineers in Stuttgart radically revamped this sports car. Beyond the new design of the 911, it was the technology in the G-series that set it apart from its predecessor. To focus on the exterior changes though before the technology, the main exterior differences were the impact absorbing bumpers, the shorter bonnet, the front blinkers that moved from the fenders to the bumper, and the rear reflective panel with PORSCHE-lettering that would ultimately become a trademark item.
The technical changes though are what caught people's attention. Porsche equipped every 911 in Europe with a 2.7-liter six-cylinder engine, with power outputs from 110kW to 148kW(198Hp), depending on certain variations of the vehicle. In comparison, at this time, the beetle only had an output of 25kW. 1975 came around and Porsche had then produced a four-cylinder version for the United States and that version was called the 912 E. Now we also have the 911 Turbo, which happened to be in a league of its own at that time, making 191kW(256Hp). Very impressive if we are talking about cars engineered in the early 70’s.
The 911 Turbo was presented in October 1974 at the Paris Motor Show. Equipped with a 3.0-liter fuel-injected turbocharged six cylinder! In the years to come, “Turbo” would come to be synonymous with Porsche, sports cars and power. Porsche modified the 911 on almost a yearly basis. Each year or so the design only got better and better. In 1976, the 911 Carrera 3.0 and the 911 Turbo both came with automatic heating control, improved theft protection and power brakes. Despite any difficult economic structures during these times, Porsche remained very committed to the 911, continuing to develop multiple model variants.
The G series was built from 1973 to 1989 and during this 16 year run, Porsche manufactured 198,496 of them. In technical terms, the G Series really only belongs to the 1974 model year. A year after, the 911 was actually called the H Series: then the J Series in 1976, the K Series in 1977 and so on.
The 964 911 (1988-1994)
The 964, one of the most beloved Porsche 911’s. Being introduced at the end of the 1980’s, it showed its advanced driving and aerodynamic technology proudly. The 964 is considered rare, for multiple reasons, but mainly being that Porsche only manufactured a whopping total of 63,762 Porsche 964’s. The 964 911 was the first 911 to send power to the front wheels as well as the rear wheels. That’s right, it was the first all-wheel drive Porsche. All-wheel drive technology has been a feature ever since. The advanced technology on the 964 was truly something else though. Porsche had gotten rid of the ducktail rear wing from the previous 911 variants and equipped the 964 with an electronically- operated spoiler that rose at about 50mph, ultimately helping rear lift.
Although the 964 had a short run of production, it was made available to customers in a wider selection of versions than had ever seen before in the Porsche 911. Porsche built targa and cabriolet versions with all-wheel drive, and also did the same with the Carrera two-wheel drive model. In fact, in 1992, a very special version of the 911 turbo hit the market in the form of the Carrera 2 cabriolet, which used the body, chassis, braking system and wheels from the turbo 3.3.
The first 964 911 turbo model was sold during 1991 to 1992, using a 3.3 liter engine. Then, in 1993, Porsche switched it up to a 3.6 liter engine. The turbo was only ever sold as a coupe besides the limited Cabriolet production run they had. Multiple variants though such as the Turbo S Leichtbau and the ‘flatnose’ Turbo S Flachbau, both highly sought after vehicles. During this time Porsche also introduced the track oriented RS models. An RS based on the Carrera 2 was released in limited numbers in 1991, in several different specifications: extra power, weight reductions, lowered suspension, some even came with buckets seats and thinner carpet. We also had the very rare wide-body 964 RS 3.8 model. I mean Porsche was literally just spitting out different variants left and right. The 911 Jubilee models, the RS America, the speedster, and Porsche was determined to be different and to stand out, which is exactly what they did.
Jumping to the future, 992 911 (2018-present) Conclusion
With 8 generations of the 911 and two beautiful examples of how innovative each generation was we can assume it was a copy and paste every generation, with Porsche coming up with every new technology for their 911’s while also maintaining the same original 911 design. We look back at the early 911’s and compare them to todays 911 and the resemblance is greatly acknowledged and appreciated, I mean truly what a beautiful design through and through.
“The eighth generation of the 911 is more powerful, more emotive and more efficient than its predecessor – with a wide range of digital features,” said Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche, at the presentation of the 992 in November 2018. “And even with all the innovations, the 911 is still what it has been from the very beginning: a purist’s sports car and the pulsating heart of Porsche. It is our icon.”
For each generation of the 911 to be labeled the “icon” of that generation just says a lot. The 992 being the latest icon of Porsche, combining classic design with modern elements, equipped now with an 8 speed and many other features. Porsche's passion for motorsports is highly apparent through their development of the 911 throughout the generations. The 911 is a car built by drivers for drivers and like no other car, the 911 unites performance with quality, tradition with innovation, exclusivity with social acceptability, and form with functionality.