No, they are not a sports car that many can afford to buy brand new. However, it doesn’t cost you anything to listen enviously to the roar of the distinctive Porsche engine as the uniquely shaped vehicle approaches and travels past you in the outside lane of the motorway sedately gliding along at 70mph. You cannot fail but to admire its rear end that contains one of the most powerful engines in a production car as it drives into the distance.
Anyway, enough of dreaming about which model you would buy if you were to win the National Lottery. Instead, we thought it would be interesting to spend a few minutes looking back at a little of the history of the Porsche 911.
Before we do, just a little reminder to those that do not know that “911” is actually pronounced “nine eleven” as opposed to “nine one one”.
Let’s start back in 1963
The Porsche 911 was introduced to replace both the 356 that had been around since 1948 and was felt to be lacking in power and the “Type 7” prototype. Who would have thought that the 911 would achieve more sales than the iconic 356 as by its 50th anniversary in 2013, 820,000 had been sold.
Initially called the Type 901, the prototype was seen on the roads in Germany in 1963. However, this model number had to be changed as Peugeot claimed to have the rights to use the zero on any car with three numbers in its model description i.e. 206, 307, 406. Quite simply, all Porsche did was to replace the “0” with a “1”and come up with 911.
It wasn’t until late 1964 that the Porsche 911 went into normal production. Power for the two-seater sports car came from a 2.0-litre flat-6 rear mounted air-cooled engine producing 128bhp and a top speed of 134mph.
Minor alterations were made to the car over the years resulting in an increase in power. For instance, in 1973, the Porsche 911 Carrera RS appeared.
Porsche took part and still does in numerous well-known world championship racing events such as the 24 Hours Le Mans that they won in 1979 in a Type 935 – in fact Porsche filled the first 4 places in that race.
In 1990 a Tiptronic automatic gearbox (“flappy paddles”) was introduced by Porsche that was innovative for its time but is now often seen on modern day executive cars.
Now we are in 1998
In 1998, the Type 996 was introduced but this time the engine became water-cooled and the bodywork was updated.
From 2005 and until 2012, this was followed by the Type 997 with an all-wheel drive version coming on the scene. There were various models including the GT3 and the Turbo. The later took performance up yet again as it had a 3.6-litre twin-turbo charged engine producing a staggering 473bhp getting from 0 to 60mph in a mere 3.7 seconds as it headed for a top speed of 193mph.
2014
Today, as it has been for many years, the Porsche 911 remains a flagship for Porsche with twenty showroom models available ranging in price from £73,509 for the Carrera to £159, 054 for the Turbo S Exclusive GB Edition with the later having a 560bhp engine getting from 0 to 60mph in only 2.9 seconds.
Wouldn’t you just love to own one!
AIB have a history insuring all types of Porsche’s from the classic and vintage to the modern super car. For an instant quote call the team here on 02380 268351 or visit https://www.aib-insurance.co.uk/get-a-car-insurance-quote
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