Gallery: 50 Years of the World's Greatest Sports Car
01901
In 1963 a small German car company introduced its second street model. It was called the 911, and 50 years later, Porsche's sports car continues to defy the odds as one of the most successful, popular, and adored vehicles of all time. Everyone and their brothers are singing the praises of the 911 for its 50th birthday, and that includes photographer René Staud. He's released an 8-pound tome appropriately entitled [*The Porsche 911 Book*](http://www.teneues.com/shop-us/the-porsche-911-book.html), and the 320-page slab of everything 911 is a massive coffee table book that encapsulates the artistry and engineering of every 911 for the past five decades. The 911 is the ultimate case study in evolution over revolution. The design and layout is the same 50 years on, which – if common sense reigned supreme – should have ended its life years ago. With an engine located behind the rear wheels, the original 911s were more than a handful for drivers at the limit. As the years went by, the engineers in Zuffenhausen subtracted weight, added turbos, attached giant wings, and created an icon. The car's reputation for wanting to switch ends was only eclipsed by its success on the track. Just this past weekend Porsche celebrated its 100th class win at the grueling 24 Hours of LeMans. And for more than half of those wins, it was a 911 at the top of the heap. And that includes Sunday's victory. But to be fair, the 911 RSR that took the win is a far cry from its ancestor above. The original six-cylinder offering from Porsche was called the 901. It was a higher-powered model following the company's successful but slightly smaller 356. The French automaker Peugeot objected to the name, claiming rights to all car models with a zero in the middle. Porsche changed the 0 to a 1, and a legend was born. With its design origins traced back to the original Volkswagen Beetle (also designed by Porsche), the 911 included a few options to make a civil sports car, including a pair of (very small) rear seats and enough room under the hood for golf clubs. The car was praised by the automobile press after its debut in 1963, but few could have imagined that the same basic design would be winning races and hearts a lifetime later. Eventually Porsche added computers that could help with the workload, and by the mid-1980s the legendary 911 offspring were among the most technologically advanced cars on the planet. In the '90s Porsche modernized the Carrera with the addition of liquid cooling. Purists considered it the end of the icon, but the company went on to build world-beating performance cars that were better than ever. And the 911 continues to be at the front of sports car development despite the same general design unveiled to the public 50 years earlier. The profile is basically the same and the engine still sits in the back. And in a pinch, you could almost swap the side windows between models that are separated by half a century. *Photos © The Porsche 911 Book, 50th Anniversary Edition, Photographs by René Staud, published by [teNeues](www.teneues.com). Photo © 2013 [René Staud](www.renestaud.com). All rights reserved.*
02911-R
911-R ----- One of the first big performance improvements made to a 911 for racing followed the Porsche tradition of subtraction rather than addition. While its counterparts at Ferrari and Chevrolet were adding more power, Porsche engineers looked at their would-be racer and started hacking away. The result was the 1967 911R. Gone are the stock turn signals and tail lights, replaced by tiny bulbs. The metal hood, engine cover and fenders are replaced with fiberglass versions. Even holes were drilled in the floor to find a few ounces. The company would end up making just 22 of the ultra-lightweight models, but for many it remains one of the most cherished 911s in Porsche history.
03911 Carerra RS 2.7
911 Carerra RS 2.7 ------------------ By the early 1970s, Porsche transferred some of what it learned with the lightweight 911R, and put it into a street model available to the public. The 1973 911RS 2.7 would become perhaps the quintessential high performance Porsche of all time. In addition to the weight-shavings, the 2.7 saw a significant bump in power over the previous models. With its "ducktail" rear spoiler, the 911RS would win on the track and continues to win concours events and auctions today as one of the most sought-after 911s ever produced.
04911 Turbo 3.0
911 Turbo 3.0 ------------- Porsche's competition continued to push the limits of power with bigger and bigger engines. But the German company wanted to avoid the weight penalty associated with a giant motor. Instead, it would make up for the size by simply squeezing more air into the the engine. Porsche would go on to become almost synonymous with "turbo" in the sports car world. The massive single spool turbocharger of the 1970s delivered its power with a delayed punch, adding to the challenge of driving the rear-engined car. But with the advent of turbocharging, Porsche continued to win on the track, and built a legend for those who wanted to park race car performance in their garage -- or in a tree.
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959 --- In the early 1980s Porsche would begin the biggest transformation of the 911 to date (and perhaps since). Originally designed to test the limits in rally car racing, the Gruppe B, as it was originally called, would go on to be the most advanced car of the era. This model would eventually become the 959, the fastest production car ever built when it debuted in 1985. The 911 at its heart was covered in a sleek, new aerodynamic body. It's rear-engine layout was somewhat tamed by a new all-wheel-drive system, aided by a new control system that could asymmetrically deliver power to either the front or rear wheels, something now commonplace on even the average family car. Porsche never did fully campaign the 959 on the rally circuit, but they did enter a pair of the purpose-build racers in the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1986 to see how their new creation would fare. They finished 1st and 2nd in the exhausting trans-continent race.
06911 Carrera 4 coupe.tif
911 Carrera 4 Coupe ------------------- It might look the same as the 901, but by the late 1980s, Porsche was getting even more serious about dominating the sports car world. The automaker began offering the all-wheel-drive system honed in the 959 on a street model, and the new Carrera 4 shared fewer parts with its predecessor than any previous model. For the first time, 911 purists found themselves with the dilemma of embracing a big change from their beloved original with far more than just a simple evolutionary step. It was a challenge that would repeat itself as the 911 continued to evolve over the coming decades.
Bottom layer in progress / Image: Kelly Knox07911 Carrera Clubsport
911 Carrera Clubsport --------------------- Throughout the history of the 911, Porsche regularly offered models for its faithful followers who were looking for a bit more than you could buy off the lot. There were slightly better performing models like the 911S, and even more hardened road-going racers like the 911RS. But for those looking for something to set themselves further apart -- both on the road and on the track -- the Clubsport (pictured above) and the RS America allowed Porsche to offer a taste of racing that only Porsche could deliver.
08993
993 --- Nobody knew it at the time, but in 1993 Porsche began selling what would be the last of the air cooled 911s. Known by its internal chassis code, the 993 model was again a massive redesign (by Porsche standards) of its predecessor. The car continued Porsche's success on the world's circuits, and the upgraded performance attracted plenty of buyers into showrooms. When the next version of the 911 was announced with a new water cooled engine, the last of the air-cooled 993s quickly became *the* model for Porsche enthusiasts. Perhaps the most enthusiastic Porsche owner of them all managed to make arrangements with the factory to take delivery of the last air-cooled 911 to roll off the assembly line. Today that 993 sits in Jerry Seinfeld's collection along with a long list of other historic Porsches.
09996 GT2
996 GT2 ------- The next 911 not only came with a new water-cooled engine, it also packed several design features that weren't particularly popular with Porsche's fanboys. The muted response from the faithful didn't deter the company from doing what it knew would win back its followers: Make a version nobody could ignore. The resulting 996 GT2 added gobs of power thanks to a pair of massive turbochargers, and it eschewed the control of all-wheel-drive. Instead, all of that grunt would be delivered as God intended: straight to the rear wheels. The road-going GT2 again tempted those looking for a race car in their driveway, and is perhaps the saving grace from an era of 911s that will go down in infamy.
10997
997 --- In recent years Porsche has won back many of its faithful followers with the most recent iterations of the 911. The 997 had grown bigger, and these days the 911s rely more on computational power than the simple weight reduction and boost in power to improve performance. But few who have driven a newer 911 would argue with the car's ability to outperform its predecessors -- and almost anything on the road.
11997 GT3 RS 4.0
997 GT3 RS 4.0 -------------- And for those who still say the newer 911s lack the punch and edge of yesteryear, Porsche is always happy to silence even the most ardent critics. The modern interpretation of 70s-ear 911RS 2.7 is this: the GT3 RS 4.0. As was the case back then, the newer RS borrows heavily from Porsche's racing stable for those who want that little bit more. The critics of modern 911s say the edge is gone, and there might be a bit too much luxury and leather for those who simply want pure 911 performance. Thankfully, Porsche still has its head and heart in racing, and continues to make cars that throw out the plush leather and electronic gizmos in exchange for a rigid seat and mind-boggling performance. The GT3 RS 4.0 serves that up in spades. The next interpretation of the classic will arrive soon when the current 991 model changes from one of the most competent sports cars of our time into the world-beater it's destined to become. Ferdinand Porsche would've wanted it that way.
