If ever a car could be called evergreen it would be the Porsche 911, introduced in 1963 and still in production, albeit significantly updated. Its rear engine became a 911 hallmark, but if it were designed today it would be a brave and iconoclastic engineer who would place the engine behind the rear axle. John DeLorean's 1980s gull-wing sports car had this layout but it was hardly typical, and gave the DeLorean some peculiar handling characteristics.
And although more than 21 million original VW Beetles were configured this way, they were far from sports cars. The one that overcame such an unorthodox layout is the 911.
The Porsche 911, then, could be called a triumph of good engineering over a dubious design, one with roots back to the original 1934 Volkswagen Beetle prototype. In spite of a basically unstable configuration, long and brilliant development has made the 911 one of the world's best-handling cars.
Although keeping the basic layout and air-cooled, horizontally opposed rear engine that evolved from the Volkswagen, the 911 marked the real divergence from VW-based Porsches. Unlike the popular 356 (produced from 1948 to 1965) that it replaced, the 911 was all Porsche with no compromises to accommodate VW components.
The 911 was introduced as the 901 (changed to 911 after Peugeot objected) at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September 1963, and went into production a year later. Of all the cars at Frankfurt that year, including the world's first production Wankel rotary engined (NSU) and the first belt-driven overhead camshaft (Glas), the new Porsche had the greatest impact and has stayed in production the longest.
Unlike the 356's pushrod four, the 911 had a flat, air-cooled, single-overhead-cam 145-horsepower six. With an eye to competition, it had dry sump lubrication. Initially 2.0 litres, the 911's displacement would ultimately double that.
Suspension was also upgraded from the 356's front trailing arms and rear swing axles to front struts and rear semi-trailing arms with fully articulated half shafts, although still with torsion bars all around. This revised suspension gave a substantial handling improvement over the 356.
While unmistakably all new, the styling was clearly Porsche. It eschewed Italian design shops and stayed with Porsche bloodlines. The 911 was styled by Ferdinand Alexander (Butzi) Porsche, son of Ferdinand (Ferry) Porsche and grandson of Volkswagen father, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche.
The 911's lines were cleaner, leaner, and more contemporary than the 356's. The hood sloped more sharply and new longitudinal front torsion bars, rather than lateral, allowed a larger trunk.
One concern was that the 911's $1,500 to $2,000 higher price would push a Porsche out of the reach of many customers, so from 1965 to '69 Porsche offered the 912, a 911 with the old 356 pushrod four-cylinder engine. It was replaced by the mid-engined 914. The 912 was brought back in 1976 for a year, now fuel-injected.
In 1969, the 911's wheelbase was increased 56 millimetres to 2,273 mm by lengthening the trailing arms. It improved both the ride and weight distribution.
Over the years, Porsche engineers have continually developed the technology of the 911's ancient layout. This has resulted in constant improvement in performance and handling. Displacement increased, fuel injection replaced carburetors (mechanical, then electronic), tires grew and suspension and aerodynamic modifications were applied. For better emissions and power management, Porsche eliminated one more link with its past by replacing the flat six's air cooling with water cooling in 1997.
The 911 bristled with technology, including turbocharging, four-wheel drive and traction control. It recently began offering its ingenious twin-clutch transmission with lightning-quick, automatically shifted sliding gears that eliminated the torque converter and had no power interruption during shifts. Porsche's stability management system helps bring overly enthusiastic drivers back in line by selectively braking the appropriate wheel or cutting engine power if the car's sensors detect it is going astray.
911s, always good performers, improved steadily over the years. In March 1965, Road & Track reported zero to 96 km/h in 9.0 seconds and a top speed of 212 km/h for the original 911. Modern Porsche performance can only be called prodigious with zero to 96 km/h in about four seconds and to 160 in under 10. Top speed is limited mostly by the bravery of the driver.
Although slated for retirement in the early 1980s to be replaced by the front-engined, water-cooled 924, 928, et al., the Porsche enthusiasts were so vocal that the 911 survived. They were right, and rear engined Porsches ultimately superseded front engined ones, although there is now a front engined Porsche Panamera sedan.
Well into the 21st century, the Porsche 911 continues. Constant application of clever engineering has overcome a modest heritage and unorthodox layout to produce a benchmark sports car.
