Porsche first unveiled the 911 Turbo at the Paris motor show in 1974, before going on sale the following year.The car became an instant legend due to its muscular styling, iconic image and its 256bhp 3.0-litre turbocharged engine. It was the first production Porsche to feature turbocharging, after the company began road-car development of the technology in 1972.The model stayed in production following a 1977 facelift until 1989, before being replaced by the 964 series the following year. It originally got the 3.3-litre engine, before being replaced with the famous 3.6-litre unit in 1993.The 993 Turbo arrived in 1995, which was the first Porsche to feature permanent four-wheel drive. It kept the 3.6-litre engine seen in the last few examples of the 964.
Porsche introduced 200 units of the 993 911 Turbo S, which boosted standard power output to 418bhp. Styling modifications including new side air intakes and vents of the rear spoiler.A twin-turbocharged 996 Turbo first appeared in 2000 and stayed in production until 2004. Four-wheel drive remained, while in standard form it produced 414bhp. An S package was also offered for the 996, which boosted power output further and cut its 0-62mph time to 3.8secs.The 997 Turbo arrived in 2005 and kept the same 3.6-litre twin-turbocharged engine of the previous model. This time, power was up to 473bhp and torque increased to 457lb ft. A 2009 facelift introduced the 3.8-litre direct injection powerplant to the 997 Turbo.These cars, the 997.2 models, produced 493bhp and 479lb ft. The 997's swansong was the GT2 RS of 2010, capable of a 7min 18sec Nurburgring lap time thanks to 611bhp and a 1370kg kerbweight.
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I spoke to the 911 designer today!
A bit of real history for you guys!
I was fortunate enough to speak to former Porsche's head of exterior design Pinky Lai today (literally), the man responsible for the look of the Boxster, Cayman, 996 (911) and BMW's cars of the late 90s. All I can say is it was fascinating to hear from him personally his experiences at Porsche as a designer. He was one of the very few people who knew Ferry Porsche personally, and it was his one design for the Boxster that helped save the company from bankruptcy. At the time the 911 (which was a design that was over 35 years old) was losing ground to other brands. Sales fell from 50K one year to 40K, then from 40K to 30K and Porsche knew they had to do something drastic (to replace the old design) otherwise it would have been sold to Mercedes or Toyota. So they proposed 4 completely new designs based on separate themes ie. stylish, classic, sporty etc., from 4 individual designers. One of the themes was called the 'Advanced' look and this was Pinky's brief. Luckily his design made it through the design proposals for and it's what saved the company at the end...
I think my favourite was the
I think my favourite was the 993 Turbo. The 993 refined the original 'Mk 1' shape while the Turbo styling added extra muscle without the slight fussiness that inflicted the 996 and 997 Turbos.
As for the 991 Turbo, although probably uneccessary, I'd love to see a GT2 RS version. That would just have phenomenal performance and would just be plain naughty!
964 Turbo
Personally I don't think the 964 Turbo has ever been beaten for its styling purity. I even think it looks better than the original 930, which was a good looking car itself. IMO the later cars have become overstyled, lessening their appeal.