Porsche 911

The 911 or nine-eleven is the most famous and distinctive automobile from Porsche. Released in 1963 (as the Porsche 901, before Peugeot's complaints led to a name change), the car has a 6-cylinder air-cooled boxer engine at the rear. The body styling was by Butzi Porsche, son of the company founder Ferry Porsche. Erwin Komenda, the leader of the Porsche car body construction department, was involved in the design. Many racing versions of the 911 were developed and the cars won numerous prestigious circuit races and rallies.

The car underwent continuous development (including turbo-charging and four-wheel-drive), until 1997 when—still a fast car in any terms—it was replaced by an all-new 911 model. The new 911 is visually very reminiscent of the original, and retains the rear-mounted 'boxer' flat-6 engine, although it is now water-cooled to meet more stringent noise regulations. Its lines are a little sleeker and it has a much more steeply raked windshield than the original.

Currently the 911 codenamed 996 has a 3.6 litre flat six engine, developing 320bhp. The car goes to a top speed of 177 mph with a 0-60 mph time, depending on the model, of about 5 seconds. The 911 GT3 model has a modified version of the same engine, producing 380 horsepower and a 6-speed manual transmission. The 911 Turbo model adds a turbocharger to the Carrera 4S model and produces 415 horsepower. The top-of-the-line 911 GT2 has a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter flat-6 like the 911 Turbo but is rear (as opposed to four-wheel) drive. It has 477 horsepower and is capable of 0-60 mph times in less that 3.8 seconds.

However a new 911 is expected in 2005 codenamed 997. This is expected to have a 3.8 litre engine with 340bhp.

A notable variant of the 911 was the Porsche 959 - a turbocharged, four-wheel-drive supercar of the late 1980s.

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