The Legends of Zuffenhausen: My 5 All-Time Favorite Porsche 911s
For four decades, I’ve had the privilege of piloting the most iconic sports car ever conceived. From the raw, unassisted thrill of early generations to the razor-sharp precision of modern masterpieces, the Porsche 911 has been the yardstick against which all others are measured. It’s a machine that commands respect, rewards mastery, and never loses its emotional grip.
My journey with the 911 began with a visceral encounter in Australia that I still remember like yesterday. I tested a 1975 Porsche 911 Carrera, a white 3.0-liter with black Fuchs wheels. It was pure, minimalist machinery—no power steering, a gated five-speed manual, and an uncompromising purity that spoke volumes. Yet, here I was, sharing the same day with the contemporary 944 Turbo. Objectively, the 944 was the superior machine that day—faster, more composed, and easier to exploit on winding Australian roads. The 944’s surging, linear thrust was effortlessly intoxicating, making any driver look like a hero.
But the 911 was different. It pulled at something deeper than logic. As I wrote back then: “I’m certain. I know the 944 Turbo is the better car. But I also know that if it came to the crunch, that if it were me agonizing over how to spend my money, I’d take the 911 Carrera home.”
This feeling persists even today. Decades later, outside of the divisive 964 generation—which briefly suggested the 911 concept was nearing obsolescence—Porsche has masterfully refined its icon. It remains the one new car I would still happily spend my own money on.
Picking just five models out of the hundreds I’ve experienced is agonizing. But after 40 years of testing Porsche 911 models, these are the five that are etched most deeply in my memory.
The Original Widowmaker: The 1975 Porsche 930 Turbo
Before the modern era of electronic safety nets, veteran road testers spoke of the original Porsche 911 Turbo (930) in hushed, almost reverent tones. They described it as a monster that demanded absolute respect—a machine whose binary boost response made the tightrope walk between corner-entry understeer and the rear end’s snapping oversteer a task requiring swift hands and nerves of steel. Sloppiness was punished; mistakes were unforgiving. It was, they warned, a widowmaker.
I didn’t get behind the wheel of a genuine, original 930 until 35 years into my career, which speaks to the exclusivity and enduring mystique of these early machines. This particular car belonged to Porsche’s precious classic fleet and was one of the first 30 production Turbos ever built.
Outside, aware of its fearsome reputation, I took it very easy at first. I let the throttle work, feeling the immense turbo surge come on, and watched the tachometer spin as I tried to build a mental map of its power and torque curves.
The 1975 Porsche 930 3.0 Turbo’s engine proved remarkably tractable at low RPMs. It was happy to murmur along at 2,000 rpm in top gear, trickling through traffic at 45 mph without complaint. However, once the revs climbed past 3,500 rpm, there was a noticeable acceleration surge as the turbocharger stuffed a massive 0.8 bar of boost into the intake.
Yet, the sledgehammer impact I expected never materialized.
I quickly learned the secret to smooth yet rapid progress in this legend: keep the 3.0-liter flat-six spinning at or above 4,000 rpm. This keeps the turbocharger perpetually energized. Yes, there is significant turbo lag by 2025 standards, but it’s manageable once you adapt your driving style.
Even today, half a century after it was built, this 911 Turbo feels blisteringly fast on the road. First gear sprints to 50 mph, second to 90 mph, and third to almost 130 mph. On a twisty two-lane road, you can dispatch most corners using only second and third gear. And while it might produce only 256 hp, weighing just 2,513 pounds, it rockets through corners with astonishing agility.
If you love vintage Porsches, the 930 Turbo remains the ultimate challenge—a visceral, raw experience that defines automotive courage.
The Last Air-Cooled Icon: The 1996 Porsche 911 (993)
For the purists, 1996 Porsche 911 (993) represents the end of an era—the last air-cooled 911. It’s the Porsche that reconnects you to the machine, where your knuckles might graze the dash and the snarl of the air-cooled flat-six rings behind your head. But when I first drove this car in 1994, it was the Porsche 911 of the future, the first to truly challenge the laws of physics.
Admittedly, the 993 generation still exhibited traits of its forebears. The front end still demanded load on corner entry to ensure you hit the apex, and the rear end still exhibited a characteristic sway through rough turns. However, the harmony between the front and rear had vastly improved. The 993 performed 911 duties, but with a significantly enhanced margin for error.
The linchpin of this evolution was a new rear suspension. Gone were the trailing arms of old, replaced by a new multilink setup. This innovation allowed for a very slight initial toe-out on corner entry, followed by a progressive toe-in as lateral loads increased. Crucially, it dramatically reduced the camber change that had been the Achilles’ heel of 911s since 1963.
This advancement was paired with quick steering—only 2.5 turns from lock-to-lock, which felt 16 percent quicker than the previous model and made the front end feel much more decisive. Adding to the visceral feel was a new six-speed manual transmission. It perfectly harnessed the power of the 3.6-liter flat-six, which delivered 268 hp at 6,100 rpm. This was achieved through lighter internals, the Bosch Motronic 2.0 engine management system, and a new dual-exhaust system that sang with raw emotion.
Compared to the 964 model it replaced, the 1996 911 Carrera 2 was a revelation. This wasn’t just about engineering advancements led by Ulrich Bez (later the CEO of Aston Martin); the exterior redesign, spearheaded by design chief Harm Lagaay, corrected what he saw as visual problems with the 964, specifically its front-heavy stance. The interior was cleaner, too, with better button placement.
The 993 was a 911 that was faster, more forgiving, and—most importantly—more desirable than ever before. It bridged the gap between raw, analog driving and modern performance, ensuring the survival of the air-cooled legend with a timeless aesthetic that remains stunning even in 2025.
The 911 That Saved a Company: The 1999 Porsche 911 (996)
At the time of its debut, the decision to install a water-cooled flat-six in the tail of the 996-series Porsche 911 was viewed by many aficionados as heresy—the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan swapping his acoustic guitar for a Fender Strat at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Yet, the 996, the first clean-sheet redesign of Porsche’s indefatigable sports car in 34 years, was a hero car to me. In fact, I firmly believe the 996 saved Porsche.
Engineered and developed under the leadership of Porsche R&D chief Horst Marchart, the 996 was a remarkably clever 911. A key element of its genius was sharing 38 percent of its parts with the all-new, less expensive mid-engine roadster the world would soon know as the Boxster. Iconoclastic Porsche boss Wendelin Weideking recognized the need for the Boxster to provide a crucial second revenue stream when the aging 928 and 968 models were phased out. “We did two cars for the price of one-and-a-half,” design boss Lagaay said with a wry smile after the company unveiled the 996.
But while the media focused on its relationship with the Boxster and its controversial water-cooled engine, the 996’s real significance ran much deeper. In 1994, it took Porsche 130 hours to build a 993-series 911; the 996 took just 60 hours to build.
The modern Porsche 911 had arrived. It was roomier, equipped with all the features expected of a late 20th-century sports car, and yet still undeniably recognizable as a 911. Most importantly, it
