5 Porsches That Defined My Career: 40 Years Behind the Wheel of the 911
It’s a strange feeling when something that was a distant milestone suddenly arrives. It’s been four decades since I first got behind the wheel of a Porsche 911. I can still remember that car vividly—a pristine white 3.0-liter Carrera with matte black Fuchs alloys. It was lean, minimalist, and pure, with a 5-speed manual transmission and no power steering. At the time, I was testing it in Australia alongside the 944 Turbo. It was a strange comparison; the 944 cost roughly the same and was faster, smoother, and easier to drive on almost any road. Yet, even then, despite the technical superiority of the 944, I found myself inexplicably drawn to the 911.
I wrote about it at the time: “After two days and 600 miles, 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.” It wasn’t a decision I made lightly. I conceded the 944 was “so competent, it can make a bad driver look good.” But the 911, I noted, “was a sports car of a different age and reflects different values. It’s not tailored to meet the needs of most drivers. It demands understanding and respect.” And that, ultimately, was why I’d take it home.
Since that first encounter, I have driven countless 911 variants. Except for the 964, which in the early 1990s seemed to suggest the iconic 911 formula was reaching the end of its lifespan, I’ve been continually impressed by Porsche’s ability to refine its icon, keeping it relevant, engaging, and exciting. Four decades on, the 911 remains one of the very few new cars I would still consider buying with my own money. Looking back, here are the five Porsche 911s that have left the most indelible mark on me throughout my career.
The Legend: The Original 1975 Porsche 930 Turbo
Back in the 1970s, veteran motoring journalists spoke of the original Porsche 911 Turbo in almost mythical terms. They described a car that demanded absolute respect when driven with intent—a machine where the jump from turbo lag to the surge of boost was so abrupt it could easily catch even experienced drivers off guard. It was, they warned, a “widowmaker.” For 35 years, I remained curious, and finally, I got my chance to drive one of the very first production 930 Turbos ever built, now part of the priceless Porsche Classic collection.
Stepping into that machine, fully aware of its fearsome reputation, I took it exceptionally slow at first. I gingerly experimented with the throttle, feeling the subtle spool of the turbocharger and watching the tachometer, trying to build a mental map of its power delivery. To my surprise, the 3.0-liter flat-six was surprisingly tractable at low revs. Cruising at 45 mph in top gear, the engine hummed along happily at 2,000 rpm. But once the needle passed 3,500 rpm, there was a distinct surge of acceleration as the turbocharger pressurized the intake system with about 12 pounds of boost. What I expected to be a brutal, sledgehammer blow to the chest never materialized.
I learned that the secret to smooth, rapid progress in the original 930 Turbo was to keep the revs spinning above 4,000 rpm. This ensured the turbocharger was always primed and ready. Yes, there is noticeable turbo lag by modern standards, but it is entirely manageable. Even after 50 years, this car remains ferociously quick on the road. First gear reaches 50 mph, second tops out at 90 mph, and third can push past 130 mph, meaning you can obliterate most twisting two-lane roads using only second and third gears. And although the 3.0-liter only produced 256 hp, the car weighed a mere 2,513 pounds, allowing it to accelerate into and out of corners with surprising agility. Half a century ago, this level of performance felt truly otherworldly.
The Icon Perfected: The 1996 Porsche 993 911 Carrera
For Porsche purists, the 993 generation is the last of the true 911s—the final iteration of the air-cooled era. It is the experience of driving with your knuckles brushing the dashboard and hearing the mechanical symphony of an air-cooled flat-six thundering behind you. However, when I first drove the 993 in 1994, it felt like the 911 of the future. It was the first version to challenge the established laws of physics.
To be clear, the 993 still possessed the characteristic 911 front-end behavior that demanded careful loading into corners, and the rear end still had a tendency to dance slightly in uneven turns. But the connection between the front and rear was far more harmonious than in previous models. The 993 still fundamentally behaved like a 911, but it did so within a much wider margin of error. The critical advancement was the new rear suspension. Porsche replaced the semi-trailing arms of the past with a sophisticated multilink setup. This engineering solution allowed for minimal initial toe-out during corner entry, which then progressed to controlled toe-in as lateral loads increased, all while significantly reducing the camber change that had been the Achilles’ heel of the 911 since 1963.
This groundbreaking suspension was complemented by a new, faster steering system—2.5 turns lock-to-lock, 16% quicker than its predecessor. This made the front end feel much more responsive and planted. Porsche also introduced a new six-speed manual transmission, which allowed drivers to fully exploit the updated 3.6-liter flat-six. Thanks to lighter internals, Bosch Motronic 2.0 engine management, and a new dual-exhaust system, the engine delivered its 268 horsepower peak at a higher 6,100 rpm. Compared to the 964 it replaced, the 993 was a revelation. It wasn’t just the engineering upgrades—led by Ulrich Bez, who later became the CEO of Aston Martin. The exterior redesign, directed by Harm Lagaay, corrected the visual flaws of the 964, a car he felt was too nose-high and rear-low. The interior was cleaner, too, with fewer buttons in awkward places. The 993 was a faster, more forgiving, and—most importantly—more desirable 911.
The Lifeline: The 1999 Porsche 996 911
At the time, it felt like heresy. Porsche’s decision to install a water-cooled flat-six engine in the rear of the 996-series 911 was, to the purists, the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan abandoning his acoustic guitar for a Fender Stratocaster at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. But the 996, the first clean-sheet redesign of Porsche’s indestructible sports car in 34 years, was a hero car in my eyes. It was the 911 that saved Porsche.
The 996 was engineered and developed under the direction of Dr. Horst Marchart, Porsche’s R&D chief. It was a remarkably clever piece of engineering, not least because it shared 38% of its components with an all-new, lower-cost mid-engine roadster the world would come to know as the Boxster. The iconoclastic Porsche CEO at the time, Wendelin Weideking, knew the Boxster was essential to give dealers something else to sell once the aging 928 and 968 models went out of production. “We did two cars for the price of one-and-a-half,” design boss Lagaay explained with a wry smile after the company unveiled the 996.
However, while the media focused on its relationship with the Boxster and the controversy of water-cooling, the 996’s true significance ran much deeper. In 1994, it took Porsche 130 hours to build a 993-series 911; the 996 took just 60 hours to construct. The modern 911 had arrived. It was roomier and equipped with all the features expected of a late 20th-century sports car, yet it remained undeniably a Porsche 911. Most importantly, it still drove like a 911—only better. Yes, there was a new layer of sophistication in how it went about its business, but the 996 retained the delightful tactility and urgent response that had made the 911 a sports car like no other. Alongside the original Boxster, it rescued Porsche from the brink of extinction.
The Heart Stealer: The 2017 Porsche 991.2 Carrera
Of all the 911s I have driven, it was a base 991.2 Carrera that truly stole my heart. And judging by the feedback I received from my colleagues
