Porsche 911: A Half-Century Apart and Much the Same

September 19, 2013
Story By
Kristin Cline

The Porsche 911 is turning 50...and call me sentimental, but I feel that anniversaries are great opportunities to reflect upon where you've come. The fact that Porsche was able to put a car into production in 1963 that has progressed the test of time, without any major design revisions, is a feat that very few, or none, can claim.

The Porshce 911 actually began as the 901, the project number given the car by Porsche's design office, and was forced to change to 911 due to a conflict with Puegot (who had registered all three-figured numbers with an '0' in th middle sometime before WWII). Porsche had been producing the 356 all through the 50s and it was time for something new. What transgressed was the first model that Porsche had designed and developed from scratch and that "they hit a home run" would be an understatement.

Photo Courtesy of Porsche. For the Porsche 50th Anniversary, they've recently released a limited "911 50th Anniversary Edition" shown above. We'll be featuring more on Porsche and the beloved 911 during the next few weeks (including a full feature on the pictured red Porsche 901, a rare gem from Petersen Automotive Museum's vault). For now, take a look at how similar, but how different, the Porsche 911 is from when it first appeared at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1963.

1963 specs taken from Porsche 911 Story by Paul Frére, 2013 specs taken from Porsche.com. To see more of the 50 years of the Porsche 911, visit the Porsche 911 site. -Kristin Cline

Porsche 911: A Half-Century Apart and Much the Same

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