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The Legends of the Rear Engine: My Top 5 Porsches After 40 Years Behind the Wheel It’s hard to believe it’s been four decades since I first got behind the wheel of a Porsche 911. The car I remember vividly was a white 3.0-liter Carrera with black Fuchs wheels. It was basic—no power steering, a five-speed manual, and no rear wing. It was fast, but honestly, it felt raw, almost unrefined. At the time, back in my home country of Australia, this exact 911 cost roughly the same as a 944 Turbo. And the 944 was faster, torqueier, and easier to drive on any road. I remember writing after testing both: “I know the 944 Turbo is the better car. But if I had to choose, I’d take the 911 home.” The 944 could make a bad driver look good, but the 911 demanded respect. It was a different breed—imperfect, demanding, and emotional. That connection stuck with me. Since then, I’ve driven dozens of 911s. With every iteration—barring the 964, which felt like the idea might be running out of steam in the early 90s—Porsche has polished this icon, keeping it thrilling, relevant, and utterly desirable. Four decades on, it’s still one of the few new cars I’d spend my own money on. Out of all the incredible 911s I’ve driven over the years, these five stand out as the most unforgettable. The Original Beast: The 1975 Porsche 930 Turbo When I first test-drove that 3.0-liter Carrera, older road-test journalists spoke of the original 911 Turbo in hushed, reverent tones. They called it a “widowmaker.” It demanded total respect. The slightest misjudgment between corner-entry understeer and corner-exit oversteer meant disaster. The 911 Turbo didn’t forgive mistakes; it didn’t tolerate sloppiness. It took me 35 years to finally get behind the wheel of one, and I discovered the truth behind the legends. I tested one of the first 30 production Turbos ever built, now a gem in Porsche’s classic fleet. Nerves tingling, I took it easy at first, feeling out the boost and the power curve. Surprisingly, the 3.0-liter flat-six was tractable at low revs—it hummed along happily at 2,000 rpm, cruising at 45 mph in top gear. But hit 3,500 rpm, and the turbocharger spooled up, feeding 0.8 bar of boost into the engine. The sledgehammer hit I expected wasn’t exactly there, but the acceleration was certainly potent. The secret to smooth driving in the original 930? Keep the revs high. Keep the flat-six spinning above 4,000 rpm to keep the turbo charged. Yes, the turbo lag is dramatic by modern standards, but it’s manageable. Even after half a century, this 911 is still blisteringly fast on the road. First gear hits 50 mph, second gear cruises past 90 mph, and third gear edges towards 130 mph. You could tear up a winding country road using just second and third gears. While the 256 hp might seem modest today, the car weighs only 2,513 lbs, making it surprisingly nimble in corners. Back in its day, its performance would have felt otherworldly. The Last Air-Cooled Masterpiece: The 1996 Porsche 993 Carrera 2 For Porsche purists, the 993 is the pinnacle. It’s the last of the real 911s, the final air-cooled masterpiece. Driving it, you feel the raw connection to the road, the metallic chatter of the flat-six filling the cabin. But back in 1994, when I first drove it, the 993 was the car of the future. It was the 911 that started challenging physics with true engineering genius. Sure, it still had that slightly quirky front end that demanded you load it properly on corner entry to find the apex, and the rear end could dance through rough corners. But the 993 finally balanced the front and rear perfectly. It still felt like a 911, but with a massive improvement in stability and predictability. The key to this revolution was the new rear suspension. Porsche ditched the old semi-trailing arms for a multilink setup. This changed the game—allowing for slight initial toe-out on corner entry and progressive toe-in as loads increased, while radically reducing the camber changes that had plagued 911s since 1963. Combined with steering that was 16% quicker (2.5 turns lock-to-lock) and a new six-speed manual transmission, the 993 felt far more responsive. The 3.6-liter flat-six sang to its 268-hp peak at 6,100 rpm, thanks to lighter internals and improved engine management. Compared to its predecessor, the 964, the 993 was a revelation. It wasn’t just the engineering; Ulrich Bez, who later led Aston Martin, oversaw the development. The exterior redesign, under Harm Lagaay, fixed the 964’s visual awkwardness (he felt it was too tall at the front and too pulled down at the back). The interior was cleaner, less cluttered. The 993 was faster, more forgiving, and infinitely more desirable. It was the perfect blend of classic 911 spirit and modern engineering. The 911 That Saved a Company: The 1996 Porsche 996 Carrera Back in 1996, Porsche’s decision to switch to a water-cooled engine in the 996-series 911 was seen as heresy by the purists. It was the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan ditching his acoustic guitar at the Newport Folk Festival. But the 996, the first complete redesign of the 911 in 34 years, was a hero car in my eyes. It literally saved Porsche from extinction. The 996 was engineered under the leadership of Porsche R&D chief Horst Marchart. It was incredibly clever—it shared 38% of its parts with the new, cheaper, mid-engine roadster that would become the Boxster. Porsche’s notoriously iconoclastic CEO, Wendelin Weideking, knew the Boxster was essential to give dealers more products to sell once the aging 928 and 968 models were phased out. As design chief Lagaay put it, “We made two cars for the price of one-and-a-half.” While media attention fixated on the water-cooling and the Boxster relationship, the 996’s real significance ran much deeper. Back in 1994, it took Porsche 130 hours to build a 993-series 911. The 996 took only 60 hours. The modern 911 had arrived: it was roomier, packed with the features expected in the late 20th century, but it was still unmistakably a 911. Most importantly, it still drove like a 911. Better, in fact. There was a new layer of sophistication, but the 996 retained that delicious tactility and urgent response that defined the 911. Along with the original Boxster, it pulled Porsche back from the brink. The Modern Benchmark: The 2017 Porsche 991.2 Carrera Of all the 911s I’ve driven, it was the base model 991.2 Carrera that truly stole my heart. And judging by the feedback from my colleagues at the time, it stole theirs too. Most press fleets are usually loaded with high-spec, expensive models—automotive PR people seem to think we’re impressed by that. So Porsche North America’s decision to include a basic 911 Carrera in the new 991.2 test roster for our 2017 MotorTrend Car of the Year was a bold move. In reality, it was pure genius. The 991.2 introduced a new 3.4-liter turbocharged engine, offering 370 hp in the base Carrera or 420 hp in the Carrera S. Even the 370 hp version delivered a massive torque band and impressive fuel efficiency. This base Carrera proved that even with standard wheels and tires, the chassis was incredibly communicative and adjustable. Visually, the 991.2 was a subtle refresh of the larger, skillfully proportioned 991.1. It was a beautifully executed interpretation of classic 911 themes—modern yet timeless. The interior featured a new infotainment system that was both visually stunning and easy to use. Porsche’s PDK dual-clutch automatic remains the gold standard for smooth, precise gear changes. But the seven-speed manual on the stripped-down Carrera was a joy to use, with a slick, rifle-bolt action that made us all fall in love with driving again. MotorTrend’s testing director at