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The All-Time Greats: My 5 Most Memorable Porsche 911s After 40 Years of Driving It’s hard to believe it’s been four decades since I first got behind the wheel of a Porsche 911. That initial encounter was with a white 3.0-liter Carrera, stripped down with black Fuchs alloys, no rear wing, no power steering, and a five-speed manual. At the time, in my native Australia, it cost roughly the same as a 944 Turbo, which in those days was a revelation in performance. The 944 Turbo had more power, more torque, and was simply faster over any road with less effort. But even back then, something about the 911 was irresistible. As I wrote after two days and 600 miles, “I know the 944 Turbo is the better car. But if it came down to it, if I were agonizing over my own money, I’d take the 911 Carrera home.” It wasn’t a decision I made easily. The 944 Turbo felt so competent that it could make even an average driver look good. Its searing performance was balanced by an astounding chassis. But the 911 tugged at the emotions. It wasn’t designed for the masses; it demanded understanding and respect. That’s why it won my heart. Since then, I’ve driven countless 911s. With every iteration, except the 964—which back in the early 1990s worried me that the 911 concept was reaching its expiration date—I’ve marveled at how Porsche has refined this icon. It remains relevant, exciting, and engaging. Four decades on, it’s still one of the few new cars I’d spend my own money on. Out of all the 911 models I’ve had the privilege of driving over the past 40 years, these five stand out as the most unforgettable. The Original 911 Turbo: A Legendary Beast For years, veteran road-test journalists spoke of the original Porsche 911 Turbo (930) in awed tones. It was reputed to be a car that demanded the utmost respect when driven hard, one whose binary boost nature made the traditional 911 tightrope act of corner-entry understeer and corner-exit oversteer a feat requiring quick reflexes and guts. The 911 Turbo didn’t forgive mistakes or tolerate sloppiness. It was called a “widowmaker” for a reason. It took me 35 years to finally get behind the wheel of an original 911 Turbo and understand the truth behind the legend. The car I drove was one of the first 30 production Turbos ever built, now part of Porsche’s enviable classic fleet. Aware of its fearsome reputation, I took it very gently at first, playing with the throttle and watching the tachometer to build a mental map of the power and torque curves. The engine proved surprisingly tractable, happily purring along at 2,000 rpm in top gear, keeping the 911 Turbo ticking over at 45 mph. However, once the engine hit 3,500 rpm, there was a noticeable surge in acceleration as the turbocharger forced 0.8 bar of pressure into the induction system. But the sledgehammer blow to the back of the neck I’d anticipated never materialized. I quickly discovered the trick to smooth and rapid progress in the original 911 Turbo was to keep the 3.0-liter flat-six spinning at 4,000 rpm or more to keep the turbocharger engaged. Yes, there’s turbo lag—very noticeable by modern standards—but it’s manageable. Even after more than 50 years, this 911 remains impressively fast on the road. First gear tops out at 50 mph, second at 90 mph, and third at nearly 130 mph, meaning you can tear up most winding two-lane roads using only second and third gears. And while it only produced 256 hp, it weighed just 2,513 pounds, allowing it to handle corners with ease. Half a century ago, its performance would have seemed otherworldly. The 993-Generation 911: Porsche’s Masterpiece For Porsche purists, this is the final bastion of the original 911. It’s the 911 you drive with your knuckles grazing the dash, feeling the snarling metallic clatter of an air-cooled flat-six right behind you. But when I first drove it back in 1994, the 993 was the 911 of the future. It was the first model to genuinely challenge Isaac Newton’s laws of physics. Oh, sure, the 993 still had that slightly twitchy front end that required careful loading through corners to hit the apex, and the rear still tended to dance through rougher turns, but the connection between the front and rear was far more symbiotic. The 993 still did 911 things, but within a much wider margin of error. The key to this transformation was a completely new rear suspension. Gone were the semi-trailing arms of old, replaced by a sophisticated multilink setup. This allowed for a subtle initial toe-out on corner entry, which then transitioned to progressive toe-in as lateral loads increased. Crucially, it significantly reduced the camber change that had been the Achilles’ heel of 911s since 1963. Combined with steering that was 16 percent quicker, locking in just 2.5 turns, the front end felt much more decisive. Adding to the improvement was a new six-speed manual transmission that made the most of the 3.6-liter flat-six. The engine felt livelier, thanks to lighter internals, a Bosch Motronic 2.0 engine management system, and a new dual-exhaust setup, producing 268 hp at 6,100 rpm. Compared to the 964 model it replaced, the 993 was a revelation. It wasn’t just the engineering improvements, spearheaded by Ulrich Bez (who would later become the head of Aston Martin): The exterior redesign, led by design chief Harm Lagaay, corrected the visual issues of the 964, which he felt was too tall in the front and too low at the rear. The interior was cleaner, too, with fewer buttons scattered in random places. The 993 was a 911 that was faster and more forgiving than ever before. But most importantly, it was more desirable. The 996-Generation 911: The Savior At the time, it was sacrilege. Porsche’s decision to install a water-cooled flat-six in the rear of the 996-series 911 was, to aficionados, the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan switching from his acoustic six-string to a Fender Strat at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. But the 996, the first clean-sheet redesign of Porsche’s indefatigable sports car in 34 years, was a hero to me. This was the 911 that saved Porsche. Engineered and developed under the leadership of Porsche R&D chief Horst Marchart, the 996 was a clever 911. A major part of its brilliance was that it shared 38 percent of its components with an all-new, less expensive mid-engine roadster that would soon be known to the world as the Boxster. Visionary Porsche CEO Wendelin Weideking knew the Boxster was essential to give dealers something else to sell when the aging 928 and 968 models were discontinued. As design chief Harm Lagaay later remarked with a smile after the company unveiled the 996, “We built two cars for the price of one and a half.” While the media focused on its relationship with the Boxster and the water-cooled engine, the 996’s true significance ran much deeper. In 1994, building a 993-series 911 took Porsche 130 hours; the 996 took just 60 hours to assemble. The modern 911 had arrived: it was roomier and equipped with all the amenities expected of a late 20th-century sports car, yet it remained recognizably Porsche’s icon. Most importantly, it still drove like a 911. Only better. Yes, it had a new veneer of sophistication to its operation, but the 996 retained the delicious tactility and urgent response that had made the 911 a sports car like no other. Alongside the original Boxster, it saved Porsche from extinction. The 991.2-Generation 911 Carrera: A Perfect Balance Among all the 911s I’ve driven, it was a base 991.2 Carrera that truly stole my heart. It captivated everyone else who drove it, too, judging by the feedback I received from my colleagues at the time. Most press fleets are typically loaded with high-spec vehicles laden with options, presumably because automotive PR departments believe we are impressed by such things. So, Porsche Cars North America’s decision to include a base 911 Carrera in the roster of then-new 991.2 models available for our