Will takes Hope hostage to force Ridge to release Electra The Bold and The Beautiful Spoilers

The Pantheon of the Porsche 911: My Top 5 Must-Drive Icons After Four Decades on the Road For over four decades, my workbench has been the winding ribbon of asphalt, and my muse has always been the Porsche 911. I still vividly recall my first encounter with this legend: a pristine 3.0-liter Carrera in gleaming white, perched on aggressive black Fuchs alloys. It was raw, pure, and unapologetic. No power steering, no rear wing—just a visceral connection to the road that, at the time, seemed almost out of place next to its contemporaries. I remember wrestling with a 944 Turbo that boasted more power and torque, a machine that felt quicker and more accommodating for a novice driver. Yet, despite the 944’s technical superiority, the 911 commanded something deeper. It spoke to the soul, not just the stopwatch. “After two days and 600 miles,” I wrote back then, “I know the 944 Turbo is the better car. But I also know that if it came down to it, if I had to agonizingly choose where to spend my hard-earned money, I would choose the 911 Carrera.” It was a realization that didn’t come easily. I noted that the 944’s sheer competency could make even an average driver appear skilled, offering “soaring, searing performance” that was perfectly balanced by a chassis of “astounding ability.” However, the 911 tugged at something more primal. It was a sports car from a different era, reflecting different values. It wasn’t designed to please everyone; it demanded respect, understanding, and a willingness to engage. That’s why I would take it home. Since that first test, I have piloted dozens of 911s. With every iteration—with the notable exception of the 964, which in the early 1990s tragically suggested the 911 concept was nearing its expiration date—I have marveled at how Porsche has refined its icon, keeping it fresh, exciting, and deeply engaging. Four decades later, the 911 remains one of the few new cars that still earns my own hard-earned dollars. Among the many iterations I’ve driven, here are the five models that have left the most indelible mark on my automotive memory. The Original Icon: The 1975 Porsche 930 Turbo Back in the day, veteran road-test journalists would speak of the original Porsche 911 Turbo in hushed, reverent tones. They described it as a machine that demanded the utmost respect when driven aggressively, a car whose binary boost response turned the traditional 911 tightrope—balancing corner-entry understeer with corner-exit oversteer—into a task requiring quick reflexes and serious guts. The 911 Turbo didn’t tolerate mistakes or sloppiness; they called it a “widowmaker.” It took me a staggering 35 years to finally get behind the wheel of one of these legendary machines and uncover the truth for myself. The car I drove was one of the first 30 production Turbos ever built, now a prized possession of Porsche’s incredible classic collection. Stepping inside, fully aware of its fearsome reputation, I approached the driving experience with extreme caution at first. I cautiously manipulated the throttle, feeling the boost build as I watched the tachometer, trying to form a mental map of the power and torque curves. The engine proved remarkably tractable, content to murmur along at 2,000 rpm in top gear while cruising at 45 mph. However, once the needle passed 3,500 rpm, there was a palpable surge of acceleration as the turbocharger forced 0.8 bar of boost into the induction system. Yet, the brutal sledgehammer blow between the shoulder blades I had anticipated never materialized. I discovered that the key 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 higher to keep the turbocharger primed. Yes, there is turbo lag—significant turbo lag by today’s standards—but it is manageable. Even more than 50 years old, this 911 is still impressively quick on the road. First gear tops out at 50 mph, second at 90 mph, and third extends to nearly 130 mph. This means you can tear through winding backroads using only second and third gear. While it only produces a mere 256 horsepower, it weighs just 2,513 pounds, allowing it to carve through corners with remarkable agility. Half a century ago, its performance would have seemed otherworldly. The Perfect Evolution: The 1996 Porsche 911 (993 Generation) For Porsche purists, this is the absolute final iteration of the classic 911. It’s the 911 that defines the driving experience, where your knuckles graze the dash and the snarling, metallic clang of an air-cooled flat-six reverberates behind you. However, back in 1994, when I first drove it, the 993 represented the future of the 911—the first model to challenge Isaac Newton’s laws of physics. To be fair, the 993 still featured the slightly loose front end that demanded careful loading on corner entry to ensure a clean apex, and the rear end still wiggled slightly through rough turns. But the synergy between the front and rear was significantly improved. The 993 still performed the essential 911 functions, but with a much wider safety margin. The crucial innovation was a completely new rear suspension system. It replaced the semi-trailing arms of the past with a sophisticated multi-link setup. This design allowed for a very slight initial toe-out during corner entry, followed by progressive toe-in as lateral loads increased, all while reducing the camber changes that had plagued 911s since 1963. Complementing this was a new six-speed manual transmission that maximized the potential of the 3.6-liter flat-six. Thanks to lighter internal components, Bosch Motronic 2.0 engine management, and a new dual-exhaust system, the engine produced 268 horsepower at 6,100 rpm with remarkable enthusiasm. Compared to the 964 model it replaced, the 993 was a revelation. It wasn’t just the engineering advancements, implemented under the leadership of Ulrich Bez (who would later become CEO of Aston Martin). The exterior redesign, led by design chief Harm Lagaay, corrected the visual flaws of the 964, a car he believed was too tall at the front and too heavy at the rear. The interior was cleaner, too, with fewer buttons scattered randomly. The 993 was a 911 that was faster and more forgiving than ever before. And, most importantly, it was more desirable, too. The Savior of the Brand: The 1996 Porsche 911 (996 Generation) At the time, it was considered sacrilege. Porsche’s decision to install a water-cooled flat-six engine in the rear of the 996-series 911 was, to the aficionados, the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan abandoning his acoustic six-string and plugging in a Fender Stratocaster at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. However, the 996, the first clean-sheet redesign of Porsche’s indispensable sports car in 34 years, was a hero car in my eyes. It was the 911 that saved Porsche. Engineered and developed under the direction of Porsche’s R&D chief, Horst Marchart, the 996 was a brilliant piece of engineering. It shared 38 percent of its components with an all-new, more affordable mid-engine roadster that the world would come to know as the Boxster. Iconoclast Porsche CEO Wendelin Weideking recognized that the Boxster was essential to provide dealerships with additional inventory once the aging 928 and 968 models were discontinued. “We made two cars for the price of one and a half,” design boss Lagaay said with a smile after the company unveiled the 996. But while the media often focused on its relationship with the Boxster and the water-cooled engine, the true story of the 996 ran much deeper. In 1994, it took Porsche 130 hours to build a 993-series 911; the 996 took just 60 hours to assemble. 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 unmistakably Porsche’s icon. Most importantly, it still drove like a 911. Only better. There was a new veneer of sophistication to its performance, but the 996 retained the delightful tactility and urgent response that had made the 911 a sports car like no other. Along with the original Boxster, it rescued Porsche from extinction. The Perfect Drivers Car: The 2017 Porsche 911 (991.2 Generation) Carrera Among all the 911s I have driven, it was a base 991.2 Carrera that truly stole my heart. It