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The Definitive Ranking of the 5 Most Memorable Porsche 911s I’ve Driven in 40 Years For four decades, I’ve had the privilege of testing Porsches, and through that lens, the evolution of the 911 has been nothing short of extraordinary. It began with a white 3.0-liter Carrera with black Fuchs alloys—a car that was fast but flawed, a stark contrast to the all-conquering Porsche 944 Turbo that shared the showroom floor in Australia. While the 944 was the technically superior machine, offering more power and torque with less effort, the 911 possessed an intoxicating allure. “After two days and 600 miles,” I wrote at the time, “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 conclusion I reached easily. “The 944 Turbo is so competent, it can make a bad driver look good. Its soaring, searing performance is superbly counterbalanced by a chassis of astounding ability.” But the 911 captured my heart with its raw, visceral character. “The gloriously imperfect 911 Carrera is 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. That’s why I’d take it home.” Since that first encounter, I’ve driven dozens of 911 variants. With every generation—except for the 964, which in the early 1990s seemed to signal the end of an era—I’ve been mesmerized by Porsche’s ability to refine and modernize this icon without sacrificing its soul. Four decades later, the 911 remains one of the very few new cars that I would still invest my own hard-earned money in. Out of all the 911 models I’ve experienced over the past 40 years, these five stand out as the most unforgettable. The 1975 Porsche 930 Turbo: The Widowmaker’s Myth While veteran road-test journalists of the 1970s spoke of the original Porsche 911 Turbo in hushed, almost reverent tones, describing it as a car that demanded absolute respect and was unforgiving to those who lacked the skill to manage its raw power, I was yet to experience it firsthand. They called it the “widowmaker,” a vehicle that punished imprecision with a vengeance. It took me 35 years to finally get behind the wheel of one and discover the truth for myself. The car I tested was one of the first 30 production Turbos ever built, now a prized possession of Porsche’s extensive classic fleet. Aware of its fearsome reputation, I approached it with extreme caution, carefully modulating the throttle and watching the tachometer, trying to build a mental picture of its power delivery. To my surprise, the engine was remarkably tractable, capable of murmuring along at 2,000 rpm in top gear at 45 mph. Once the engine reached 3,500 rpm, however, there was a distinct surge in acceleration as the turbocharger forced 0.8 bar of boost into the induction system. But the explosive, heart-stopping shove that I had braced for never materialized. I quickly learned the trick to smooth, rapid progress in the original 911 Turbo: keep the 3.0-liter flat-six revving above 4,000 rpm to keep the turbo spooled up. Yes, there’s noticeable turbo lag by modern standards, but it’s manageable. Even now, more than 50 years later, this 911 is impressively fast on the road. First gear reaches 50 mph, second gear 90 mph, and third gear nearly 130 mph, meaning you can tackle most winding two-lane roads using only second and third gear. And while it only produces 256 hp, its curb weight of just 2,513 pounds allows it to change direction with surprising agility. Half a century ago, its performance would have seemed otherworldly. The 1996 Porsche 911 (993): The Apex of Air Cooling For Porsche purists, the 993-generation 911 represents the final evolution of the air-cooled era. It is the 911 that demands driver engagement, with the snarling metallic clatter of the air-cooled flat-six resonating right behind your head as you grip the wheel. But back in 1994, when I first drove it, the 993 was the 911 of the future—the first iteration to truly challenge the laws of physics. While it still featured the distinctive, slightly twitchy front end that required careful loading on corner entry to ensure accurate apex clipping and a rear end that still had a tendency to dance through rough corners, the coordination between the front and rear was significantly improved. The 993 still offered that classic 911 feel, but within a much more refined framework. The key to this transformation was a new rear suspension system that replaced the aging semi-trailing arms with a modern multilink setup. This design allowed for very slight initial toe-out on corner entry, followed by progressive toe-in as lateral loads increased, all while drastically reducing the camber change that had been the Achilles’ heel of 911s since 1963. This was combined with a new steering system that, at 2.5 turns lock-to-lock, was 16% quicker and gave the front end a much more decisive feel. A new six-speed manual transmission also helped the 3.6-liter flat-six deliver its 268-hp peak at 6,100 rpm more effectively, thanks to lighter internal components, a Bosch Motronic 2.0 engine management system, and a new dual-exhaust system. Compared to the 964 model it replaced, the 993 was a revelation. It wasn’t just the engineering improvements, developed under the leadership of Ulrich Bez, who would later lead Aston Martin; the exterior redesign, led by design chief Harm Lagaay, corrected the visual flaws of the 964, a car he felt was too tall at the front and too raked at the rear. The interior was also cleaner, with fewer buttons placed in random locations. The 993 was a 911 that was faster and more forgiving than ever before. Most importantly, it was also more desirable. The 1996 Porsche 911 (996): The Icon That Saved the Brand At the time, it felt like heresy. Porsche’s decision to fit a water-cooled flat-six into the tail of the 996-series 911 was, to its purists, the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan abandoning his six-string acoustic and picking up a Fender Stratocaster at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. However, the 996, the first ground-up redesign of Porsche’s indefatigable 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 R&D chief Horst Marchart, the 996 was a masterstroke of engineering. It shared 38 percent of its components with an all-new, less expensive mid-engine roadster that the world would come to know as the Boxster. The iconoclastic Porsche boss Wendelin Weideking knew the Boxster was essential to give dealers something else to sell when the aging 928 and 968 models were discontinued. “We built two cars for the price of one and a half,” design chief Lagaay remarked with a smile after the company unveiled the 996. But 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, it took Porsche 130 hours to build a 993-series 911; the 996 took just 60 hours to produce. The modern 911 had arrived: roomier and equipped with all the features expected of a late 20th-century sports car, yet still unmistakably Porsche’s icon. Most importantly, it still drove like a 911—only better. Yes, there was 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. Along with the original Boxster, it pulled Porsche back from the brink of extinction. The 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera (991.2): The Pure Driver’s Delight Of all the 911s I have ever driven, it was a base 991.2 Carrera that truly stole my heart. Judging by the feedback I received from colleagues at the time, it captured their hearts too. Most press fleets tend to be stacked with high-spec vehicles loaded with options, presumably because automotive PR departments believe we are impressed by such extravagance. So, Porsche Cars North America’s decision to include a base 91