FULL – The Bold and the Beautiful 6/22/2026 | B&B Spoilers Monday, June 22

The Pinnacle of Power: My 5 Most Memorable Porsche 911 Experiences Over Four Decades For over 40 years, I’ve been behind the wheel of Porsche 911s, navigating their intoxicating blend of engineering brilliance and raw emotion. The first time I ever drove one, a white 3.0-liter Carrera with black Fuchs alloys, I was immediately struck by its purity. It was narrow, wingless, and offered no power steering, just a five-speed manual transmission—a purist’s dream. In that moment, racing against a 944 Turbo in my home country of Australia, I realized the 911 was more than just a car; it was a feeling. While the 944 Turbo was undeniably faster and easier to drive, it lacked the soulful connection that the 911 offered. As I wrote in my initial review, “After two days and 600 miles, 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.” The 911 didn’t coddle the driver; it demanded respect and understanding. Over the decades, I’ve had the privilege of driving dozens of 911s, from the iconic air-cooled legends to the groundbreaking modern marvels. Each one has pushed the boundaries of what’s possible, yet somehow remained true to the 911 spirit. Today, even in the age of autonomous vehicles, the 911 remains one of the few new cars I would proudly park in my own driveway. From the archives, these five Porsche 911s stand out as the most unforgettable of my 40-year journey. The Original 911 Turbo: A Widowmaker for the Brave In my early days of automotive journalism, the original Porsche 911 Turbo—often referred to as the 930—was whispered about in hushed tones. Veteran journalists spoke of it with a mix of awe and fear, describing a car that demanded respect, precision, and a heavy right foot. It was a car that didn’t forgive mistakes, that didn’t tolerate sloppiness. They called it a widowmaker, and for many, it was exactly that. It took me 35 years to finally get behind the wheel of one of these legendary machines. The specific car was one of the first 30 production Turbos ever built, now a prized possession in Porsche’s classic fleet. As I cautiously pulled away, aware of its fearsome reputation, I approached it with reverence. I gently nudged the throttle, feeling the turbo spool up, trying to map the power and torque in my mind. To my surprise, the engine was remarkably tractable at lower RPMs. Cruising at 45 mph in top gear, the engine purred happily at 2,000 rpm. But once I hit 3,500 rpm, the turbocharger came alive, pushing 0.8 bar of boost into the induction. The surge I expected wasn’t the bone-jarring blow I’d been warned about. Instead, it was a smooth, satisfying punch that demanded attention but never felt overwhelming. The trick to mastering the original 911 Turbo, I learned, was to keep the 3.0-liter flat-six spinning at 4,000 rpm or more. This kept the turbocharger energized and the power delivery predictable. While there was noticeable turbo lag—a dramatic difference by today’s standards—it was manageable. Even today, this 50-year-old beast remains blisteringly fast on the road. First gear reaches 50 mph, second gear hits 90 mph, and third gear pushes past 130 mph. On a winding two-lane, second and third gear are all you need to fly. And while it only has 256 hp, its weight of just 2,513 pounds makes it incredibly agile. This car would have been otherworldly half a century ago. The 993-Generation Porsche 911: The Last of the Air-Cooled Purists For Porsche purists, the 993-generation 911 is the holy grail—the last of the true 911s. It’s the car you drive with your knuckles brushing against the dashboard and the glorious, snarling metallic clatter of an air-cooled flat-six filling the cabin. But back in 1994, when I first drove it, the 993 was the 911 of the future, the first to challenge the very laws of physics. Sure, the 993 still had that delightfully darty front end, demanding precise loading on corner entry to hit the apex. The rear end still danced through rougher turns. But for the first time, the front and rear ends moved with a sense of unity that hadn’t been seen before. The 993 did what 911s do best, but with a much larger safety margin. The magic behind this change was the revolutionary rear suspension. Porsche replaced the old semi-trailing arms with a new multi-link setup. This allowed for a slight initial toe-out on corner entry, which then progressively increased to toe-in as lateral loads grew. All this while significantly reducing the camber change that had plagued 911s since 1963. Combined with steering that was 16 percent quicker at 2.5 turns lock-to-lock, the front end felt incredibly precise and responsive. Adding to the experience was a new six-speed manual transmission, allowing the driver to maximize the potential of the 3.6-liter flat-six, which now zipped harder to its 268 hp peak at 6,100 rpm, thanks to lighter internal components, a Bosch Motronic 2.0 engine management system, and a new dual-exhaust setup. The 993 was a revelation compared to the 964 model it replaced. It wasn’t just the engineering upgrades—led by Ulrich Bez, who would later head Aston Martin—it was the holistic redesign. Design chief Harm Lagaay corrected the visual shortcomings of the 964, which he considered too tall at the front and too low at the rear. The interior was cleaner too, with fewer buttons scattered randomly. The 993 was faster, more forgiving, and most importantly, more desirable than ever before. The 996-Generation Porsche 911: The Heretical Hero That Saved Porsche At the time of its release, it was heresy. Porsche’s decision to switch the 996-series 911 from air-cooled to water-cooled flat-six engines was the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan ditching his acoustic guitar for a Fender Strat at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. But the 996—the first clean-sheet redesign of Porsche’s legendary sports car in 34 years—was a hero car to me. It was the 911 that saved Porsche. Engineered and developed under the direction of Porsche R&D chief Horst Marchart, the 996 was a masterclass in engineering ingenuity. It shared 38 percent of its components with an entirely new, lower-cost mid-engine roadster that would become known as the Boxster. Porsche’s visionary leader at the time, Wendelin Weideking, knew the Boxster was necessary to give dealers something to sell after the aging 928 and 968 models were discontinued. “We did two cars for the price of one and a half,” design chief Lagaay quipped after the company unveiled the 996. While the media focused on its relationship with the Boxster and the revolutionary water-cooled engine, the 996’s true story ran much deeper. In 1994, it took Porsche 130 hours to build a 993-series 911. By 1998, the 996 had been streamlined to just 60 hours to build. 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 undeniably a Porsche. Most importantly, it still drove like a 911—only better. The 996 refined the raw intensity of the 911 into a smoother, more sophisticated experience, but it never lost that delicious tactility and urgent response that makes the 911 a sports car like no other. Along with the original Boxster, the 996 was the car that pulled Porsche back from the brink of extinction. The 991.2-Generation Porsche 911 Carrera: A Masterclass in Refined Simplicity Out of all the 911s I’ve ever driven, it was a base 991.2 Carrera that truly captured my heart. And judging by the feedback from colleagues who drove it, it captured everyone else’s too. Most press fleets are stacked with high-spec vehicles laden with options, presumably because automotive PR teams think we’re impressed by such things. So Porsche Cars North America’s decision to include a base 911 Carrera among the roster of then-new 991.2 models available for our 2017 MotorTrend Car of the