Update GH Monday, 2/16/2026 Episode (Feb 16, 2026) | General Hospital Spoilers

The 5 Most Memorable Porsche 911s: A 40-Year Obsession I remember the first one vividly. It was a white Porsche 911 Carrera, a 3.0-liter model, all pure, raw machine with no power steering, no rear wing, and a five-speed manual. I was 25 years old, working as a junior road tester in my home country of Australia, and I’d just spent two days trying to make sense of this legendary, quirky rear-engined car. And I’ll be honest, at first, I didn’t quite get it. Beside me was a 944 Turbo, a car that, dollar for dollar, cost exactly the same as the 911 Carrera. The 944 Turbo was undeniably the faster machine—it had more power, more torque, and it sliced through corners effortlessly. It could make even a bad driver look good, offering “soaring, searing performance” with “astounding ability.” But then there was the 911. I wrote in my review at the time, “The 944 Turbo is so competent, it can make a bad driver look good.” And then, “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.” That decision—choosing the imperfect 911 over the flawless 944 Turbo—set the tone for my entire career. Four decades later, I’ve driven dozens of 911 variants. Every single one—except for the 964 generation which seemed to signal the end of the 911 idea in the early 1990s—has shown how Porsche refined its icon while keeping the soul intact. It’s one of the only new cars I’d still buy with my own money today. To celebrate 40 years in the trenches of automotive testing, I’ve compiled the five Porsche 911 models that have left the deepest mark on me. The Original 930 Turbo: The Widowmaker Revealed In the 1970s, the veteran road testers spoke of the original Porsche 911 Turbo (930) in hushed, almost fearful tones. They called it the “Widowmaker,” a machine that demanded respect, quick hands, and a complete absence of sloppiness. The traditional Porsche 911 tightrope of understeer and oversteer? The Turbo turned it into a sheer cliff face. It took me 35 years to finally get behind the wheel of one. This car was one of the first 30 930 production models ever built, now a cherished part of Porsche’s classic fleet. As I eased onto the road, aware of its fearsome reputation, I took it slow, teasing the throttle, watching the tach, trying to map the power. The 930’s 3.0-liter flat-six was surprisingly docile at low revs, happy to rumble along at 45 mph in top gear. But when the needle hit 3,500 rpm, the turbo kicked in. 0.8 bar of boost hit the induction system, and while I expected a sledgehammer to the shoulders, it was more of a firm shove. Don’t misunderstand—this car is fast. First gear hits 50 mph, second 90 mph, and third approaches 130 mph, meaning two gears are often all you need to destroy a winding two-lane. Even at 256 hp, its low 2,513-pound curb weight means it attacks corners with agility that still impresses today. The trick to driving it smoothly? Keep the engine spinning above 4,000 rpm to keep the turbo energized. Yes, there’s turbo lag—very noticeable by modern standards—but it’s manageable. For a car that’s now over 50 years old, the original 911 Turbo still feels otherworldly and demanded the ultimate respect. 993-Generation Porsche 911: The Last Air-Cooled Perfection For many Porsche purists, the 993 generation is the definitive article. It’s the last of the line—the pure Porsche experience with your knuckles grazing the dash and the unique clatter of an air-cooled flat-six right behind your head. But when I first drove it in 1994, the 993 was the 911 of the future. It was the first to really challenge the laws of physics as they applied to the 911’s unique rear-engine layout. Now, don’t get me wrong—it still had that iconic 911 character: the “pat-pat-pattery” front end that needed to be loaded before hitting the apex and the familiar rear-end shuffle on rough surfaces. But the chassis balance was miles ahead of anything that came before. Key to this transformation was a completely redesigned rear suspension system. Porsche ditched the aging semi-trailing arms for a sophisticated multilink setup. This clever engineering allowed for a subtle initial toe-out on corner entry, followed by progressive toe-in as lateral loads increased. It also drastically reduced the camber change that had been the Achilles’ heel of 911s since 1963. Combined with a quicker 2.5-turn lock-to-lock steering rack that made the front end feel infinitely more decisive, the 993 felt light and agile. Power came from a 3.6-liter flat-six tuned to rev harder, reaching its 268-hp peak at 6,100 rpm, thanks to lighter internals, Bosch Motronic 2.0 engine management, and a new dual exhaust system. Compared to the 964 it replaced, the 993 was a revelation. It wasn’t just the engineering upgrades led by Ulrich Bez (who would later head Aston Martin). The exterior redesign by Harm Lagaay corrected the visual awkwardness of the 964—a car he felt was too tall up front and too squat at the rear. The interior was cleaner, too, with fewer buttons scattered randomly. The 993 was faster, more forgiving, and, perhaps most importantly, far more desirable. It was the 911 we always dreamed of. 996-Generation Porsche 911: The Savior with a Water-Cooled Heart At the time, it was heresy. Porsche’s decision to install a water-cooled flat-six in the tail of the 996-series 911 was, to the purists, the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan ditching his acoustic guitar for a Fender Strat at the Newport Folk Festival. But the 996, the first clean-sheet redesign of Porsche’s indefatigable sports car in 34 years, was a hero 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 stroke of genius. It was cleverly designed to share 38% of its parts with an all-new, less expensive mid-engine roadster: the Boxster. Porsche boss Wendelin Weideking knew he needed something else to sell when the aging 928 and 968 models were discontinued. “We did two cars for the price of one-and-a-half,” design chief Lagaay later said with a smile after the unveiling. But while the media focused on its relationship with the Boxster and the controversial water-cooled engine, the 996’s real story ran much deeper. In 1994, it took Porsche 130 hours to build a 993; the 996 took just 60 hours. The modern 911 had arrived. It was roomier, equipped with all the features expected of a late-20th-century sports car, and yet, it was still undeniably a Porsche. Most importantly, it still drove like a 911. Only better. There was a new layer of sophistication in how it went about its business, but the 996 retained the delicious tactility and urgent response that made the 911 a sports car like no other. Along with the original Boxster, it pulled Porsche back from the brink of extinction. 991.2-Generation Porsche 911 Carrera: The Base Model That Stole My Heart Of all the 911s I’ve driven, it was a base 991.2 Carrera that truly stole my heart. And judging by the feedback from my colleagues at the time, it stole everyone else’s too. Most press fleets are stuffed with high-spec vehicles loaded with options, which I’ve always found rather silly. So Porsche Cars North America’s decision to include a base 91