Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 (pronounced as Nine Eleven, German: Neunelfer) is a luxury 2-door sports coupe made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a distinctive design, rear engined and with independent rear suspension, an evolution of the swing axle on the Porsche 356. The engine was also air-cooled until the introduction of the Type 996 in 1998. Since its introduction in autumn 1963[1], it has undergone continuous development[2]. The basic concept has remained little changed throughout its evolution.[2]

Throughout its lifetime, the 911 has been modified by private teams and by the factory itself for racing, rallying and other forms of automotive competition. It is among the most successful competition cars ever. In the mid 1970s, normally aspirated 911 Carrera RSRs won major world championship sports car races such as Targa Florio, Daytona, Sebring and Nürburgring, even against prototypes. The 911-derived 935 turbo also won the coveted 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979. In the 1999 international poll for the award of Car of the Century, the 911 came fifth. It is the only one in the top five that has remained continuously in production,[3] and was until 1998 the most successful surviving application of the air- (now water-) cooled opposed rear engine layout pioneered by its original ancestor, the Volkswagen Beetle. It is one of the oldest sports coupe nameplates still in production. The 911 can trace its roots back to sketches drawn by Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche in 1959.[4] The Porsche 911 classic was developed as a much more powerful, larger, more comfortable replacement for the Porsche 356, the company's first model. The new car made its public debut at the 1963[1] Frankfurt Motor Show (German: Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung).[5] The car presented at the auto show had a non-operational mockup of the 901 engine, receiving a working one in February 1964.[4] The designs of the 911 was adopted from an older and similar looking car from back and front, the Citroen DS.[citation needed] It originally was designated as the "Porsche 901" (901 being its internal project number). 82 cars were built as 901s.[4] However, Peugeot protested on the grounds that in France it had exclusive rights to car names formed by three numbers with a zero in the middle. So, instead of selling the new model with another name in France, Porsche changed the name to 911. Internally, the car's part numbers carried on the prefix 901 for years.[4] Production began in September 1964[5], the first 911s reached the US in February 1965 with a price tag of US$6,500.[4] Porsche 911E with Fuchs wheels, 1969 The earliest edition of the 911 had a 130 PS (96 kW; 128 hp)[1] flat-6 engine, in the "boxer" configuration like the 356, air-cooled and rear-mounted, displaced 1991 cc compared with the 356's four-cylinder, 1600 cc unit. The car had four seats although the rear seats were very small, thus the car is usually called a 2+2 rather than a four-seater (the 356 was also a 2+2). It was mated to a four or five-speed manual "Type 901" transmission. The styling was largely by Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche, son of Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche. Erwin Komenda, the leader of the Porsche car body construction department, was also involved in the design. The 356 came to the end of its production life in 1965, but there was still a market for a 4-cylinder car, particularly in the USA. The Porsche 912, introduced the same year, served as a direct replacement, offering the 356's 4-cylinder, 1600 cc, 90 hp (67 kW) engine inside the 911 bodywork. In 1966 Porsche introduced the more powerful 911S, the engine's power raised to 160 PS (118 kW; 158 hp). Alloy wheels from Fuchs, in a distinctive 5-leaf design, were offered for the first time. In motorsport at the same time, installed in the mid-engined Porsche 904 and Porsche 906, the engine was developed to 210 PS (154 kW). In 1967 the Targa (meaning "shield" in Italian[6]) version was introduced as a "stop gap" model. The Targa had a stainless steel-clad roll bar, as Porsche had, at one point, thought that the NHTSA would outlaw fully open convertibles in the US, an important market for the 911. The name "Targa" came from the Targa Florio sports car road race in Sicily, Italy in which Porsche had notable success, with seven victories since 1956, and four more to come until 1973. This last win in the subsequently discontinued event is especially notable as it was scored with a 911 Carrera RS against prototypes entered by Italian factories of Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. The road going Targa was equipped with a removable roof panel and a removable plastic rear window (although a fixed glass version was offered alongside from 1968). The 110 PS (81 kW; 108 hp) 911T was also launched in 1967 and effectively replaced the 912. The staple 130 PS (96 kW; 128 hp) model was renamed the 911L. The 911R had a very limited production (20 in all), as this was a lightweight racing version with thin aluminium doors, a magnesium crankcase, twin-spark cylinder heads, and a power output of 210 PS (154 kW). In 1969 the B series was introduced: the wheelbase for all 911 and 912 models was increased from 2211 to 2268 mm (87 to 89¼ in), an effective remedy to the car's nervous handling at the limit. The overall length of the car did not change: rather, the rear wheels were relocated aft. Fuel injection arrived for the 911S and for a new middle model, 911E. A semi-automatic Sportomatic[7] model, composed of a torque converter, an automatic clutch, and the four speed transmission, was added to the product lineup. It was canceled after the 1980 model year[8] partly because of the elimination of a forward gear to make it a three-speed.[8]