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After the Top Gear trio, I’m talking about Clarkson, Hammond, and May, one of the most influential personalities from the automotive world that has had a profound impact on my career has got to be Doug DeMuro. If you haven’t heard of the guy, he is most renowned for his ’quirks and features’ video format for reviewing cars. Now I had the pleasure of speaking with Doug last year to talk about his online car auction site ’Cars & Bids’ for modern classics (’80s) and I routinely keep tabs on the cars he reviews. I’m also a fan of his annual Doug awards, 8th year among the many categories that he had, I was surprised that he chose his ’Biggest Surprise of the Year’ to be the Porsche 911 S/T. Here’s why.

Look, I’m someone who likes things done properly. A nice cuppa, a well-maintained ride, and a good bit of tinkering with my pride and joy whenever I can. I suppose all bastions of order in this chaotic world if you will. So when something like this Rothman’s Boxster Safari monstrosity pops up on my radar (this time on Reddit) well let’s just say it ruffles my feathers a tad bit. Clearly, this creation was built for someone with an acquired taste.

Despite Porsche being one of the most iconic sports car manufacturers of all time, most of the company’s offerings these days are geared towards luxury and daily usability. What was once a company focusing on high-performance models and motorsports, now has one of the most versatile lineups in the industry, made up of sedans, SUVs, and also wagons. This includes the likes of four-door sedans like the Panamera and Taycan. Both share plenty of traits and with the next-generation Panamera going full EV, this begs the question, which one should you choose?

The Speedster is one of the purest forms of the 911 and the nameplate actually dates back to the early ‘50s when Porsche sold the likes of the 550 and 356 Speedsters. While the Speedster body style is all about open-top motoring, it does have a few stand-out elements that set it apart from Cabriolets and Targa models. The Speedster is known for its stripped-down design and lightweight body, often featuring a smaller windshield, no rear seats, a distinctive double-hump on the rear deck lid, and a tonneau cover instead of a full roof.

Many consider the Porsche 911 to be the ultimate sports car, fit for daily use. While this may be a bit of a stretch when talking about the track-focused GT3 RS, the rear-engine sports car generally remains an aspirational model. In fact, despite the 991 being the first 911 to feature electric steering instead of a hydraulic unit (a feature many purists despise), it is still considered the last truly compact 911. For this reason, those who have driven a 992 GT3 RS after the previous iteration go back to the older model. One person, however, has done something that no one has ever done. Instead of buying a 991 GT3 RS, a guy over in England, decided to build one himself. Normally, Tesla-swapping a 991 GT3 RS would send purists into a spiraling rage, but there is a good reason why this particular car has received the electric powertrain. What you’re looking at here is actually a replica of a 991 GT3 RS, but more surprising is what the car started out as.

If you’ve been keeping tabs and following the story on the upcoming all-electric Boxster, by this point, you’ve already seen extensive coverage of camouflaged prototypes on tests. They’ve been spotted across a number of locations from the Nürburging in Germany, and winter weather runs up in the Arctic circle to more recently, the streets of San Fransisco. But have you ever wondered what lies under the heavy cladding of the 718 EV? Well, a rendering based on the spy shots we’ve seen so far, could be a great way to decipher these details and that’s exactly what we have here.

Look, I’m a sucker for a nice shade of silver, always have been. I’ve owned three cars in varying shades of grays and silver over the past 20 years. There’s a reason why classic fighter jets and sleek yachts all rock some shade of metallic grey. It’s timeless, sophisticated, and lets the car’s lines do the talking. Now to celebrate the Turbo’s five-decade legacy, Porsche is ditching the gold crest for their Turbo lineup with a new "Turbonite" accent color? Sign me up. We saw it first on the Panamera Turbo last year, a subtle hint on the trim. But at Monterey, with the introduction of 50th Anniversary 911 Turbo S? Now that’s a match. The shade is clean, a departure from the usual chromey silver. They even got New York-based Pantone Color Institute involved to come up with this shade, which is some serious exclusivity cred.

Unfortunate circumstances are just as likely to hit cars as they are people and I recently stumbled upon one such build on the web and this one is bound to raise a few eyebrows, among the classic Porsche 911 community. Air-cooled Porsches are one of those things that are considered art. Altering any aspect of them is the automotive equivalent of blasphemy. Unless, of course, you are Singer, Tuthill, or one of the other names, dealing in reimagined 911s. Essentially, what you are looking at is a Frankenstein of a car. It started as a 1976 model that was turned into a race car, and eventually, thanks to a landslide, it required a powertrain transplant. Chris Ashton from Ruffian Cars is the man behind the crazy Porsche 911 race car, and what he had to say about this build and how it um... evolved, was quite the story. More importantly, the Tesla powertrain is not where the madness of this classic 911 build ends. This also raises the question - is it better to let something die or save it through unconventional methods?

Sharing production costs between models is not uncommon in the modern-day automotive industry. It seems even Porsche’s iconic sports cars are no exception and the Porsche 981 and 991 models are a perfect example. The 911 doesn’t need an introduction as it has been Porsche’s flagship sports car since 1964, after succeeding the 356 - Porsche’s first sports car, since the company officially became a brand. That said, Porsche’s financial troubles from the 1990s, prompted the company to give us a budget-friendly model. In came the 986 Boxster, and it immediately became clear it was a cut-price, mid-engine 911, minus the rear seats. This was not the last time Porsche did this. Australian YouTuber and Porsche aficionado, Jeff Richardson took a deep dive into the 981 and 991 Porsche models to examine how much they have in common. He also bought a flooded 981 Boxster solely to dismantle it. One thing became clear to him – the extent of the similarities between the 911 and Boxster/Cayman is a lot more than you initially may have thought, and it doesn’t stop with these two models.

German tuner, RUF, and global fashion and lifestyle media brand, Highsnobiety, team up to create an epic collaborative release, consisting of a 20-piece collection of graphic wares. The fashion company founded back in 2005, by David Fischer, collaborates with renowned brands and helps create captivating wares and accessories, while invoking the rich heritage of brands like RUF. The automotive company based in Pfaffenhausen, Germany, has been in the car business since 1939, with its more recent focus involving, restoring, modifying, and reimagining the iconic Porsche 911. Many brands, Porsche included have apparel lines available to anyone wanting to experience the brand in more than one way, and the RUF x Highsnobiety collection puts emphasis on the company’s rich heritage.

All Porsche 911s may adhere to a similar philosophy, but each one has its set of unique features. A well-known Porsche aficionado, Magnus Walker, based in Los Angeles has made it his life’s mission to collect all model years of the Porsche 911 from 1964 to 1973, along with other sports car models of the German brand. He’s not limited to Porsche sports cars, but it is the focal point in his car collection, with over 40 models, which feature his own unique twist. As a true Porsche purist, Magnus has a soft spot for air-cooled 911s, and he started out with one of the first Porsche 930 Turbos, sold in the United States. But if you are wondering what Magnus Walker’s daily driver is, you might be surprised. It turns out, that what the famous Porsche enthusiast drives, is something even he didn’t think he would fall in love with – a modern-day 2014 Porsche 991 Turbo S, which has an interesting story behind it.