Special editions - page 24

Porsche’s sports cars are rich in heritage and go back in time even beyond the iconic 911. While models like the Porsche 911 have always had a multitude of variants, meaning there is a version of the car for everyone, depending on what power levels, drivetrain options, or body style that you are after. The rear-engine Porsche is not the only high-performance model. In more recent times, the entry-level Boxster and Cayman models have been the go-to Porsche sports car for everyone who isn’t quite ready to part with 911 money. Some would even go as far as saying that the mid-engine Porsche is actually the better sports car and that the mid-engine layout is the superior platform.

The Porsche 911 Turbo S is, by no means, an affordable car.... or is it? It all depends on the context and when that includes hypercars from the likes of Bugatti and Koenigsegg, the perception of value can drastically change. While the build process of most exotics typically employs the best and most exotic materials, this doesn’t always guarantee a million-dollar, 1,000-plus-horsepower hypercar’s position at the top of the automotive food chain. Then you have other cars that despite the lack of these sci-fi materials, are still built to be overachievers and the Porsche 992 Turbo S is certainly a great example of that.

Porsche’s Taycan is one of the most hyped-up and popular performance EVs on sale today. By Q4 of 2023, Porsche had sold 136,000 Taycans cumulatively. The EV sedan bumped Porsche sports car sales by 3.3 percent, despite the German brand’s overall sales having dropped by 12 percent compared to 2022. While the electric vehicle market is currently experiencing a slowdown, it hasn’t stopped other manufacturers from entering the performance EV segment with their own offerings. Take for instance Lotus, a brand typically known for its lightweight sports cars. Still, now the British carmaker is giving us the Emeya – a large, EV performance sedan that wants to steal potential buyers, from the likes of the Taycan and Tesla Model S.

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.

Porsche has a long history of rallying, and its lineage includes models like the iconic Porsche 953 – the original 911 Dakar. For the 992 generation, the German automaker decided to have another crack at the 911 Dakar formula. The rally-inspired 992 was produced in just 2,500 examples, and they are all sold out. That said, these 992 Dakar models started popping up on the auction sites for more than twice the original, $222,000 asking price. Most examples seen on classic.com cost north of $350k. But thankfully, there are plenty of alternatives to the Porsche 911 Dakar. It seems every other day we are getting an off-road version of the Porsche 911 from some company. Let’s suppose you are looking for something more affordable or closer to the original, 953 Dakar. In that case, there are a few companies out there, making fully-functional Porsche 911s that can easily tackle rough terrain while still being refined enough for daily use.

The 909 ’Bergspyder’ was a race car designed and built by Porsche in 1968, for dominating European hill climbing competitions. It gets its name ’Berg’ from the German word for mountain and ’meister’ for master. It is a relatively unknown model, but the technology and innovations it fostered became the base for the 908/3 racecar. The RUF Burgmeister is a modern interpretation of the Bergspyder, created from RUF’s admiration of the hillclimb legend. Based on the Type-993 chassis and resembling a speedster body, this is a car that we wanted to touch upon despite being first revealed over two years ago at the Quail. This is because the 993-Speedster is a bit of a unicorn, and several resto-modders and Porsche themselves have been taking a dig at this format off-late.

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.

Porsche has a long tradition of participating in the annual Monterey Car Week. One of the biggest car events on the automotive calendar. It dates back to 1950 when it was held for the first time, as a supplementary event to the Pebble Beach Road Race. Like other automakers, Porsche’s iconic sports cars were an expected sight at the Monterey Car Week, and this year, we got to see a great number of highly original, reimagined, and downright crazy builds, based on Porsche’s greatest sports cars ever made.

Broad Arrow Auctions has released its list of the top 10 sales for Monterey Car Week 2024. An astonishing total of $71.5 million was achieved, with an impressive 85% of lots sold. The car that topped the list is none other than the - (Lot 275) 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Rennversion raced by Rohr Racing, which managed to fetch $7,045,000. This particular car is one that we’ve covered previously leading up to CarWeek, and our guess about being sold for big money was spot on. Based on the 993-generation 911, this example is one of only nine customer GT1s ever produced, making it extremely rare.

There is no shortage of bizarre project cars and this one is definitely one of the more unusual ones. NazMaz OSR, a channel on YouTube that is dedicated to cars powered by rotary engines recently showcased a very interesting project. This is especially true for those lusting after the air-cooled 911 models. Don’t let the modernized looks fool you though. Underneath, this is an early-model classic 911. For whatever reason, the owner has decided to go to town and transform it into an epic "hybrid” between a Porsche 911 and Mazda RX-7. But that’s not everything. Jeffrey, the owner of this car, has also used parts from newer 911 models to update the classic, air-cooled sports car. Some of the engineering decisions behind the build are mind-boggling, and we try to make sense of what could possibly justify turning an early-model 911 into a rotary-powered race car for the road.

The Porsche 993 Speedster is often described as a unicorn in the automotive world. While the German automaker has produced over 30 different iterations of the iconic 911 over the decades, the Speedster remains one of the most unique and desirable variants to date. Unfortunately, not all 911 generations exist in Speedster form, and the Type 993 is one such example. Officially, the last air-cooled 911 was never sold as a Speedster due to Porsche facing financial difficulties in the 1990s. Now, a passionate designer and Speedster collector, Luca Trazzi turned to Porsche’s Sonderwunsch program (Special Request) to bring his vision of a Type 993 911 Speedster to life.

Porsche’s most famous sports car is the 911, but it is far from the only one the brand has ever made. Currently, the 718 is your entryway into Porsche sports cars. Like the rear-engine 911, the mid-engine Porsche 718 offers a version for any need. Four and six-cylinder boxer engines allow the compact Porsche sports car to produce anywhere from 296 to 493 horsepower. It all started with the 986 Boxster back in 1996, and since then, the mid-engine Porsche has been continuously evolving.