Table of contents for No. 221 in Total 911

We hope you enjoy our theme of ‘Porsche alternatives’ in this month’s issue. First, we present you with 10 outstanding models from the used market that retail for less than the price of a new 992 Carrera S, then later in the magazine, we put forward the case for the Porsche 912, the last of the affordable ‘long bonnet’ classics, which helped start the 911 legend. Our mission, really, is to encourage you to think holistically when it comes to your 911 purchase. The reality is that lots of enthusiasts think they know which model they’re after – but do they really? For example, many are drawn to the glamour of owning a GT car, but actually need a 911 that will fulfil daily duties. In the same vein, a…

Despite the challenging environment of the past two years, Porsche continues to break records when it comes to vehicle delivery numbers. This includes its 911 range. Although production has been thwarted, first by Covid, then by supply issues involving semiconductor chips from China and wiring looms from Ukraine, the 992 continues to sell well and is on course to challenge the 991 as one of the most popular 911 generations ever. This is helped by the fact there’s lots of choice in the 992 model line-up, set to expand further with the arrival of the GT3 RS. However, the used market presents many temptations for the Porsche enthusiast, offering incredible value for money – and you won’t have to wait months for delivery, either. Many specialist outlets (and Porsche itself…

A visit to Le Mans has been on my bucket list for years. The number of times I’d wished to spend my birthday weekend drunk in a tent next to a racetrack escapes me, yet for many reasons that wish hadn’t been realised. Thankfully with age, the desire of being drunk has diminished – the aim now is to get high on petrol fumes and savour the atmosphere. Le Mans Classic, organised by Peter Auto, felt like it could deliver the drug I craved, so a plan was hatched to go and sample the magic with Total 911 editor, Lee Sibley. Five hours on the Poole to Cherbourg ferry and three hours on the road in Lee’s 996.1 Carrera got us to our base for the weekend, a château just…

Andy Brookes Poole, UK @993andy 9WERKS Radio Model 993 CARRERAYear 1995Acquired SEPTEMBER 2018 Gustavo is back on the road. Woo-hoo! After months of preparing parts, getting components made, sending bits off to be refinished and buying new elements, it was finally time to put everything back together. I was feeling a little daunted by the prospect because it had been a good while since I’d stripped the underside of the 993 of all its suspension parts. Could I remember where everything was meant to go? Had I bought the right parts? Were all the parts going to fit? The list of worries was long… It all came together over about a week. It took me a whole weekend and three or four long evenings into the early hours to assemble…

911 GT3 celebrates 30 years of Supercup Via a Sonderwunsch Factory Re-Commissioning project, one 911 GT3 road car is commemorating three decades of the Porsche Supercup Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and to commemorate the event, Porsche Motorsport has commissioned Porsche Exclusive to undertake what it terms a “complete re-commissioning” of a road-going 911 GT3, part of the Sonderwunsch programme. Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur’s “Sonderwunsch Factory Re-Commissioning” is a label given to a recommissioning and customisation project – a technical restoration of a road car along with the modification of its exterior and interior. The Exclusive team set out to create a unique 30th anniversary livery, applied in less than six months, to a 911 GT3 road car. The detailed eight-colour paintwork design (there’s no wrap…

THE VALUES STORY In Britain, the SC retailed at £16,732 for both Coupe and Targa versions in December 1980, the mid-point of its career – perhaps £65,000 at 2022 prices. Depreciation didn’t become significant until the arrival of the Carrera 3.2 in 1984, and by the time the 993 arrived a decade later, the SC was becoming the forgotten 911. Yet unlike the less numerous pre-1973 cars that had largely disappeared, the SC soldiered on despite, in many cases, abject lack of maintenance. By the turn of the century, Exchange & Mart – the forum for specialist cars before the internet – was advertising basket cases for a few thousand pounds; a reputable specialist such as Paul Stephens would have offered reasonable if well-used SCs for £7,995. The tide turned…

When he was invited back to Porsche in 1971, Ernst Fuhrmann was able to survey a company at the pinnacle of its 20-year existence. Two Le Mans victories and comprehensive domination of sports car racing made Porsche seem unassailable, while the 911 was an established if idiosyncratic sports car with a significant following. But Ernst was no fool and he saw that the amazing impetus which Ferdinand Piëch’s 917 had created could all be lost, and business fall away very quickly. The new rules for 1972 excluded sports cars above 3.0 litres, a move widely seen as aimed as much at curbing Porsche’s hegemony as anything else. If the more open rules of the CanAm championship left further opportunities for the 917, and a chance to amortise its huge cost…

Data file Full specs, ratings and market values of every Porsche 911 model from 1963 to 2022, including the early short wheelbase models, can be found beginning on page 76 Plus Showroom Looking for a new 911? The classifieds from our independent specialist partners are the first place where you should start your search Servicing & tuning Get the very best from your Porsche 911 with the help of our selected performance and maintenance specialists Porsche lifestyle Helping you make the right lifestyle choices to complement you and your 911. Don’t just drive Porsche, live the brand Insurance & finance Get your Porsche covered with the best insurance deals for road and track to ensure happy, safe motoring…

The best thing you could do to that is put a flat six in it,” was a friend’s comment when spotting a Porsche 912 parked up in Brescia, Italy. I remember it well, and it still troubles me to this day. The 912’s always been something of an enigmatic model, but to write it off because of its cylinder count does it an enormous disservice. Introduced a year after the 911 reached showrooms, Porsche had never really intended to produce a four-cylinder derivative of its new car. Yet with the new six-cylinder 911 at a higher price point than the dated 356 and the detrimental impact that would have on sales, something needed to be done. Plans were hastily devised to add the 616/36 push-rod iteration of the 356’s flat…

The last RSR For Porsche, there are three digits that represent the epitome of the sports car: 911. And there are three accompanying letters that turn that car into an uncompromising endurance racer: RSR. In the 911 RSR, Porsche created its vision of the ultimate GT race car, the purest “Renn” 911 ever, which was designed and built strictly for competition in the world’s toughest long-distance races. It hasn’t always been easy, but the latest iteration of the 911 RSR – the RSR-19 – chalked up seven class wins from 16 FIA World Endurance Championship races, and took GTE-Pro category pole position on 14 different occasions. And then it arrived at the 90th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. There, at Circuit de la Sarthe, a…

The 30th anniversary of the 911 was its first real landmark and the car was feted in Stuttgart with due ceremony. Its 25th had passed almost unnoticed, but given the uncertainty and managerial turmoil at Zuffenhausen in autumn 1988, few would have been in the mood. Five years on, however, the outlook was improving. Porsche had managed to retain its independence without incurring debts; having returned in 1991 as spokesman for the board, Wendelin Wiedeking was now in charge. Redundancies had followed, but his campaign to streamline manufacturing practice and reduce inventories was having an effect. Porsche was still loss-making in September 1993, but at least the deficit was steadily shrinking. Sharing production with the 964 – which in its final year was far from filling the lines – was…