Porsche Museum 50 Years of the Porsche 911 Gallery 1

Porsche Museum 50 Years of the Porsche 911 Gallery 1 Photos and Stories.

Photos and story provided by Joachim Gruchot Contact Photographer for Information.

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Porsche Museum 50 Years of the Porsche 911 Gallery 1

Porsche Museum 50 Years of the Porsche 911 Gallery 2

Porsche Museum 50 Years of the Porsche 911 Gallery 3

Porsche Museum 50 Years of the Porsche 911 Gallery 1

Porsche has taken the opportunity in the 50th year of the 911 to tour the world with displays and exhibits touting the 911. Some of the largest gatherings have been at Porsche and its wonderful Museum in Stuttgart.

50 years of life in the automotive world has always been a long time given how many manufactures and car models have been lost to the many problems that come with manufacturing and producing such a complex item as a car.

Porsche 911 GT1 1997

However. Porsche is/was about racing. The specially designed Porsche race cars have always been mid-engined cars and the most extreme 911's, the 1998 Porsche 911 GT-1 98 LM, had a mid-placed engine. As racing evolves past the mid-point of this second decade of the 21st century, the 911 competition cars are struggling to keep their dominances on the track and the appearance of the Cayman and the 918 may be marking a new era.

But one can not yet give up on the 911.

So what is so unusual about the Porsche 911? It has survived for 50 years, yes but also the Chevrolet Corvette has survived in true form for 60 years. What is the big deal about the 911?

The 911 is a rear air-cooled engined 2+2 sports car, that in basic form can be used on the streets for every day use carrying light loads and up to 4 adults. This has been true from the beginning. But with very little work, the first 911s could be raced on the track and be completive in their class. Later on with some serious development the 911 could be an overall winner. The main strength of the 911 in racing was in endurance events.

The driving surfaces of the just mentioned areas of use are more or less smooth. But with some adjustments in the suspension the 911 would compete in long distance rally's in snow and off-road events like the run from Paris to Dakar, Africa. And be strong competitors and gain wins.

The 911 has developed 4 wheel drive, high down force aero packages, mastered the turbo charger and won almost every type of race that it can be entered in. With modified body panels attached to the rear to improved aerodynamics the car takes on the shape of the 935 racer.

Again using the basics of the 911 the car becomes the 911 GT-1 and runs for first place at the 24 hours of Le Mans.

In street form the 911 is a Coupe, a cabriolet, and a new design developed by Porsche, a Targa (semi-convertible). The 911 has come with sliding sun roof, and a sliding glass top. The amazing thing about all the morphing that the 911 has done to become the cars mentioned above is, with the exception of the 911 GT-1, all the modifications did not run to far from the basic 911 lines. Or one could say all the variations keep the 911 look. And with the acceptation of the sloped nose 935 and 911 GT-1, the 911 variations still stayed true to the original 356 lines and layout.

Many car makes and models have performed in several of the events or areas of operation in which the 911 has but I am not able to think of any one car model which has excelled in all the above except the Porsche 911 and for 50 years.

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Porsche 356-2

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Porsche 356 "Ferdinand" 911

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Porsche 356 America Roadster 911

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Porsche 356 America Roadster 911

Porsche 356 1500

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Porsche Type 754 T7 911

This Duel fan model was the 'first try' and found to be unacceptable. The engine was too noisy and did not develop the power needed. Leopold Jöntsche who was head of engine design, had followed a design concept used by Tatra, where he had previously worked.