Six decades
of the 911

02/09G-SERIES/display era1973–1989

Porsche began series production of the second-generation 911 in August 1973 for the 1974 model year. The rework added telescopic impact bumpers that met the US 5-mph crash rule, a full-width rear light band, a longer and more comfortable body (4,291 mm) and — for the first time across the range — the 2.7-litre flat-six that had previously been reserved for the Carrera RS 2.7. The launch landed in the middle of the 1973 oil crisis, yet the car became the best-selling 911 to that point.

Production

198,496 (1973–1989)

Model years

16 — 1974 through 1989

Body styles

Coupé · Targa · Cabriolet · Speedster

Engines

2.7 / 3.0 / 3.2 / 3.3 L flat-six

Top speed

275 km/h (171 mph) — 330 PS Flachbau

First 911 Turbo

1975 — 930, 260 PS (191 kW)

03/09964/display era1988–1994

When the 964 arrived in late 1988 it looked like a mildly facelifted 911 but was in fact about 85 per cent new, and it quietly introduced features the model line had never had: all-wheel drive, power steering, ABS, an automatically extending rear spoiler, dual ignition with knock control, a three-way catalytic converter and — from 1990 — the Tiptronic automatic gearbox. The drag coefficient fell to 0.32, at the time the most aerodynamic 911 ever built, and coil springs on MacPherson struts front and semi-trailing arms rear replaced the old torsion-bar suspension for the first time in the 911's history.

Production

63,762 built (1988–1994)

Engine

3.6 L air-cooled flat-six, 250 PS (184 kW)

New content

≈85% of the car was new vs the Carrera 3.2

Aerodynamics

cd 0.32 — the most aerodynamic 911 to date

911 firsts

All-wheel drive, power steering, ABS, Tiptronic

Rarest

Turbo S 3.6 Flachbau: 76 built in 1994

04/09993/display era1994–1998

The 993 was built from January 1994 to March 1998 as the fourth 911 and the last air-cooled Porsche. Tony Hatter’s redesign kept the silhouette but added flatter polyellipsoid headlights, integrated bumpers and a new LSA (Light, Stable, Agile) aluminium chassis with a multi-link rear axle that cured lift-off oversteer; only about a fifth of the parts carried over from the 964. The engine line ran from a 272 PS 3.6-litre flat-six to the 285 PS VarioRam car and the first biturbo 911, a 408 PS twin-turbo. The range widened into Carrera 4S and Carrera S, the 300 PS Carrera RS, the rear-drive GT2, the 450 PS Turbo S, plus rare Speedster and Turbo Cabriolet specials. Road production ended on 31 March 1998, and today the 993 is widely treated as the most desirable post-classic 911.

Production

68,881 (1993–1998)

Engine

3.6 L air-cooled flat-six, 272–285 PS

Milestone

Last air-cooled 911 (final road car 31 Mar 1998)

First twin-turbo 911

408 PS (300 kW) in 1995

Chassis

LSA aluminium multi-link Weissach rear axle

Transmission

First 911 with a six-speed manual

05/09996/display era1997–2005

Unveiled in 1997 and built from 1998, the 996 was the first series 911 with water cooling: tightening emissions rules demanded a four-valve cylinder head that only liquid cooling could keep reliable, and in doing so Porsche extracted 300 PS from the basic 3.4-litre flat-six. Designed by Pinky Lai under chief designer Harm Lagaay, the body was 18.5 cm longer and 3 cm wider than the 993 yet around 50 kg lighter, and it shared its front end and much of its structure with the 986 Boxster — a parts-sharing strategy that critics seized on when they mocked the shared headlight shape. A 2002 facelift brought 3.6-litre power, Turbo-derived styling and the Targa's powered glass roof, while the range ran from the Carrera all the way to the 483 PS GT2. Porsche built 175,262 examples between 1998 and 2005.

Production

175,262 built (1998–2005)

First water-cooled 911

3.4 L flat-six, 300 PS (221 kW)

Carrera from 2002

3.6 L, 320 PS · 0–100 km/h 4.9 s

911 Turbo (2000–2005)

420 PS · 0–100 km/h 4.2 s

911 GT2 from 2003

483 PS (355 kW), rear-wheel drive

Designers

Pinky Lai and Harm Lagaay

06/09997/display era2004–2012

In July 2004 Porsche put the sixth-generation 911 on sale with its most consequential styling correction since 1973: the "fried egg" headlamps of the 996 gave way to steeper, round clear-glass units with separate indicators, returning the car to the visual lineage of the air-cooled era. Designer Grant Larson's body was 88 mm (3.5 in) wider at the rear, with a drag coefficient of 0.28 for the Carrera and 0.29 for the Carrera S. Beneath the new skin the 3.6-litre flat-six made 325 PS (321 hp) and the newly developed 3.8-litre Carrera S 355 PS (350 hp) — the first 911 since 1977 offered with two naturally aspirated displacements and performance levels.

Production

213,004 (2004–2012); 215,092 per 2017 Newsroom

Model variants

24 (incl. special editions)

Years

2004–2012

Engines

3.6–4.0 L flat-six, NA and twin-turbo

Power span

325–620 PS (321–612 hp)

GT2 RS Nordschleife

7:18 min

07/09991/display era2011–2019

Unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show on 15 September 2011, the 991 was only the third all-new 911 platform since 1963 and, in Porsche's own words, the greatest engineering leap in the model's history: close to 90 per cent of its components were new or substantially redeveloped. The wheelbase grew by 100 mm (3.9 in) to 2,450 mm (96.5 in), the rear axle moved 76 mm (3.0 in) further back for better weight distribution, and an aluminium-steel body cut around 80 kg (176 lb) compared with the 997 despite extra equipment. It introduced the world's first seven-speed manual gearbox, and from the 2013 Turbo onwards offered active aerodynamics and rear-axle steering.

Production

233,540 units (2011–2019)

Wheelbase

2,450 mm (96.5 in) — +100 mm over the 997

Top speed

340 km/h (211 mph) — 911 GT2 RS

Maximum power

700 PS (515 kW; 690 hp) — 911 GT2 RS

First turbo Carrera

3.0-litre twin-turbo, 370 PS (365 hp), from 2016

Numbered editions

911 R 991 · 50th Anniversary 1,963 · Speedster 1,948

08/09992.1/display era2018–2024

Unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show on 28 November 2018, the 992 arrived as the eighth generation of the 911 and as the moment the wide body stopped being a privilege of the Turbo models: for the first time every car in the range — Carrera, Targa, GTS, GT3 — carries the flared rear arches and 20-inch front/21-inch rear wheels that had previously marked out only the top performers. Styled under Michael Mauer by Ben Baum, it grew 45 mm (1.8 in) wider than the 991 on an unchanged 2,450 mm (96.5 in) wheelbase, added aluminium body panels, pop-out door handles and a full-length rear light bar, and put the driver's instruments back into two screens either side of a central analogue rev counter.

World premiere

28 November 2018, Los Angeles Auto Show (Carrera S and Carrera 4S)

Body

Wide arches on every 992 — 45 mm (1.8 in) wider than the 991, same 2,450 mm wheelbase

Engine range

3.0 L twin-turbo 385/450/480 PS · 3.7 L twin-turbo 550/580/650 PS · 4.0 L NA 510/525 PS

Peak output

650 PS (478 kW; 641 hp), 800 Nm (590 lb-ft) — 911 Turbo S

Quickest

0–100 km/h in 2.7 s, 330 km/h (205 mph) — 911 Turbo S

Numbered editions

Targa 4S Heritage Design 992 · Sport Classic 1,250 · S/T 1,963 · Dakar 2,500 · Turbo 50 Years 1,974

09/09992.2/display era2024–today

The 992.2 is the first 911 generation to carry a high-voltage electrical system, and Porsche's engineers arrived at the shortest possible route to it. Unveiled on 28 May 2024 alongside the revived Carrera, the debut model was the Carrera GTS with the T-Hybrid system: a 3.6-litre boxer with a single electrically assisted exhaust-gas turbocharger, a permanent-magnet synchronous motor buried inside the eight-speed PDK, and a 1.9 kWh, 400-volt battery no bigger than a conventional starter battery. The motor spins the turbo to speed before the exhaust gas arrives, so boost is instant — full system torque of 610 Nm is on tap below 2,000 rpm. Unlike a plug-in hybrid, the battery is never drained for propulsion; it is there to recover energy and to fill gaps. Porsche cites a weight penalty of just 50 kg over the outgoing GTS, against roughly eight times that for a typical PHEV.

World premiere

28 May 2024 — Carrera + Carrera GTS T-Hybrid

System output

398 kW (541 PS; 532 hp) — 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid

Range ceiling

523 kW (711 PS; 701 hp) — 2026 911 Turbo S T-Hybrid

Hybrid battery

1.9 kWh at 400 V — full hybrid, not a plug-in

T-Hybrid weight cost

+50 kg (Carrera GTS) · +85 kg (Turbo S)

Nürburgring Nordschleife

7:16.93 Carrera GTS · 7:03.92 Turbo S