- Over its 75-year history, Porsche has produced some of the most impressive vehicles.
- Models like the 911 series epitomize the brand’s blend of luxury, performance, and design.
- Porsche’s innovation spans from the humble 356 to the advanced 918 Spyder.
It might be impossible to overstate Porsche’s stature in the automotive landscape, especially when it comes to sport cars and motor racing. No, it wasn’t the first automaker, it wasn’t the first to win big races, nor is it the most exclusive brand. Still, it’s developed some incredibly special cars in a history that spans more than seven decades. Today, it’s up to you to pick which single model is the greatest in that bunch.
The 911 is a clear front-runner here but the question quickly becomes, which one? The two in our lead image could easily battle it out near the very top of this list. The original 911 Carrera RS 2.7 from 1972 was a homologation special known for being the fastest street-legal car in Germany at the time. It gave birth to the RS family of Porsches we know today.
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That includes the car next to it in that photo, a modern-day 911 GT3 RS, which is a great example of just how far the brand has come since the ’70s. It develops 518 horsepower (525 PS) and can rocket from 0-60 mph in just 3.2 seconds. It’s a modern-day monster but neither car would exist without a common ancestor.
We’re talking about the Porsche 356, a vehicle that wasn’t particularly fast when it entered production but that would change quickly. By 1951 it won its class at Le Mans. In the years after it became a hit in Hollywood and around the globe. Of course, the right choice for the ‘greatest Porsche ever’ might have to be one born on the race track.
No doubt, the 917 deserves some attention. It was the first Porsche to win overall at Le Mans and went on to dominate various racing series all over the world. The automaker would spin off the main 917 design to eight different variants. It would dominate the Can-Am series in America and won the European-based Interserie championship for six straight years. And of course it starred, alongside Steve McQueen, in the 1971 classic Le Mans, arguably one of the (if not the) most iconic movies made about motor racing.
In the early ’80s, Porsche decided to compete in the World Rally Championship and, to that end, commenced development of what was initially known as the Gruppe B. FIA regulations stipulated that 200 street-legal examples had to be built in order for the car to be homologated for racing, and thus the 959 was born.
When it was launched in 1986, it was the world’s fastest production car with a top speed of 197 mph (339 km/h) thanks to the 444 hp (450 PS) twin-turbocharged flat-six and advanced aerodynamics. It was, for the time, a technological tour de force, featuring an all-wheel drive system, a suspension with automatic ride-height adjustment, and sequential turbochargers.
Unfortunately for Porsche, FIA banned Group B cars after a series of deadly accidents, so the 959 didn’t compete in the WRC, but it did go on to win the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally.
Perhaps the right choice is the Carrera GT though. It utilizes racecar tech, like a motorsport-derived V10, and is perhaps the last true analogue hypercar in history. Moreover, while, by most accounts, it’s not exactly easy to drive, yet it’s lusted after by several automotive greats.
Which of this bunch do you think deserves the title of the greatest Porsche ever? Let us know in the comments below!
