TEUTONIC TALENT

The Porsche 911 is often described as the best all-round sports car on the planet. Is the 911 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet the best of all? gets to grips with a German icon

Adam Hay-nicholls

t 52 years old, the Porsche 911 is probably the most developed car ever built. Each generation sees new gains: more control, improved safety, greater power and sharper looks. Those frog-eye headlamps, the engine at the back and the seductively sloping roofline remain; the package is consistently a technological tour de force and perhaps the most iconic of all four-wheeled silhouettes.

One gripe I have with 911s, though, is that they’re everywhere. We’re told luxury trends are going bespoke, that wealthy people all want one of a kind. The psychological point of sports cars has always been to stand out. Dart-shaped Ferraris and Lamborghinis jam the feeds of every petrolhead’s Instagram; less so the 911. It’s so ingrained in our consciousness that the 911 no longer shocks the senses visually.

Although I enjoy nothing more than to spend a week with a head-turning automobile, a long-term relationship with a “car-parazzi”