Porsche’s greatest hits
01 Porsche 959
The 959 was a proper spaceship. Developed to compete in Group B rallying (but not finished in time. Though it did win the Dakar Rally) it had active AWD, sequential twin-turbocharging, adaptive suspension and a kevlar body. Unheard of for ’86, when the 959 came out.
04 Porsche 911
Not just the definitive Porsche, but the definitive everyday sports car. In more or less continuous production since 1964 – always with the engine at the back – and now in its eighth generation, 911 is the most iconic number in automotive history. Brilliant cars.
07 Porsche Carrera GT
Before you read any further, go to YouTube and search for “Porsche Carrera GT noise”. That’s the life-enriching sound of a race-derived nat-asp V10, right there. The CGT was a tricky car to master, but a very special thing and unlike any car Porsche had done before, or will do again.
02 Porsche 935
The original 935 dominated sports car racing in the late Seventies, even winning Le Mans outright in ’79 despite not being in the top class. Porsche revived the name with the spectacular GT2 RS Clubsport-based track only 935, pictured, in 2019. What a thing.
05 Porsche 918 Spyder
The 918 is fundamentally different from the other two members of the hypercar holy trinity – the LaFerrari and McLaren P1. A hugely clever, complete hypercar with a hybridised Le Mans-derived V8 that you could, theoretically, use every single day.
08 Porsche 919 Hybrid
The car with which Porsche returned to top flight endurance racing. In 2015, its second year racing, the 919 took the company’s first outright win at Le Mans since 1998. It won again in 2016 and 2017 before it was retired from competition. Revived in 2018 as the insane 919 Evo.
03 Porsche 917
One of, if not the most famous and fearsome racing cars in the world. The car that earned Porsche its first two overall wins at Le Mans (1970–71) and went on to dominate the Can-Am series in the US. The open-cockpit 917/30’s flat-12 was good for almost 1,600bhp. Yikes.
06 Porsche Taycan
Porsche’s first production EV. Predictably quite brilliant – feels every inch the proper Porsche that just so happens to run on electricity instead of petrol. At the cutting edge of EV tech too, with an 800V architecture that brings all kinds of benefits. It’s the best EV on sale today.
09 Porsche 356
Where it all started – Porsche’s first proper production car. Effectively the forerunner to the 911, the 356 was created by Ferry Porsche while his dad Ferdinand was in prison after WW2. In production from 1948 right through to 1965. Early cars used a few VW components.