Porsche 911 Carrera

REPORT 2

£84,870 OTR/£93,646 as tested/£1,010pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

Can ‘the only sports car you’ll ever need’ turn its hand to anything?

DRIVER

Ollie Marriage

LET’S TALK ABOUT HERITAGE AND TRADITION BECAUSE THERE’S A LOT of it around the Porsche 911 – 58 years of progress means there’s many historic levers to pull. And the Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition launched earlier this year yanked at most of them, from Fuchs-style wheels to racing decals. But I want to talk about corduroy, which took its inspiration from the original 356 back in the Fifties.

I’ve got it in this car as part of the Heritage Design Package. It’s a vastly expensive box to tick (£6,620) so you’d be forgiven for skipping straight past it. The extra tasty bits that come as part of it don’t amount to a whole hill of beans either. You select it for the trim. The OLEA leather is tanned using olive leaves and is designed to gain lustre and richness as it ages. But it’s the corduroy that’s really captivated me.

It adorns the seat centres and doors, and brings a welcome warmer tone and texture to the cabin. Here are the best things about it:

1 > It’s never cold under your arse, which matters now winter is coming

2 > Heat soaks through from the bum warmers unbelievably quickly

3 > It’s soft to sit on, has a bit of give in it

4 > It holds you in place better than leather so there’s no sliding about 5 > It looks and feels more special than leather

In fact besides cost there’s only one drawback, but it is a biggie given how hard I’ve been using the 911 so far. Dirt. It’s mainly come from bike wheels, but I’ve had people (OK, small nephews) in the back, food crumbs and the general dust and detritus of everyday travel. Vacuum, then damp cloth is all I’ve dared so far. I should probably relax though. I’m sure Porsche has put this corduroy through a development process every bit as rigorous as the GT3’s dynamics.