California Central Coast - Porsche Club of America

Happy 50th
Anniversary!
Porsche 911
Early in the morning of September 10, 1963, in the
commodious, hot, overcrowded Frankfurt Convention
Center, a small pavilion displayed a single, yellow
sports car. This was Porsche AG’s first public presentation
of its long anticipated successor to its hugely
successful Type 356 car, then in its 15th year of production.
Although still sought after by car aficionados
around the world, the 356 was getting a little long in
the tooth and was already considered obsolete technology
by automotive experts and journalists.
The pushing, sweating mob which had waited for
hours for the doors to open surged around the new
Mercedes-Benz 230 SL Sports Car; the elegant, powerful
new Ferraris; stylish Alfas; the new stunning E-Type
Jaguars, and scores of cars from dozens of manufacturers.
From among the thousands in the car-crazy crowd,
the professional engineers and automotive marketing
representatives from around the world quickly gravi-
Bill Irving’s 1967 Yellow 911
The Coastalaire April 2013
by Milt Worthy
tated to the Porsche display and the new Porsche 901-
-soon to be redesigned the 911 because of copyright
conflicts with the Peugeot Company. It looked different
from the venerable 356, but at the same time it was
satisfyingly familiar; its legacy was obvious, and to the
discerning, it was seemed to augur the future of Porsche
motor cars. Those who picked up a brochure and
spec-sheet could tell at a glace this wasn’t the rumored
upgrade to the 356; this was a totally new Porsche with
Ferdinand “Butzi” Porsche
design subtlety that honored its past.
The 901/911, trumpeted the spec-sheets, was powered
by an air-cooled, rear mounted, overheard
cam, six cylinder engine. The brakes were large disc type
and the 5-speed transaxle, the suspension and steering/
front-end geometry were all new, incorporating the latest
automotive technology. The eager crowd also read
about the new commodious cabin and a useful luggage
compartment. The multitude could see these marketing
claims realized in sleek steel for themselves for the first
time. The spec-sheet also described the horsepower of
the new engine and the car’s top speed. At last this was
a Porsche that could hold its own on the autobahns and
autostradas of Europe. This Porsche could drive in the
left lane with Jaguars, Ferraris, and Mercedes and not
have to cringe in shame, or fear the dreaded flashing
light in the rear view mirror.
The yellow, No. 5 prototype 911 Porsche sitting serenely
atop the dais didn’t get to Frankfurt without
a superhuman amount of work, worry, and midnight
oil. The Strum und Drang surrounding the birth of
the 911 is worthy of a novel. And it couldn’t have
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