Is this the most beautiful generation of Porsche 911? Many in the Top Gear office will claim that this is the case. The classic nine-eleven silhouette – still with relatively elegant dimensions – draped with subtle details. No fried egg shapes or bright LED patterns for the lights, and a few simple, silver wheels in a size that won’t make you swing every pothole. It’s a pleasure to watch.
Especially in Turbo shape, with its dramatically ventilated wing that manages to be bulky in size, yet stylish in the way it is draped finely over the back deck. Swoon.
This is the Porsche 911 in its 993 generation, the last of the air-cooled 911s (if you are an avid anorak carrier) and was manufactured between 1994 and 1998. The Turbo version was introduced in 1995 and it was a big deal: it was the first four-wheel drive 911 Turbo. The most dazzling version of a car often called a ‘widower’ suddenly pulled up its socks and ripened.
The 402 hp and 398 lb feet produced by its 3.6-liter twin-turbo flat-six, therefore, did not look as frightening as in the era of rear-wheel-drive Turbos. AWD’s achievement was still in its infancy; Porsche was one of the pioneers, but has so far only offered it as an option on the 964-gen 911, or as standard on the mighty 959 engine.
We are sure that the purists of that time will have time to sniff about it, just as they did in the decades that followed the introduction of stability control, PDK broadcasts and electronic power steering. The 993 does not do without these; its gearbox is a six-speed manual with an awkward clutch pedal and a clutch that requires a wrist joint pulse action, while the steering … well, almost perfect.
We also got a 993 Turbo S, which was launched in 1998. Where it’s now a staple of the series – the current 992-generation 911 Turbo appears as a first S (which in the process is our trophy of the year’s performance car of the year) actually an outlet special for the 993 and air-cooled 911s in its entirety, manufactured by Porsche’s Exclusive division and the beneficiary of larger turbos – for a total of 450 hp – and a unique set, including a larger rear wing. And nowadays it carries an even greater price.
Photos: Jonny Fleetwood