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  • This episode of Up to Speed is brought to you by

  • Viking! War of Clans!

  • Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a peak at the game and some sweet bonuses.

  • For over fifty years, one car has been the world's benchmark, the standard to which

  • every sports car is measured.

  • It's the very embodiment of tradition, refusing to change layout or body-line.

  • And yet, no matter what year you're looking at, no matter how old, it's one of the best

  • there is.

  • This is everything you need to know to get Up to Speed on the first car I ever wanted: the Porsche 911.

  • After the second world war,

  • Ferdinand Porsche, who was largely responsible for the Beetle, switched his company from

  • automotive consulting and racing, to production.

  • He and his son Ferry...

  • Dude named his son Ferry...

  • He and his son Ferry rolled out the Porsche 356 in 1940.

  • Sticking to the basic principles of his dad's Beetle design, Ferry and team make a circular

  • body with a flat-four air-cooled engine in the rear.

  • The result is a lean, mean performance machine that brought the Porsche badge off of the

  • racetrack and onto public roads.

  • Time goes by, the 356 sells fine, and the day comes when Ferry decides to upgrade to

  • a new model.

  • The new car, dubbed the 901, doesn't actually change all that much: it's just more.

  • The flat-four in the back becomes a flat-six, and the steering wheel

  • is designed to give the driver the best feedback possible from the tires.

  • But it wasn't just sportier: the 901 was engineered to be more practical too.

  • Look: a sports car with back seats!

  • Is that even possible?

  • The 901 was ready to take on the world'

  • France had decided that they were done being invaded by Germany.

  • Peugeot came along and said, "Ho ho, oui oui, you cannot use a zero in the middle of

  • your car name."

  • And Ferry said, "Vas?"

  • "Vhy not?"

  • "Because we are French and we have a copyright on all three-digit car names with a zero in

  • the middle."

  • "Scheisse!"

  • "Wait: seriously, you actually copyrighted any three-digit car name with a zero in the middle?"

  • "OUI, BECAUSE WE ARE FRENCH."

  • So Porsche was like, "fine.

  • Well call it the 911"

  • The car debuts at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1963, and hits dealerships a year later.

  • The completed product makes 130hp and blows its drivers away.

  • It might be a little tail-happy, but its precision-steering

  • and fantastic acceleration more than make up for it.

  • At the same time, the whole family can fit inside thanks to the back seats.

  • The 911 becomes a sensation, both in Germany and abroad.

  • But don't worry, Peugeot: you've still got that zero in the middle.

  • You do you.

  • With a bona fide hit on their hands, Porsche realizes that they need to capitalize on their

  • success by extending the brand.

  • After releasing the 912, a four-cylinder variant that never really caught on, Porsche decides that

  • instead of making the engine smaller, what if they made the roof come off?

  • Who doesn't like going topless?

  • Turns out: America!

  • "You put your clothes on this minute!"

  • "Mommy!"

  • Or so Porsche thought: somebody in Stuttgart got word that the US would be passing stricter

  • safety regulations around rollovers, which would make convertibles unsellable in the

  • biggest car market in the world.

  • The solution was to make an entirely new category of car, which Porsche called a Targa.

  • A Targa has a glass roof and a solid upper rollbar for structural support; the roof can

  • be folded away to get a convertible-ish experience,

  • and give the driver access to the open sky.

  • One minor detail: the US never actually passed those regulations.

  • Which meant this new Targa car category isn't really necessary.

  • Porsche keeps the Targa in production until 1989

  • "I'm just saying, it was a pretty good idea"

  • "Yeah, we know, it's sort of like un-german of you to start bragging about stuff like this"

  • "I'm from California!"

  • Going topless is all well and good,

  • Just ask Jessica at a music festival...

  • But what the people really want is to go faster.

  • And in 1966, Porsche responds to the people's pleas with the 911 S, basically the same great car with

  • 30 more hp.

  • The S was so successful that Porsche has gone on to make S variants of their other variants.

  • You can't talk about the 911, without talking about racing, and boy is there a lot to talk about.

  • Pull up a chair.

  • The first 911 in motorsport was in 1965, at the Rallye Monte Carlo.

  • Turns out, it would do pretty damn well.

  • In it's first time out, the 911 finished 5th overall.

  • Nice job Porsche!

  • But the Monaco trip wouldn't be the last competition of the Porsche.

  • They've won sports car championships, endurance championships, hill climb events, autocross,

  • and of course, more rally.

  • It's just.

  • that.

  • good.

  • So going into the 70s, Porsche knows exactly what it needs to do: make more 911s.

  • With even MORE SPEED.

  • For the ten-year anniversary, Porsche unveils the 911 Carrera RS.

  • This marks the first time a 911 is called a Carrera, named after my ex-girlfriend, Carrera Panamericana

  • "Carrera...Carrera Panamericana"

  • "She's beautiful"

  • "I really love the way you touch my butt..."

  • Name after the Carrera Panamericana race,

  • and the first time the RS, or, "Racing Sport" title is used,

  • It's the first 911 to come with a spoiler, and with its 2.7L 210hp engine,

  • it's the fastest 911 so far.

  • In 1975, Porsche releases the 911 Turbo, internally called the 930.

  • If you don't know Porsche, this might get confusing- all 911s have an internal code

  • denoting WHICH series of 911 they are.

  • So the first 911 is a 911, and the 930 is a 911.

  • The 930 is one of the very first road cars to use turbocharging technology.

  • In fact, with that turbocharged rocket of an engine over the rear wheels, the 911 Turbo

  • can get up to 260hp, making it the fastest car in the entire German auto industry.

  • They call it the fu**ing"window maker"

  • Because it's fast as fu**, and it kills dudes.

  • This car is timeless.

  • Mid-engined supercars?

  • Fu** that.

  • Why have a V8 when you could have a flat-six?

  • In 1989, Porsche decides it's time at long last to give the 911 a full refresh.

  • While still called a 911, the refresh was internally called the 964, and is sold and

  • marketed as the Carrera.

  • This is the best looking car in the history of the world.

  • It has a rear wheel drive version just like all 911s before it,

  • but for the first time, an all-wheel drive version too.

  • Sigh'...but you know what they did to the engine?

  • That's right, they kept it a flat-six, and kept it in the back!

  • Because this is a 911, dammit, and we aren't changing it!

  • That blend of tradition and innovation works again, as the 911 continues right on into

  • the 90s as one of the best-selling, and just plain best, sports cars on Earth.

  • But unlike the original, the 964 isn't destined to stick around for twenty-five years.

  • Sound familiar? Dad? Dave? Daddy? Dad-do, David, Papa Pump, Dickhead...

  • So in 1995, it was already farewell to the 964 and hello to the 993.

  • With this incarnation, Porsche really has perfection.

  • This is also when Porsche upgrades from a single-turbo to a twin-turbo.

  • The engine was pushing out 400hp: that's more than the Ferrari

  • F355, which had a V8.

  • Flat-six.

  • Still.

  • Always.

  • Family!

  • In 1999 it's fare thee well to the 993, and with it, the air-cooled engine.

  • The new 996 is...

  • The new 996 is water-cooled.

  • Going into the 21st Century armed with the new engine, Porsche decides to really hammer

  • home the 911's pedigree as a performance machine.

  • So it was time for Stuttgart to start taking their racing-specced cars and putting them

  • onto the road.

  • First up is the GT3

  • A stripped-down, lightened, and amped-up version of the 911 meant for

  • a new racing class called'yeah you guessed it, the GT3.

  • "Vhat shall ve call ze GT3 car?"

  • "Ze GT3?"

  • "Haaaa? I love it!"

  • "You do?"

  • "Yasss, I doooo"

  • "I love you."

  • "Vaas?"

  • "Nothing..."

  • The Car hits the market with a smash.

  • But for the truly insane, Porsche created an even more bonkers, even more hardcore version

  • called the GT2.

  • Guess what class of race that was named after?

  • The GT2 class.

  • Like the GT3, the GT2 is also a lighter, harder version of the 911, except the GT2 is even more.

  • which makes it more...

  • crash-y?

  • With these cars, Porsche is extending the 911 into supercar territory.

  • That makes the 911 one of the most diverse sports cars on the market.

  • And Porsche still isn't done yet.

  • When Stuttgart unveils the GT3 RS,

  • Stripped of non-essentials like rear seats, sound insulation, and air-conditioning

  • the GT3 RS is a for-maniacs-only rocket on the road.

  • And still, Porsche wants more.

  • The GT2 RS followed not long after, a 620hp monster that was even lighter than the stripped-down

  • GT3 RS.

  • The 911 model range has gotten so broad, it's practically its own subsidiary within Porsche.