911 2.7 RS (1973)
Ok, let’s get the obvious one out of the way. This is arguably the all time collectors classic 911 and built for FIA Group 4 homologation. If you are lucky enough to take a ride in one you will be stunned at the lightness and the tactile embrace of the stiffened suspension. I’d like mine in yellow please.
914⁄4 (1970)
The first generation VW collaboration gets more appealing with age. Aimed squarely at the Californian market when it was released, it oozes a west coast style that is strangely inappropriate off Highway 1. Madly progressive for the time, you have to think of the Alfa Spider duetto and the Karmann Ghia for its antecedents. But that rear end is one of the greatest in the history of car design and eclipsed that of either of them.
917 (1970)
Again, sort of obvious, the 917 in all of its manifestations is full of bombast, Wagnerian pomp — this 240 MPH racer was scarier than Colonel Kilgore and a Napalm-infused dawn. To think that it was actually homologated and some lunatics have driven them on the road is gobsmacking. The original Mulsanne muncher will never be surpassed.
356 B Carrera Abarth Coupé (1960)
This aluminium bodied collaboration with Karlo Abarth managed to retain the signature line of the marque whilst adding something rakishly dynamic and different. It was brave of Herr Porsche to let go of some creative control — and Karl Abarth finally went ahead and commissioned ex-Bertone designer Franco Scaglione to build the original shells. Scaglione then apparently did a moonlight flit and offed with (some of) the money. A German-Italian collaboration that ended as badly as that of Il Duce and the Führer. Both pairings left some handsome machinery that were great at their job.
Panamera Turbo (2009)
Ok. We don’t care what Clarkson & Hammond think of this car’s looks. It remains an incredible creation. It is infused with all the values of Porsche’s long history of innovation. A friend of ours let us have a blast recently and it drives like a huge, hugely fast 911 that’s loaded up with too many Knoodle. And in our opinion, it is at least as good looking as Aston Martin’s Rapide (from certain angles). If you’re into executive wafters, you will waft more executively in this than anything else out there.
908⁄03 Spyder (1970)
We fell in love with this thing after seeing it fly up the hill at Goodwood. It won the Targo Florio in 1970 and that graphic design is genius. Its average speed around Sicily was 140 KMH — and if you’ve ever seen the twisty roads of that beautiful island, you’ll know how incredible that is. It pushed 350 BHP and it only weighed 545KG fully loaded with fuel. That short wheelbase must have made it drive like a midget demon. Spectacular.
