The past of porsche 911 must read

The 911 has a unique iconography that has even found its way into the collective memory and consciousness. Only a few vehicle models have managed to become such an automotive icon. People need time to perceive new things, to accept them and finally to covet them. If the product is redesigned at this point, it cannot become an icon. Throughout its five decades of evolution, the 911 has succeeded in this. It is not only a benchmark for other sports cars in terms of its driving dynamics: an important part of the 911 legend is undoubtedly the timeless design of the model line. Many people even consider it to be the perfectly proportioned sports car", as one design critic once put it. Without a doubt, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was onto something special when he designed the 911. In so doing he established a design culture that continues to characterise sports car construction to this day.

The early 1970s marked the culmination of Porsche's dominance in the prototype era and the start of a GT racing program based on the ever-successful 911. A decade after the 911's debut, the public was presented a homologation special that foreshadowed a legendary line of racing Porsches the Carrera 2.7 RS. Fitted with fared wheel arches, a distinctive ducktail spoiler, and a highly tuned flat-six engine, the brilliant Carrera 2,7 RS is the model against which all subsequent high-performance 911s are judged.

Aimed squarely at the FIA's Group 4 category for Special Grand Touring Cars, Porsche built an all-out racing model based on the Carrera 2.7 RS, incorporating every conceivable improvement allowed by the rule book The result was the 2.8 RSR, a thoroughbred 911 developed strictly for competition use

Visually, the 2.8 RSR can be distinguished from a standard 2.7 RS by its massive fender flares, central oil-cooler air intake, and ultra-wide Fuchs wheels " up front and 11" at the rear. At the heart of the RSR was an enlarged race engine with a 10.3:1 compression ratio, larger valves, twin-plug ignition, and lightened internal components. The RSR's type 911/52 engine produced a reliable 300 bhp at 8,000 rpm and was coupled to a specially designed five-speed transaxle, with a limited-slip differential and an external oil cooler. To handle the car's improved capabilities,