Natural Selection

Driven by a 17-year determination to break records at his local track, Jack Olsenʼs RSR-inspired 911 shows the simplicity of the early cars can still set the pace some 45 years down the road.

- Alex Grant

Cutting edge in its use of materials, aerodynamics and electrically-boosted power, the 918 Spyder is the pinnacle of engineering from a company famed for innovation. Yet, at California's Willow Springs raceway, the lap time that once set records on the fastest race track in the United States is under threat, and it's a very different era of Porsche's history that's snapping at its heels.

It's not hard to find the evidence; a 37-second YouTube on-board clip lining the hybrid hypercar up alongside the unmistakeable 'gun sight' of an early 911's wing-tops, as the two cars attack the technical section of 'Big Willow' in parallel. Despite the pro driver and a significant power advantage, the 918 trails its ancestor by up to 10mph through each sweeping corner, never gaining more than a car's length lead over the hard-driven coupé. And that's no homologation special; it's a road-legal evolution of what made the earliest 911s so iconic, as its owner, Jack Olsen, happily explains:

'I think the midsixties design sensibility led to some of the best looking cars ever made,' he says. 'The Porsche was a simple tool back then – strong, light and ready to go racing at a moment's notice. And, as the chassis changed so little over time, you can take the lightest chassis, the lightest transaxle, the most powerful air-cooled engine and, without too much work, everything will fit together. When you combine the low weight of an early chassis with the power of the later, heavier cars, I think there's a real sweet spot.'