Pick of the Porsches

In its 75 years, Porsche has built some of the most iconic cars ever. We look at the best

- Kyle Fortune

SEVENTY five years is a significant anniversary on its own, but for Porsche it's twinned with 60 years of the brand's most iconic car, the 911, and the firm has been in suitably celebratory form. For this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed Porsche raided its own museum, showing off a collection of some of its most significant models from the very first, 356 number 1, to the most recent iterations of the 911, with which that initial car shares some familial DNA.

As well as celebrating the past and present, the company chose Goodwood to reveal a glimpse of its future, with its Vision 357 Speedster. As ever, this offers more than a reverential nod to Porsche's history and purist, sporting driving appeal - the latter something that's always been demonstrated via the brand's motorsport activities. Unsurprisingly, Porsche's racing cars featured prominently on the FoS's famous driveway. Rightly so, because racing has long dictated the trajectory of the road-car line-up, with developments such as turbocharging, four-wheel drive, hybridisation and full electrification all having been track-proven before reaching showrooms.

Despite a range that now includes SUVs and luxury saloons increasingly being electrified via hybrid or pure-EV powertrains - Porsche still describes itself as a sports-car company. Certainly the 911 remains its most enduring and important car, representing the firm's engineering prowess; taking what should be a sub-optimal layout, with the rear-weight-biased engine layout, and finessing it to the point where the compromises have been banished, all while retaining interior space, traction and aerodynamic form.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the most significant Porsches, because to do that would fill the entire magazine and more - but here's our 'top 10' pick of some of the greatest, with their importance outlined. In most cases, we've driven them, too.

1948 Porsche 356 nr.1