Taking A Supercar To The Sculptured Trails Of New Zealand

Cruising the sculptured trails of New Zealand in the Porsche 911 proves the supercar is a work of art in its own right.

- Lynette Kee

THERE ARE NOT many ways to explain the long-lived enthusiasm for iconic designs — like a Burberry trench coat or the Barcelona chair — even decades after they were first conceived. Many of these designs were groundbreaking ideas treated with skepticism at a time when tradition was heavily emphasised but they stood their grounds and eventually became style-defining after having weathered through the test of time. The Porsche 911, introduced in 1963, is one such icon. Growing up in Singapore, I have heard the oohs and ahhs from non-local friends when Singapore is introduced as one of the most expensive cities in the world, especially when told the cost of owning a car — one of the many contributing factors — in Singapore. According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore, car owners are shifting their attention from mass-market car brands to luxury brands, and cites statistics that show between 2013 to 2016, the number of Porsche cars in the country, jumped a hefty 35.7 per cent from 3,539 units in 2013 to 4,832 units in 2016. The numbers have since reached a new high of 5,816 units in 2018.

During the launch of the eighth-generation 911 in New Zealand, the new supercar is introduced as an evolution rather than a revolution. In other words, the 911 is the same, but better.