SIMPLY 'TURBO' SUFFICES. WE ALL KNOW it means 'Porsche 911 Turbo'. Always has, always will. The flagship of the 911 range; the sensible, bargain supercar. As the 50th anniversary of the model is now upon us, there's no better time to look at why the 911 Turbo changed the face of performance motoring, and what it meant and still means, not just as a car but to the company that created it and the industry as a whole. Porsche wasn't quite the first, of course. GM had shown that turbocharging could work in a road car as far back as 1962, and while Porsche had been running a 2-litre turbo 'six' on the dyno as early as 1969, BMW claimed Europe's first turbocharged production car with its 2002 Turbo in 1973. In truth a number of factors - and a healthy dose of Germanic pragmatism - coincided to bring Porsche's most famous model line to life.
The first was that it had a new man in charge in the form of Dr Ernst Fuhrmann. After the bickering that had threatened to tear the company apart, the family had decided to take a step backwards, and Porsche's first CEO was appointed at the beginning of 1972. A small man with strong leadership skills, a fiery temper and a slightly odd tendency towards superstition, Furhmann was a former Porsche engineer who also saw the value of motorsport. The company had spent a vast amount on winning Le Mans with the 917- and then the Can-Am series with the turbocharged version - and while the purse strings had now been tightened considerably in a harsher economic landscape, surely that new turbocharging know-how and marketing gold could be put to good use? Moreover, the boss also liked fast cars, and he wanted his engineers to build him one.
Denne historien er fra May 2024-utgaven av Evo UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 2024-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
