FAST ROAD LEGENDS FIVE DECADES LATER

They may share a G-body look, but underneath those impact bumpers lay three very different classic 911s, still able to delight some 50 years after they first left Zuffenhausen

- Andy Brookes

It’s a crisp spring morning in south Wales: the sun is bright, the roads are dry. This westerly part of Britain is blessed with the sort of twisty roads a petrolhead will often dream about, and better yet, traffic on them is fairly light at this time of year.

My 911 SC is waiting for those roads, although right now it’s in the hotel car park, bookended by a 2.7 911 to its left and a 930 Turbo to its right. There’s other, more modern Porsche machinery in the car park as part of our 9WERKS 2024 Welsh road trip, but it’s these three G-body or ‘impact-bumper’ 911s that find themselves on the end of our collective gazes, the sight of them parked together transporting our group back to the late 1970s when these classics were new.

I’m joined for the excursion ahead by Simon McCormack, owner of the 2.7 911, and Ben Bailey, in his 930. Extended kudos must go to Bailey, who made it to our rendezvous with only 24 hours’ notice – epic work considering the six-hour drive down from Newcastle, and having only recently bought the car.

My mission for the weekend is to find out what’s so special about the impact-bumper era. These 911s might all look vaguely similar, but how differently do they drive? Those twisting roads around Wales will help us to unpick each car, and give us an answer.

Firing up our air-cooled flat sixes, the three of us elect to begin the adventure in our own cars. After all, these weekends behind the wheel really enable you to get to know your 911, exploring its capabilities and learning to trust in what it may, or may not, be able to do.