MORE THAN A FINAL GASP

Porsche's 993-Series 911 Still Holds Its Own

- MAC MORRISON

Some objects require a generation or more to pass before they achieve Citizen Kane Rosebud status in a population’s collective consciousness. Most material items never get there at all. Porsche’s 993-series 911 needed only a few years to achieve predictable heights of reverence and desirability—not only from Porsche acolytes but also a significant cross-section of car enthusiasts who recognize a classic, or a classic in the making, when they see one.

The 993 went on sale in the U.S. in early 1994 as a 1995 model, replacing the 5-year-old 964. It brought many overdue upgrades to a relatively ancient platform that dated to the early ’60s. If you were around at the time and cared about cars, you know a sighting of this “new 911” was something to get excited about along with however many friends happened to be accompanying you—and something you’d recount to ones who weren’t. And once it became clear the Carrera’s M64 3.6-liter flat-six and its derivatives employed in other 993s would be the last of Porsche’s air-cooled series-production engines, long-term values were assured, even if roughly two decades would pass before secondhand transaction prices kablitzed their way past anything resembling reasonableness.

Value and collectibility aren’t on my mind, though, as I’m about to get behind the wheel of this 1996 911 Carrera. I wonder how it holds up in the context of now—not as an investment or device to impress the auction-watching crowd, but as a car for those who simply like to drive.