How Similar Are Porsche’s Seven Generations Of 911?
People claim all 911s look alike, but is that really true?
There have been seven distinct generations of 911 since the car was introduced in 1963, and while the car was admittedly quite visually similar through the mid 1990s, there are a lot of changes that most people don’t realize. There were myriad of minor changes in the 1960s, and 1968 has a lot of one-year-only parts. In 1969 Porsche extended the car’s wheelbase a bit. In 1974 they added impact bumpers. In 1978 they added a 3-liter engine and some fender flares. In 1984 that engine increased again to 3.2 liters.
The body shell of the 911 didn’t appreciably change for the entirety of the aircooled run. In fact, the window frames of the entire greenhouse went unchanged in all that time, and a door from a ’64 can ostensibly bolt up to a 1998 993-generation car. This likely influences some of the derision from people who don’t understand what a 911 is fully. While a lot of the parts remained interchangeable, the driving experience was drastically changed over those few decades.
It wasn’t until the launch of the 996 generation in 1998 that things changed completely. The 996 car used practically nothing from the 993, as it was an all new platform. Along with the watercooled engine, the 996 also introduced a larger and more spacious interior, a longer wheelbase and wider track, and was basically better at everything. Since then, the 997 was another evolutionary design change on basically the same chassis. The 991, which is the current generation, was another all-new design, again bigger, comfier, and better at basically everything.
For those not 100% up on their Porsche generations, here is a quick primer:
- 911 Longhood SWB – 1964-1968
- 911 Longhood LWB – 1969-1973
- 911 “Midyear” – 1974-1977
- 911 Super Carrera – 1978-1983
- 911 Carrera 3.2 – 1984-1989
- 964-generation – 1989-1994
- 996-generation – 1998-2005
- 997-generation – 2005-2012
- 991-generation – 2011-present
Porsche usually considers everything from 1974 through 1989 to be one generation dubbed “G-series”.
