Men used to use their soft side to sit on and it was necessary to understand and master technique. In the past, cars were basic driving machines that did not hang through their axles because of all the electronic assistance systems and digital assistants. There used to be Porsche 2 liter 911s.
Simplicity is key
And under the hood of such a no-nonsense sporty person, such an ADHD person with six cylinders, life is manageable. Masculine tough, emphatically mechanically technical and that is why it is so clear. We see the fan, two huge air filters and the carburettors.
Those carburettors are the most beautifully designed pieces of technical heritage. With a little technical insight you immediately understand which lever does what with which gas valve. The linkage linking the two gas works is enchanting in its clever simplicity. Consider that with a CDI unit and an injection system. Plastic boxes and power strips. Who ever got excited about that? Unbelievable that technology 1.0 can make a car so fast and dynamic. Although: everything you need is under the blue hood. Nothing anymore.
Germans do not engage in design
Italians think in beauty. Functionality, accessibility, reliability? Those are things for people without passion! Germans see it differently. That was just mentioned. For Germans it is about having something work. And that with as little frills or decoration as possible.
For example, that fan looks like something from the steam train or shipping museum. The thing is chained to the engine block with the primal father of all clamp straps. Think "Praxis or Hornbach", not Brezan. The drive belt for the fan also looks ordinary because it has to do its job. The original sticker on the cooling tunnel, the Venturi, gives the whole thing a bit of cachet. But with little imagination, the thing can also simply be imagined in the draft window above the kitchen window. And whether the cotton-wrapped fuel hoses are E10 resistant? I do not think so!
Yet this engine room is one where people work hard. The whole car has been made rally ready and is ready for the hardest deployment. And that such a flat six-cylinder cries out in its characteristic mechanical way? Just whip it and go. Of course, after the technology has had time to warm up. A 911 block quickly contains about eight liters of engine oil.
Not for long-term minimums
Because the overhaul of a flat Porsche six-cylinder is expensive. Incidentally, a good Porsche engine is an example of reliability. Two tons + of trouble-free miles is no exception. The chain tensioner of the distribution can chatter and the axles of the throttle valves have a tendency to wear unexpectedly quickly on an original block.
An oil temperature that rises too high can be caused by something as simple as an (externally) contaminated oil cooler. On the baking side, synchronization can sometimes be a pain point. With our photo model, the on-board electronics will not cause any problems. The pruned wiring harness is generously equipped with AMP plugs. Absolute factory originality is not necessary on a rally car. Optimal accessibility and ease of use or repair is.
The original delivered 130 hp
The power of this savage is somewhat vague. But even a standard 'primal' 911 was a machine that was on the edges of the unseemly in terms of handling. This 911 with its short wheelbase and its revitalized six-cylinder must therefore require a driver with an above-average sensitive gas foot, lightning-fast reactions and a big heart.
Also read:
- Under the hood: The Maserati GT 3500 (1957 -1964. 1402 ex.)
- Looked under the hood: A Mercedes-Benz 200
- Historical prediction from 1977: "No future for the Porsche 911"
- Cars that changed the world: The PORSCHE 911
- Driving the Porsche 911 Turbo (930). Labor nobility.
Aubergine color had (I hope has) the 911/930 of a neighbor from Moerwijk of mine. For this he had, crazy about English four-wheelers, a Reliant Scimitar with the (Cologne) Ford V6 and overdrive with such a switch on the dashboard. Through a friend of his, who drove an immaculate white 930, who always did it, my neighbor came up with the idea to buy a 911.
So it became the aubergine. With a huge rear wing that later made way for a smaller copy. It still reminds me: the sound of that sometimes screeching boxer, the Prins Clausplein with 160 on a flyover and the beautiful aubergine color with the black Fuchs wheels.
And indeed the Porsche, if he had a good time on an Autobahn on Saturday, then he did that on Sunday if necessary. hassle-free again. That was not always the case with the Scimitar without an (oil) leak here and there.
A neighbor at my current address also bought a 911 years ago, I thought a 964. Leaking O-rings prompted him to return the 964 and return with a Z3, 3.0. Nice car also with red leather interior and black roof. He still has it and the rare times that the neighbor goes out with it ……. So beautiful the sound of the cold start of the six-cylinder.
yet all tribute for a 6-cylinder air-cooled boxer engine has to come back to the name of American engineers and not German. Lycoming 6-cylinder boxers have been found in all single-engine planes from Piper, Beech and Cessna since time immemorial.
And in 1959 we were also able to buy the great Chevrolet Corvair. German engineers and designers are quite good but even better copycats. They do, however, always claim the
garnered tribute.
Agree. But just like the Japanese did: They did something good out of it.
Unfortunately, the fashion model from this fascinating article has already disappeared abroad.
my dream car, every time there is yet another update in the style of 935 RSR Ruf Haifin super Carrera 3.3 turbo gti then you see again how they hit the nail on the head with the 2 liter air-cooled 911S with 160 hp for the first time and then every time, next to it
From Heusden, Harald?
How is it actually with that 912 of a prince who received it orange and had to be painted aviation blue? Because when I see this rare color blue I immediately think of the prince's Porsche.
Germans don't do design…. 🤔
If you can generalize at all…. there I go. The English invent techniques and Germans / Austrians make technology practical and reliable. Italians package technology in beautiful design. And the French, with their borders to all those countries, are right in the middle of it; they devise technology on a more philosophical level.
The Japanese and Koreans perfect technology. The Russians make technology indestructible for all harsh conditions. USA? Silicon Valley turns technology into computers and Detroit turns technology into banking products. The Netherlands is taxing the adverse effects of technology (BPM) and has no car policy in this regard, which is why our country falls a bit outside this topic.
What does the above consideration have to do with the 911? I think the following. The original (or primal) 911 meets (almost) all of the above international qualities. That is why it is a special car (an icon) that is not even an environmental freak against.
Amen!
Yes yes wonderful thing, these are the “real” ones with 6 air-cooled cylinders.
Next time some more pictures ??
Fuchs rims were they right?
greetings HaNS
Have a nice 911T 1972, fantastic to drive and indeed accelerate and enjoy. The carbs can be adjusted with a lot of patience and love. But it remains difficult, other weather conditions give a different behavior. Never had the radio on my music is in the back.
The oilklappe
have a 1988 2nd hand 911T 2,0 6cil. bought and restored, incl. engine, part body work and spraying done in Hungary, everything from Bosch was thrown out (after that no more breakdowns on the way!) and as already mentioned, with love, patience and the right tools (including vacuum- gauges) carburettors adjusted, all el. consumers covered by relays and more, sold to an enthusiast in 2015 with pain in heart.
Thus a real music lover!
In 1967, 1968 I worked at a very large German Porsche dealer, a very large company, with 3 branches, the company is still there. As for the carburettors that were made in Germany, they could not be adjusted. So under Porsche warranty dozens and more have been replaced by Webers.