Festival of Speed 2023: Porsche by Numbers

The numbers relating to power and speed, to lap times and all other aspects of a car’s performance matter to Porsche, but also defines its heritage in the naming conventions of the machines it has built for both road and track.

To the uninitiated this can seem bewildering. After all, take just one model, the 911. Simple enough on the face of it, but can you tell your 964 era from your 993 or your 997? And how can a 911 also be a 930? And what inspires the naming conventions Porsche has used over its 75 years of building superlative road and race cars?

Well, if you can paint by numbers surely you can also tell the story of a car brand the same way. So, let’s try doing exactly that by taking Porsche’s numerical history and turning into words, working in chronological order from the very beginning and a car playing a starring role at this year’s Festival of Speed – Porsche’s 356 Number One.

356 1948

The numbers used for Porsche’s cars may appear random but there is a logic, that being project allocations at the engineering office founded by Ferdinand Porsche senior in the early 1930s. Type 20 was an Auto Union Grand Prix car and Type 60 became the Volkswagen but components and proposals were also coded, hence the relatively rapid rise to project number 356. Launched in June 1948 this just happened to be the first complete car to be branded as a Porsche, and from there our story really begins.

550 Spyder 1953

Whether by accident or design it seems Porsche has an uncanny knack of assigning some of its more famous cars project numbers that trip alliteratively off the tongue, are typographically pleasing as a badge, or sometimes both. ‘550’ is evocative on its own, but when combined with the classic coachbuilder term ‘Spyder’ (so-called for the arachnid like stance of sporty horse-drawn carriages slung low on their suspension straps) something magical happens. No harm, of course, when the car in question is both beautiful and a racing legend, albeit one with a tragic association given James Dean’s death at the wheel of his.

718 W-RS 1961

Rear mounted engines may have defined the brand’s sportscars but the first 356 was in fact mid-engined, as was the 550 Spyder and the 718 that evolved from it. That name lives on in the modern mid-engined Boxster and Cayman ranges, as well as the RS Spyder making its dynamic debut at Festival of Speed. Versions of the original 718 won in circuit racing, long-distance road rallies and hillclimbs with open and coupe-style bodywork, the unique W-RS you can see at this year’s Festival of Speed starting life as a four-cylinder car and class winner at Le Mans before being upgraded with an F1-derived flat-eight.

911 1963

By the early ‘60s Porsche was well established as a carmaker in its own right. But the relationship with Volkswagen remained strong and, to align with Wolfsburg’s own production codes, Porsche adopted the 900 series for the new model it was developing to replace the 356 family. The 901 was to be the six-cylinder version and 902 the four-cylinder but, famously, Peugeot objected given similarities to its own naming convention, a ‘1’ was added to the middle of the model number and a legend was born. And with it an argument that rages to this day as to whether you should pronounce it ‘nine-eleven’ or ‘nine-one-one’.

917 1969

First seen in 1969, the Porsche 917 was a purebred racing car that came to dominate early ‘70s sportscar racing in Europe and America alike. While its paper-thin fibreglass bodywork and spindly tubular chassis may have looked delicate, the flat-12 at its heart was a brute. The distinctive red and white ‘Salzburg’ 917 took Porsche’s first outright Le Mans victory in 1970 with Hans Herrmann and Brit Richard Attwood sharing the driving. Over the years 917s wore a variety of body shapes and iconic liveries, the open top 917/30 here at Goodwood typical of the turbocharged 1,000PS-plus (735kW) versions raced in the legendary Can-Am series.

935 1976

In a perfect example of the two-way technology transfer between Porsche race and road cars, turbocharging developed for the 917 informed its application in the legendary 911 Turbo. This itself then developed back into racing with the 935 you see here. While its 911 roots are obvious, the 935 developed into something far more formidable thanks to a 590PS (433kW) turbocharged engine, extreme weight-saving measures like titanium springs and increasingly wild bodywork. A customer 935 scored an overall win at Le Mans in 1979, another driven by Rolf Stommelmen, Dick Barbour and Hollywood legend Paul Newman taking second and a class win into the bargain.

936/81 1981

With its open roof and the characteristic air scoop towering above it, the 936 was developed out of the 917 and took two consecutive Le Mans wins in the late ‘70s, before returning as a last-minute entry driven by Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell in 1981. Developed so quickly there wasn’t even time to test before the race, the 936/81 nonetheless went on to a flawless victory, eventually winning by more than an hour over its next nearest rival. And if the rest of the field found that margin demoralising it was nothing to the marque’s domination of the Group C era to follow…

962 1984

Little wonder Group C was perfect for Porsche, the combination of new construction techniques, experimentation in downforce and engines that were both powerful but also frugal enough to win in a fuel regulated formula are exactly the kind of challenges its engineers thrive on. The 956 even looked after its drivers, its comfort over long stints at the wheel appreciated by those who raced it. The 962 that was developed out of it moved the front axle 12cm forward for improved safety and extended Porsche’s winning streak in Group C into the mid-‘90s. Innovative technology such as the PDK automatic gearbox found in modern Porsches is another typical example of race tech transferring to the road.

959 1986

A technological showcase, the 959’s influence over the Porsches you can buy to this day remains huge. From the sophisticated, fully adaptive four-wheel drive system to the twin sequential turbos and electronically adjustable suspension, features introduced on the 959 in the mid-‘80s look clever now. With 450PS (331kW from a relatively small 2.8-litre engine it even predated the modern trend for downsizing, while its combination of blistering performance with impressive levels of usability, luxury and refinement have all been carried through into the modern Porsche range. Its rally breeding most recently celebrated in the off-road configured 911 Dakar.

986 Boxster 1996

While known as a rear-engined brand, Porsche actually started out building mid-engined sportscars. The original Boxster celebrated this while making that first step on the ladder of its products that much more accessible. This winning formula launched to the market in 1996, the first generation of Boxster widely known by its 986 internal code to differentiate it from those that followed. The 204PS (159kW of the early 2.5-litre models may sound modest in modern terms, the Boxster was as much about the quality of performance as the quantity, the latest version proving capable of producing more than double that without ruining the formula.

955/957 Cayenne 2002

Porsche’s decision to launch a luxurious, high-performance SUV pairing sportscar styling with 4x4 stance may have troubled the purists to begin with. But the decision has long been vindicated by the incredible sales success, and the fact Porsche now builds many, many more SUVs than it does sportscars. Little wonder brand executives aren’t shy of referring to it as a ‘cash cow’, this seemingly unflattering description is actually a reflection of how important the car is to Porsche. Three generations on, the influence of the original – known by its 955 and 957 internal code – can still be found in the Cayennes bought today.

980 Carrera GT 2003

Better known by its name than its number, the Carrera GT takes its moniker from a celebrated, race-proven derivative of that original 356. With a screaming, naturally aspirated 612PS (450kW V10 engine, manual gearbox with a 917-referencing lightweight wooden shift knob and the bare minimum of driver aids, the all-carbon Carrera GT was a thing of engineering and aesthetic beauty. Indeed, it almost looks as good without the bodywork as it does complete, so beautiful is the execution of the carbon-fibre structure and racing car-style pushrod suspension components. Against the technical sophistication of its hybrid 918 Spyder successor the Carrera GT’s purity and performance still stand up to this day, ensuring its legacy as one of the great Porsches.

9R6 RS Spyder 2005

An uncharacteristic lull in Porsche’s frontline endurance racing was turned into opportunity with American racing team Penske, who helped develop a new LMP2 car gifted the evocative RS Spyder name in a nod to a previous era of motorsport success. And, while not built for the top category, the RS Spyder lived up to the giant-killing ability of its predecessors, dominating its class in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS for three straight years and even taking an overall victory ahead of LMP1 rivals at Sebring. And the V8 engine built specially for it lived on, first in modified form in the 918 Spyder and now in the 963 racing car. A small car with a big legacy.

970 Panamera 2009

Having proved there was life beyond sportscars with the Cayenne, Porsche finally scratched the itch of building a four-door saloon, having experimented with the idea previously with sketches, concepts and more. Launched in 2009, the Panamera is built in Leipzig alongside the Cayenne and Macan that, today, form the backbone of the brand in terms of volume. In typical Porsche style it pushed the class boundaries for style, performance, handling and technology, with sophisticated air suspension and a new interior layout among its forward-thinking features. Core V8 models were later joined by the first hybrid in its class and Porsche’s first step towards electrification.

918 Spyder 2013

Of the so-called hypercar ‘holy trinity’ with the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari, the 918 Spyder perhaps looked the sensible choice. With a greater balance toward electrification and bigger job of selling hybrids to sportscar fans it could, indeed, have left McLaren and Ferrari to pluck the heartstrings. But Porsche had a point to prove, and did so the only way it knows how – by setting a benchmark lap time around the Nürburgring and breaking the seven-minute barrier in spectacular style. Ten years on we’re more used to the nature of hybrids and best of both worlds performance; with hindsight the 918 Spyder’s place at the top table alongside the P1 and LaFerrari looks more deserving than ever.

919 Hybrid 2014

Following in numerical order from the 917 and 918 Spyder put some burden of expectation on the 919 Hybrid’s shoulders. That, carrying the formidable Le Mans history into the hybrid age and acting as a test bed for the next generation of electrified technology for Porsche’s road cars just added to the pressure. It was packed with innovation, with a clever downsized V4 petrol engine at its heart and additional exhaust driven generator to charge the hybrid battery system. Lessons learned on the 918 Spyder helped manage the tricky balance of electric drive to the front wheels and combustion engine to the rear, the reward coming with three Le Mans wins on the trot. Point proven.

718 2016

The original Porsche 718 was developed from the 550 Spyder and combined a minimalist kerb weight with a technically advanced four-cam boxer four-cylinder engine for genuinely giant-killing performance. It’s little wonder, then, that when Porsche took the significant shift from six- to four-cylinder engines with its Boxster and Cayman the 718 name was dusted off to celebrate this heritage. Losing two cylinders was a tough sell for some fans but, in typical Porsche fashion, these new four-cylinder turbos were packed with clever engineering that made them as revvy as the previous sixes but also far more flexible. All with a knowing nod to the brand’s roots.

J1 Taycan 2019

Somewhat incredibly Porsche’s electric heritage stretches back to the 1900s and Ferdinand Porsche’s early experimentations with hub-mounted motors and hybrid power, though it took more than a century before a fully electric Porsche finally went mainstream. Packed with learnings from the roadgoing 918 Spyder and 919 Hybrid race car, the Taycan looks and feels suitably futuristic inside and out, albeit while maintaining enough subtle nods to brand tradition to reassure returning customers the switch need not be a reason to panic. Best of all, the Taycan doesn’t so much drive like an electric car as drive like a Porsche, with the poise, performance and excitement we’ve always loved. Just faster and more sustainably than ever.

963 2023

The 919 Hybrid was a race winner, but also cripplingly costly to run. Now, after a break from endurance racing, Porsche is back with a new hybrid prototype. Perhaps surprisingly the 963 is based on the ‘customer’ LMDh (Le Mans Daytona hybrid platform from Multimatic, onto which Porsche adds a V8 derived from that used in the 918 Spyder and its own bodywork. After the two-horse race with Toyota of the previous era, this new age of endurance racing looks like a return to the glory days. Porsche is already battling Ferrari, Cadillac, Peugeot and Glickenhaus, with more brands joining in due course. Luck wasn’t with the 963 at Le Mans this year but few would bet against future success.