Porsche

Porsche is a German auto manufacturer, based in Stuttgart and built on performance. The company's signature model is the 911, a sportscar available in a staggering variety of trims — including the Dakar, an off-road specialist. From early days of air-cooled flat-six engines, Porsche has long been a competitor on some of the greatest racing tracks in the world, from Sebring to Le Mans. These days, while it still offers pulse-racing sportscars, it will also happily sell you a practical crossover, or fully-electric performance sedan.

The earliest Porsches were built on roughly the same technology as the Volkswagen Beetle, namely, small-displacement flat-four engines. This was no accident, as Dr. Ferdinand Porsche was the driving force behind creating the first Volkswagen — though not without taking a few ideas from other engineers. As the VW was a propaganda effort of the Nazis, and as Porsche also built war materiel for WWII-era Germany, Dr. Porsche spent some time after the war imprisoned by the Allies.

While still in jail, Dr. Porsche approved a new project to be led by his son, also named Ferdinand. Going by “Ferry,” the younger Porsche would create a brilliant but ultimately ill-fated Italian racecar, and use the commission for the work to spring his father from jail. Porsche was a family company, and the correct German pronunciation of that name is a two-syllable “Por-shuh.” Porsche fans can be quite pedantic about this pronunciation vs a one-syllable “Porsh,” but really, it's like the argument between the French and English way of pronouncing “Paris.”

At any rate, the first car to wear the Por-shuh family name was the 356/1 concept, built in 1948. This was developed into the 356s series of sportscars, light and nimble little machines with the appearance of upside-down bathtubs. At first making do with a pancake four-cylinder engine producing just around 40 hp, these cars went through several evolution through the years, from A to C. All of them were quicker than the powertrain might suggest, leading to a long tradition of Porsches making the most of their horsepower.

North America first truly fell in love with Porsche in the shape of the Speedster, an open-topped, stripped-down sporting machine that embodied California's burgeoning obsession with racing. Porsche was soon ensnared in Hollywood's orbit, with James Dean forever immortalized behind the wheel of the 550 Spyder that claimed his life in a tragic crash.

To most people, however, the Porsche story really kicked off with the introduction of the Porsche 911. Production began in 1964 and is still going strong today with much the same formula. The early 911 featured two seats for adults, a small backseat suitable for children, and a rear-mounted flat-six engine. Up until 1998, that flat-six was air-cooled, Porsche being the one of the last holdouts for air-cooling, but more modern 911s have switched to water-cooled engines.

Racing, as mentioned, is a huge part of the Porsche mystique. As a brand, it has won countless endurance races. Victory at the Twenty-Four Hours of Le Mans is a particularly large part of the legend, both in reality and in the Steve McQueen movie, Le Mans. These races were largely won by Porsche's prototypes, which built the reputation that sold the road cars.

Turbocharging was a big part of that story. Porsche wasn't the first to harness the power of the turbo, but it was one of the most successful at taming it for the road. Sort-of taming it, anyway: the early 911 Turbo model had a reputation as a widowmaker in unskilled hands. Turbocharging soon spread throughout the Porsche lineup, with only a few racing-oriented models not having a turbo or two. The capital-T Turbo models, however, remain the fastest and most luxurious.

Porsche attempted to replace the 911 with a more luxury-oriented grand tourer, the V8-powered 928. It didn't work, 911 fans were just too ardent. However, over the years, Porsche has added models that benefit from some of the reflected glory of their iconic sportscar. On the more budget friendly side, that includes the 914, and the Boxster, introduced in 1998. Now dubbed the 718 Boxster or 718 Cayman in hardtop form, these “entry-level” Porsches are arguably more sporting than the big-brother 911.

However, sportscars are a niche market even for a brand as well-established as Porsche. Therefore, in 2002, Porsche committed sacrilege. To the purists, the Cayenne crossover was nothing more than a cash cow. But it's strong sales kept the lights on, and today the Cayenne still blends practicality and comfort with physics-defying performance. Today, the Cayenne can be optioned with a hybrid powertrain, or with a sleeker roofline as the Cayenne Coupe. This last is, in many ways, the descendant of the 928.

Also expanding Porsche's offerings are the Macan small crossover and the Panamera sedan and wagon. The latter, along with the Cayenne, is Porsche's best-seller. The original Panamera wasn't the prettiest thing on debut, but the style of the current version is more polished. It can be ordered as a liftback sedan or as the wagon-ish Sport Turismo.

Full electrification arrived at Porsche with the Taycan EV sedan, and more is on the way soon. An all-electric version of the 718 Boxster has been spotted, and Porsche has confirmed that a battery-powered Macan is on the way too. The Taycan's performance is eye-widening, but the real appeal of the car is also found in its solid build quality. Porsche builds a premium product — and charges a premium for it — and it's a business model that works.

An electric 911 is not in the cards yet, but it's probably only a matter of time. Until then, Porsche will sell you twenty-four flavours of 911, or any other dreams you might have.