2002 Porsche 911 Turbo (996) Hire

Ferdinand Porsche had a hand in most of the car designs around the beginning of the last century, including work for Mercedes, Daimler, and Alfa Romeo, and even designed the Auto Union Silver Arrow Grand Prix cars that dominated pre-war racing. When Adolf Hitler decided Germany needed a ‘people’s car’ or ‘volkswagen’, in the 30’s, Porsche was the obvious man to turn to. His design for the car that became the Beetle was so good, it lasted almost unchanged for nearly 60 years and over 21 million were made.

In around 1948, his son Ferry decided to try and ‘tweak’ the VW chassis and engine, and around it he built a sleek aluminium body – the first Porsche badged car was born. This car became the 356, which lasted into the early 60’s until it became apparent that more power was needed. Ferry’s son Butzi extended the flat four Beetle engine to a 6, and an all-new body was designed for it. Originally to be called the 901 (Peugeot objected), the 911 was first sold in 1964. Various power hikes (from the very successful racing program) lifted power to 190bhp.

In 1973, however, strict rules came into force in America as a result of the campaigning of Ralph Nader. This forced cars to become not only heavier to pass new crash regulations, but it also strangled the power outputs in an attempt to drive down emissions. Porsche's answer was to increase the capacity of the engine, first to 2.7 litres, and then as in this car to 3.0 litres. In 1989 the 911 had capacity hikes up to 3.6 litres and the cars were producing around 280bhp.

In 1974 Porsche started producing a turbocharged version of the 911 – and introduced the ‘whaletail’ to the world. Unruly and wayward with massive turbo lag this car thrilled and frightened in equal measure. In 1978 a capacity increase and an intercooler boosted power to around 300bhp, but by the early 90’s that wasn’t enough. So in 1995, Porsche bolted on 2 turbochargers – one on each side – and permanent 4 wheel drive.

In the early 80's, Porsche dominated most forms of motorsport, and were on the lookout for a new challenge. So, in 1983 they entered the Paris - Dakar rally. This is one of the toughest events in the motoring calendar, and for it Porsche developed a fully mechanical all-wheel drive system. They had teething problems in 83, but won the following year. That AWD expertise was channelled into the Gruppe B 959, which was Porsche's supercar. It won the Dakar in 1986. Finally in 1989, the technology debuted in Porsche's 911 range, in the 964 Carrera 4. This technology was used to ensure that all of the 1995 911 Turbo’s 408bhp got to the road!

With toughening emissions legislation Porsche had to drop 34 years of oil/air cooling for the 1997 Porsche 911 (996), but turbo-lovers had to wait a further 3 years till 2000 for the 420bhp 911 twin-turbo. With permanent 4 wheel drive, and a top-speed of 190mph this remains one of the best all-round sports cars the world has ever seen.