British and European Car Spotters Guide - 1964

Arguably the most legendary sports car of all time was launched in November 1964, becoming an instant classic and remaining in production longer than any other, excluding the Volkswagen Beetle. The 911 was originally known as the 901, however Peugeot had trademarked three digit designations that featured a middle "zero", so Porsche switched to the 911 designation. The 911 was a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicle with an overhead cam, air-cooled flat-six cylinder engine. The 2.0-L engine had an output of 96 kW (130 hp) at 6100 rpm with a maximum torque of 174 Nm (128 lb.ft) at 4200 rpm. It had a bore of 80 mm (3.15 in) and stroke of 66 mm (2.6 in) with a compression ratio of 9.0:1.

The air-cooled boxer engine had a cooling fan connected to the alternator and used a dry sump lubrication system that helped eliminate crankshaft splashing losses at high engine speeds. The engine used aluminium cylinders with iron liners and alloy pistons. The transmission was a Porsche synchromesh 5 speed manual transmission. The chassis was a welded steel box frame with an independent front suspension that used struts and lateral arms. Separate longitudinal torsion bars were used for the front along with MacPherson struts. The rear suspension was also independent and used trailing arms and double-acting shock absorbers. Power was transmitted to the rear wheels via jointed half-shafts.

The Porsche 911 used ZF rack and pinion steering with a ratio of 16.5:1, this at a time when most vehicles of this era used the inferior worm-and-gear type steering systems. The 911 employed a four-wheel disc brake system of the single circuit type. However, the braking system was not the racing system used in previous Porsche models. The curved safety glass windshield was a feature not common to most vehicles. An interesting option for cold weather motoring was an auxiliary gasoline heater to supplement the passenger compartment heat from the air-cooled engine.