Porsche readying 50th anniversary 911

Porsche will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic 911 sportscar in 2013 with a model that will be “something special”.

That’s the promise from August Achleitner, the 911 product line director who is also more colloquially known as ‘Mr 911’.

“We did not forget this (the 50th anniversary)…  there is something prepared, something special,” he told motoring.com.au at last week’s global media launch of the new 991-generation 911 Carrera 4 cabrio and coupe in Austria.

“What it is you will have to wait and see,” he teased.

It is known that Porsche is preparing a series of special events as well as at least one special-edition model to celebrate the anniversary of its iconic rear-engined 2+2.

The 911was first shown as the 901 at the Frankfurt motor show in September 1963. It swapped to 911 when Peugeot objected to the name. Production began in September 1964.

Mr Achleitner also confirmed that a 50th anniversary model would not be the only expansion of the 911 range, which reached an incredible 23 variants (including limited-editions) during the previous 997 generation.

“When the market development drops and the sales drop or we come to the end of the lifecycle then it makes sense to bring other varieties,” Mr Achleitner said.

“Here in my head there are many more variants than you have listed... We are not running out of ideas. It will not get boring in the next few years.”

New 991 911s on the way include the GT3 (expected by late 2013 in Australia), the Turbo (late 2013/early 2014) and GT2 (early 2015). As yet the arrival dates of Targa and GTS remain unconfirmed.

The 991, only the third clean-sheet design in the 911’s history, went on sale about 12 months ago.

Mr Achleitner said the 911 would celebrate its 50th birthday with its importance secure in the Porsche line-up, despite the company’s increasing reliance on SUVs.

The Cayenne claims more than 50 per cent of global sales and the smaller and cheaper Macan is expected to take over as the biggest seller when it launches in 2014.

“From the financial point of view the 911 is still almost the most important car in the company because we earn quite good money (off each car) - more than Cayenne,” Mr Achleitner explained.

“But of course, the Cayenne is as important as the 911 because altogether it compensates for less money we make per car by its volume. And this volume is necessary for our sales organisation because it is important for each dealer and Porsche centre to sell a certain number of cars, not only to earn money but because you are selling more maintenance work, spare parts and so on.

“But let me say in a little bit another way, the 911 as a car is still the most important one for the company because Porsche is 911 and 911 is Porsche.”

Mr Achleitner also said the recent acquisition of Porsche by the Volkswagen Group was good for the 911.

“That is because the Volkswagen Group is selling so many cars but many of these cars are still a little bit exchangeable. If you are looking for cars with their own identity and character in the world you don’t find too many of them. But one of them is the 911.

The guys in Wolfsburg (VW HQ) know very well that the 911 is so important and I think this car… will be more emphasised than in the past.

“The Volkswagen Group knows how wealthy it is to have a car like a 911 with un-exchangeable character and identity… They know how hard it is to form and develop a car over years and decades… The 911 has its own identity, like a big stone in the sea, which is still there when many small stones have gone away.” 

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