A testament to post-war Germany’s recovery, Porsche’s first mass-produced car, the Porsche 356, had a distinctive aerodynamically-conscious, rounded form and was powered by an air-cooled four-cylinder engine that offered both performance and practicality. After World War II, from the first 356 built at a former lumber mill in Austria in 1948 to the last 356 built in Stuttgart in 1965, Porsche built on its sales success in the then victorious US mainland to become an absolutely popular global automaker.

In the midst of big sales, by the late 1950s, there were fears within Porsche that the market for high-end two-seater sports cars would suddenly become saturated, and the car that would later become the 911 was born as the research element for Porsche’s foray into the realm of true four-seater sports cars. The car that would later become the 911 was born as a research element for Porsche’s entry into the realm of true four-seater sports cars.

The concept of a four-seater sports car was created by Butzi Porsche, grandson of the founder Ferdinand Porsche, but was eventually converted to a two-seater by order of his father, Ferry Porsche. It is an interesting historical fact that it became the 911 with that unique rear seat shape.

The 911, which was intended to be a four-seat sports car with a larger body style than the 356, was equipped with an air-cooled six-cylinder cam drive engine, which was naturally larger and more powerful than the 356’s air-cooled four-cylinder pushrod engine. In fact, Porsche had been producing four-cylinder, four-cam drive engines since the early 1950s, and they were also used in the special edition 356 Carrera. Initially, Porsche would develop the new 911 not as a successor to the 356, but as a marketing move to expand the high-end niche market that the 356 Carrera occupied. Faced with the fact that the design of the 356 was completely outdated after 17 years on the market and sales were in decline, Porsche was forced to adopt the new 911 design as the successor model to the 356. Naturally, production costs rose dramatically, with the initial 911 costing 22,900 marks, about 40% more than the final 356 SC at 16,450 marks, and more expensive than the 12-cylinder Jaguar E-Type of the time.

In order for the 911 series to be successful, it needed to be priced in the same price range as the 356 in terms of marketing. To achieve this, Porsche began experimenting with the installation of the four-cylinder pushrod engine, which had been technically matured over more than a decade of development in the 356, into the body of the 911. After only a few short months of testing, the combination quickly proved to be a very complete car for the “new Porsche series”. In addition, various cost reductions were made in order to create an attractive prize-thrower. The dashboard of the 912 is painted the same color as the exterior, has no trim, and comes standard with three sets of gauges, while the dashboard of the earlier 911 was painted matte black with wooden trim and five sets of gauges as standard. In addition, while the 911 comes standard with a five-speed transmission, the 912 comes standard with a four-speed transmission, except as an optional extra. With these new initiatives, the final selling price of the 912 was 16,000 marks, almost the same as the final 356. Thus, the Porsche 912 was born.

The Porsche 911 with its air-cooled six-cylinder engine eventually became a hugely successful sports car all over the world, but there were some unintended problems for Porsche at the beginning of its development. The six-cylinder, air-cooled engine of the original 911 had only a small increase in displacement and horsepower compared to the four-cylinder engine of the 356, but it also weighed about 90 kg more. Furthermore, the mass is located beyond the rear axle. As a result, the new 911 was a very tail-happy car, so much so that Porsche actually tried to balance it out by installing weights in the front.

In comparison, the 912 with its aged four-cylinder engine was very well balanced, and as a result, it had excellent handling performance, which is the most important aspect of a sports car, and in actual driving situations, it was faster and more agile than the 911, providing the driver with a great driving experience.

In addition, the 912, equipped with the most advanced and reliable four-cylinder pushrod engine, was the result of more than a decade of development on the 356, and its fuel economy was very good at 13 km/L according to the data of the time. As a result, sales of the 912 outnumbered those of the 911 by a ratio of two to one by 1967.

At the end of 1969, when the price of a new 912 was almost equal to that of the least expensive 911, Porsche decided to merge the 912 into the 911 line. The number of cars produced during that period was about 30,000. The official import to Japan at that time was just 100 units, which is still recorded.

From such historical facts, there is no doubt that it is not a car that was released at the entry level of the low-cost version, the 912 that was born in the exceptional environment of the 911 development process, as a rare model of the classic Porsche enthusiasts of the world drooling as a “classic car with a true pedigree” now, has been handed down to future generations in succession. It has been handed down from generation to generation.