Needless to say, the Porsche 911 has been an incredibly iconic sports car over the years, and has been a baseline to everything from Nissan’s sporty lineup to the Audi R8, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and even some Ferraris. That’s quite an accomplishment.
The 911 has been around for 50 years now, and of course the Stuttgart-based iconic car brand isn’t going to let it go by unnoticed.
Meet the Porsche 911 50th Anniversary Edition:
To most of us, I’d say it looks like every other 911 out there. Heck, look at the lineup from the past 50 years:
(click for a larger version)
The fact that they’re able to continue selling the hoards of these cars that they have with only minor design differences is incredible.
But Porsche 911 aficionados will be able to differentiate the 50th Anniversary Edition from others.
So what are the changes?
Power!
Porsche is using the 911 Carrera S as a base for the 911 50, meaning it’s got the flat-six engine at the back and it’s rear-wheel-drive.
But instead of the standard 400 hp powermill, the 50th will get the otherwise optional Powerkit for US models, bringing that number up to 430 hp allowing the car to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds (or 3.8 seconds if you get the faster but not-as-fun PDK transmission,) reaching a top speed of 186 mph.
Design
Exterior
The thing that Porche-philes will first notice is that they’ve given the 50th Anniversary Edition a wide-body kit, which is typically reserved for the AWD Carrera 4 models. You’ll be able to get that kit painted in two new special colors – graphite grey (darker) and geyser grey metallic (lighter) – as well as trusty ol’ black.
Attached to the kit are high-gloss window frames and sporty exterior mirrors, chrome strips on the front air inlets, the fins of the engine compartment grille in the back, and the panel between the rear lights. Also between the rear lights you’ll find a 3D-effect “911 50” badge.
Below the body, they’ve given it special matte black and polished 20-inch wheels as a throwback to the old “Fuchs” wheels, giving it a modern-retro look.
Interior
Inside, they’ve added the same “911 50” logo to the headrest (embroidered,) tachometer, door sill plates, and cup holder panel, where you’ll also find a badge telling you the number of your limited edition model.
They’ve retro’d up the interior a bit as well, giving it instruments with green labeling and white pointer needles and silver caps on the instrument pivot pins. The full-leather interior is designed in agate grey or black with optional contrasting stitching, while the fabric pattern on the center panels of the seats are reminiscent of the “Pepita” tartan design from the 1960s.
Finally, Porsche have special-tuned the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) system to make sure the RWD platform and wider track width get along with each other in the corners.
What about Exclusivity?
Of course you want to be special here. After all, the 911 50th Anniversary Edition starts at $124,100, which sits just a few grand under the 475 hp, RWD, 911 GT3 track-monster.
Appropriately, the Porsche 911 50th Anniversary Edition will be limited to 1963 examples (50 years ago…get it?)
When can I get it?
You probably can’t, but it’ll be officially unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show in September, which is where the first 911 was debuted all those years ago.
Check out the photo gallery below for many more pictures of the Porsche 911 50th Anniversary Edition as well as some historical “Porsche 911 Evolution” pics.
