Chances are if I am going to buy an expensive sports car it would be a Porsche. Ferraris and Lambos are just too flashy for me. Not to say that a Porsche isn’t flashy, but there is a difference – at least in my mind. I will say that if the money was there I would defy everything I just said and buy a Bugatti Veyron, mainly because of this video. Porsche has just remained so consistent over the years that you can’t not love them. Give me a GT2 and i’ll be happy. Give me a GT2 in Bavaria and I will be really happy. Seeing as the days of ripping up the road in some expensive German engineering are still to come, I’ll (we’ll) have to settle for this 914 farm circa 1972. All of these images came from this gallery and show the quaint production of 1970s Porsches being made in Germany by workers wearing overalls. Sports cars and factory photos? Sign me up. More after the jump.
The ultimate car! perfection
PCW
I’ve been in love since I was 10 and I went for a ride in my dad’s buddy’s C2 Cabrio. Amazing cars that still drive me nuts everytime I see them because I want one so badly. Much more understated than any other exotic the 911 is classic cool.
I like the design of the old ones, too; but Porsches are terribly uncomfortable – even the new ones.
I’ve dreamed of a 911 for years. One day…..
Yeah cool,and the shop guys smoke and drive Bugs & Mini’s.Proper.
I always hated the looks of the 914.
Boner jamz for the bumblebee in second to last pic.
I have a white 1985 911 cabriolet with polished Fuchs. Everytime I get out of the car and walk away, I look back and think, “that’s the most beautiful car.” I love it.
Thanks so much for this!!
The car I learned to drive standard on was my dad’s ’73 911s Targa. It was silver and very rare with around 1000 made, and only around 25 Imported into Canada. As 72 would have been the year for production on the ’73 models, that car may very well be one of the cars in this series of pics…
Thanks ACL… My dad is probably going to love this even more than I do!
Cheers JB
1969 “California Blue” 911. Top on my list.
My uncle let me drive his around California when I lived there years ago. I can still hear the sound of that flat-six tearing through the Santa Barbara hills like it was yesterday.
One of these days…
There are great videos online of the factory. I also love those old guys in overalls pushing around an entire car body on a dolly. I drive a ’63 356 super and my fantastic wife got me some original, framed photos from the factory floor showing them being built. Love that stuff. Thanks ACL.
Photos like this make me so sad. I loved my ’74 911, even (perhaps even more) when I had it on stands working on it. Then a gamer (ponytail, trench coat, really), coming back from a gaming convention rear-ended me as I was pulled over to the curb; total loss. -5 dexterity. -100 <3.
1968 – 1974 911’s = as Andy put it, Boner jamz.
Someday I’ll buy a late 60’s 912, same body as the 911, but a 4 cylinder engine and quite a bit less expensive to keep up than the 911. Besides everybody wants a 911. I love air-cooled. I keep a restored 66 VW bug around, just for fun of it. Until I grow into the 912.
I really enjoyed this. Very cool.
AD, your story hurts my heart.
“1968 – 1974 911’s = as Andy put it, Boner jamz.”
An interesting range of years to choose, seeing that 1968 was the last of the SWB 911 and, following the last of the “early 911s,” 1974 marked the beginning of the impact bumper cars.
That was fantastic, thanks.
Piece of heaven. How rad it would be to drive one of those everyday.
jac, yes. I’m one of the few people that like the cookie cutter rims that came on the 68’s. and like the early impact bumper 911’s too. Really though this is no bad year for a 911 IMO.
old 912s cost as much or more to restore and maintain as 911s (see Pelican Parts website or Excellence mag). If you’re paying that much, get all 6 cylinders.
Pre-74s are overpriced as they’re exempt from CA emissions. Elsewhere, buy an SC from 1978 through 83 or a Carrera from 1984 through 1988(?). They’re fully depreciated and hideously overbuilt so you can sell them whenever for what you bought them for.
Drive an icon. Drive an older 911. The newer ones are flashy, savagely capable and are just another car…
Mike (78SC-to keep forever, 02C2-soon to be sold)
“Pre-74s are overpriced as they’re exempt from CA emissions.” “Overpriced” is, of course, a relative term. While the early cars typically sell for more than the impact bumper cars, I don’t think this is because of emissions exemption. The newer model brought lost the more spritely look of its predecessor with the larger bumpers that many argue interrupted the lines of the car. The 2.7l was also carried over from the RS. For these and other reasons, some consider the 1973 models to be the last of the “real” 911…right or wrong. Moreover, and in addition to the aforementioned, the less extensive galvanization of the earlier vehicles left them victim to Mother Nature and her heavy hand in dictating the number of cars that make it decade to decade.
“Porsche has just remained so consistent over the years…” — I have to disagree. Porsche stopped being a serious and “consistent” sports car company the day they built a SUV (the Cayenne). They continue to sellout with the production of the new Panamera — 4 doors? 4 doors, really? C’mon Porsche. At this point you can’t call Porsche a sports car maker with a straight face. They’re no better than GM — a car company with a sports car in their lineup.
Mike, I have to disagree with you on the point about 912 restoration and maintenance. Early 911s (901 to the hardcore fan) are beautiful, but kind of cranky. They didn’t get truly bulletproof until around ’76. I’ve been driving a 356 daily for 8 years (basically the same engine as a 912) and I’ll tell you that it is simple and pain-free.
I’ve had an ’89 911 for a decade. The build quality is very high. The car is fun to drive either on the street or on the track. It’s like driving a 60’s car built in ’89 (with fuel injection instead of carbs. Remember carbs?).
The 60s and 70s Porsche colors were outstanding. Why does everyone want a silver car now?
Learned to drive on a ’76 914 (with the 1.8l engine)… What a blast to drive… Maybe not easy on the eyes, but a heck of a car to drive…
Always wanted a 916…
DePeeWee-
While I agree with your statement about the Panamera, I think the Cayenne is brilliant. Hideous, maybe, but brilliant. The S series has 500 horsepower, and it is one hell of a rally car. But even if you dislike both the Panamera and the Cayenne, it’s better than being bought by a bigger company and having the whole lineup ruined. The Panamera, Cayenne, and the Cayman pay for the cost of producing the 911. The 911 team get to do their thing, namely, producing a great car.
-Aaron
Thanks for the tour…always love the porsche.
911 Targa, someday soon & driving from the NorthEast to the West Coast would be PriceLess.. :)
914s are great looking – haters be damned. People love to hate on them but they’re a great-driving, great handling car. And the design is killer. The hate is unfounded and just accepted and it bugs me. It’s especially rampant among my fellow 356 owners.
As for the colors, I couldn’t agree more. Fantastic. Why don’t people have more balls these days and rock an orange or pale green car. Those colors show off the cars lines so much better than boring old silver.
Great photos. Had I bought the white ST shown in two images, I could have greatly enhanced my 401K. And yes, these cars look great in the period “Safety Colors”. The Signal Orange car with blue Fuchs is a prime example.
Thanks mate!
Looks amazingly like the Corvvette plant of… 2009? ;-)
i did a NY to West coast and back, in a 1973 911E Targa. Beige Grey. Went out with my little brother. Great time, great memories. Left it there for the winter. Drove back last May with my wife, via Rt 50 NV (loneliest highway) UT WY Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and then last stop at Falling Water.
Great time, great drive, 4200 miles out, and 4800 miles back. Car was flawless. Great cars …
DePeeWee, your comment that Porsche stopped being a serious and “consistent†sports car company the day they built a SUV would
be true, if they did not build the GT3.
Since they do, you are wrong!
Incidentally, GT3 engines and gear boxes are still hand built very
similar to the photos depicted circa 1972.
Great! During my studies, I worked part-time on the production line from 2002 to 2004.
The whole area has changed a lot in the 30 years in between.
(For example in the last picture, now on the left there is the new museum, there are more factory-buildings on the right side, etc)
The factory is still cramped, but as today the whole supply-chain-management has changed, only the parts needed for the actual car arrive just-in-time.
Each engine is still built by one person from scratch (even the ones for the stupid Cayenne).
Off course the 911s from 1972 were much more beautiful ( only model with the oil-hatch on the right side of the trunk compartment.
Small interesting details also: The posters in the fourth picture, today you only have monitors showing how many cars still had flaws and the guy smoking on the fifth picture – we just could smoke on a staircase.
Great find, cheered me up a lot!
Great shots. This is what makes Porsche special. No other car company has this much pedigree and heritage. True sports cars for true enthusiasts. And the new ones do a fantastic job of carrying on the tradition.
I have a 73 911T coupe and it was probably made within months of these photos! Would’ve loved being at the factory back in the day but this is the next best thing. Thanks for the post.
These are really great cars to drive and tinker with. They also cost less to purchase than the average Civic these days so it’s not as impossible as most people think. They will cost more to run of course but the enjoyment more than makes up for the difference.
It’s amazing how many of those cars are still on the road.
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