The Birth of An Icon
There are several historical Porsche moments scattered throughout The Porsche Effect exhibit at The Petersen Museum, including the birth of the iconic 911 with early concepts, clay models and the first 901 chassis patent drawing. It’s clearly visible that early Porsches, including the 356 were inspired by the Volkswagen Beetle and having grown up with a passion for Porsche and Volkswagens, it’s exciting to see its evolution. Since this is our first time seeing a Porsche 901 along with early concepts for the car, we figured it deserved its own post.
From 901 to 911
The Porsche 901 is in fact, a 911. In 1963, Porsche designed the 901 with a flat-six “boxer” engine to replace the 356 model which had a flat-four engine. But when Porsche presented the 901 at the Paris Motor Show in 1964, they ran into an issue with Peugeot who patented three-digit numbers with a “0” in the middle; therefore, Porsche renamed the 901 to the 911. Luckily this little red 901 made it out of the factory and onto roads before the name change was effective making this car special as only 82 (901’s) were produced. Personally, we’re happy the way things turned out (changing it to 911) since one of us here at Renngeschäft was born on 9/11 – but not as early as the first 911.
Iconic Lines
It’s amazing how little the outline and shapes of the Porsche 911 have changed over the years; and few, if any, cars can claim the same. This evolution is effectively demonstrated on the back wall of the museum through a display of overlapping outlines and accompanying images – very cool!
In addition to the 901, there were several other noteworthy Porsches on display. More than likely, we’ll make it back to L.A. before The Porsche Effect exhibit is over. Here are some additional highlights from the exhibit.
Cheers!
Note: This is a short time-lapse video; the actual footage at the museum is half the speed.
