The Porsche 550 was a sports car produced by Porsche from 1953-1956. Inspired by the Porsche 356 which was created by Ferry Porsche, and some spyder prototypes built and raced by Walter Glöckler starting in 1951, the factory decided to build a car designed for use in auto racing. The model Porsche 550 Spyder was introduced at the 1953 Paris Auto Show. The 550 was very low to the ground, in order to be efficient for racing. In fact, former German Formula One racer Hans Herrmann drove it under closed railroad crossing gates during the 1954 Mille Miglia. The 550 / 1500RS or Spyder became known as the "Giant Killer". The later 1956 evolution version of the model, the 550A, which had a lighter and more rigid spaceframe chassis, gave Porsche its first overall win in a major sports car racing event, the 1956 Targa Florio. Its successor from 1957 onwards, the Porsche 718, commonly known as the RSK was even more successful, scoring points in Formula One as late as 1963. The Spyder [read more...]

The Porsche 909 "Bergspyder" was a spyder sports car designed and built by Porsche in 1968 specifically for competing in hillclimbing competitions. It was a short lived model, but its basic design went on to become the successful 908/3. History Porsche had great success with earlier models, the 907, 908, and 910, they had won hillclimbing championships in 1966 and 1967, but in 1968 Ferrari announced that they had an all new lightweight car for competition. Ferdinand Piëch immediately set out to develop a new model designed specifically to outdo Ferrari's new car. This focus resulted in the 909, sometimes called the "plastic Porsche". It was given an a 2.0L, 275 hp (205 kW), flat-8 engine, and a lightweight chassis and body that resulted in the car only weighing in at 385 kg (849 lb). Unfortunately Porsche's drivers preferred the 910, which was a year older but still in use. On June 8, 1968 Ludovico Scarfiotti was killed when the 909 he was driving in Rossfeld, Germany, went [read more...]

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since March 2009. Its quality may be compromised by peacock terms. Tagged since June 2008. It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. Tagged since June 2008. Its neutrality or factuality may be compromised by weasel words. Tagged since October 2008. Porsche 993 Manufacturer Porsche Also called Porsche 911 Porsche Carrera Production 1993–1998 Assembly Stuttgart, Germany Predecessor Porsche 964 Successor Porsche 996 Class sports car Body style 2-door coupe 2-door convertible Layout Rear engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive Engine 3.6 L H6 3.8 L H6 Transmission 4-speed automatic 5 & 6-speed manual Wheelbase 89.4 in (2,271 mm) Length 1993-95: 168.3 in (4,275 mm) 1996-98: 167.7 in (4,260 mm) Width 1993-95 Coupe: 65.0 in (1,651 mm) 1993-95 [read more...]

Porsche Panamera (970) Manufacturer Porsche AG Production April 2009–present 25,000+ Produced(Early August 2010) Assembly Leipzig, Germany Class Full size luxury car Body style 5-door liftback, Gran Turismo Layout Front engine, rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive Engine 250 hp (186 kW) V6 (Diesel) 300 hp (224 kW) V6 (Panamera/Panamera 4) 380 hp (283 kW) V6 (Panamera S Hybrid) 400 hp (298 kW) V8 (Panamera S/Panamera 4S) 500 hp (373 kW) V8 (Panamera Turbo) Transmission 6-speed manual 7-speed ZF PDK dual clutch 8-speed Aisin Tiptronic S Length 4,970 mm (195.7 in) Width 1,931 mm (76.0 in) Height 1,418 mm (55.8 in) Kerb weight 1,870 kg (4,123 lb) The Porsche Panamera (Type number 970) is a five-door, four-seat luxury sedan with a coupe profile and a rear hatch. It is front-engined with rear-wheel drive, with four-wheel drive versions also available. The Porsche Panamera production model was unveiled at the 13th Auto Shanghai International [read more...]

The Porsche WSC-95 (sometimes referred to as the TWR WSC-95) was a Le Mans Prototype built for Porsche by Tom Walkinshaw Racing and run by Joest Racing, yet can trace its origin to a Jaguar sports car designed in 1991. Originally intended to race in the IMSA World Sportscar Championship, the WSC-95 actually saw very little race action even though it managed to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 1996 and 1997 without actually being acknowledged as a factory supported project. It would later be upgraded to the Porsche LMP1-98 before being retired. Only two cars would ever be built. Development In 1995, Porsche approved the beginning of a project to develop a prototype for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) series, running under the World Sports Car (WSC) regulations. The car would not be a factory-backed effort, yet would be approved by Porsche and use some of their expertise and most of all their powerplant. Porsche turned to Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) to develop a [read more...]

The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. Please help improve the article with a good introductory style. (January 2011) The Porsche 114 was a proposed design for a sports car powered by a 1493 cc V10 engine. History After designing the Volkswagen for the German government's KDF program Ferdinand Porsche considered building a sports car version of the VW. Internally known as the Porsche Type 64 this car would feature an aluminium streamlined body, a 1.5L version of the Volkswagen's original 1.0L engine, and a top speed of at least 160km/h (100mph). Originally the car was to use a large number of VW parts, but due to the intricacies of then German law it was not legal to sell government made parts to a private company. Design By 1938 Ferdinand had given up trying to arrange for a supply of VW parts for the Type 64. Ferdinand and his son Ferry Porsche decided to redesign the car from the ground up to be built [read more...]