Description
By: Tony Dron .
When Porsche was establishing its reputation two generations ago, this celebrated company forced the world to think again about the very meaning of the term 'sports car'. Looking good and being fast were no longer enough. According to Porsche philosophy, sports cars, no matter how staggering their performance, should be more reliable and durable than ordinary cars, and these virtues have always set Porsches apart.
Porsche found this dependability partly through motor sport, especially in the Le Mans 24 Hrs, where they frequently scored class wins before winning outright in 1970 — the first of 16 victories in the French classic. Motor sport was no mere image- building exercise for Porsche, as the link between road cars and racing cars within the company has always been inseparable.
It all started with the 356 in 1948 and continued with the 911, unveiled in 1963. These most accomplished Porsche sports cars defied convention by being coupes with rear-mounted 'boxer' engines, a mechanical layout that remains to this day. From the 1970s, when the classic Porsche design seemed under threat of extinction, the company looked to the future and produced a series of front-engined models in addition to the 911, which fortunately was never allowed to die — constant development has kept it ahead of the times for 45 years. Now the Boxster, Cayman and Cayenne have also proved highly successful.
This book tells the story of what all Porsche road cars have really been like to drive, from 1948 to the present day.
Tony Dron, a race driver and motoring journalist for 40 years, wrote his first Porsche road test, on the 911S 2.4 for Motor magazine, in 1972. Since then he has driven at least 1,000 Porsche cars, often to the limit, and he distils all of that driving experience in this captivating book. He has won races in eight different Porsche models, including the 928S and the fearsome 934, and highlights of his career include winning the Porsche 924 Championship in 1978 and driving a works 924 Carrera CT Prototype at Le Mans in 1980. As a freelance journalist, he writes for The Daily Telegraph Motoring, Octane and Vintage Motorsport.
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