THE WEISSACH AXLE

In 1971, as the influence of environmental and safety lobbies in the US began to find their way into legislation, newly appointed development director Ernst Fuhrmann – he would not become CEO until 1972 – began to worry about the future acceptability of the 911. It was already acknowledged within Porsche that the 911, a thoroughgoing sports car, was, at the limit, tricky to handle. Moreover, the drubbing received by the Chevrolet Corvair had clouded the future of rear-engined cars in America. A new kind of Porsche embodying a different approach was required, Fuhrmann believed, if the 20-year-old manufacturer were to remain successful.

In response to remarks from Ferry Porsche that the company did not have to stay wedded to an air-cooled engine, but that whatever it did make it would have to do it well, in 1970 Helmuth Bott already had instigated a study group to investigate alternatives.