The origin of species

There’s an ongoing joke that Porsches are basically Volkswagens, just posher, faster and more expensive ones. Certainly, the very first car to carry Porsche’s 356 model designation was built with a lot of Beetle bits, even if it was mid-engined.

To this day, the 911 continues to attract such comments, and there’s even less truth to it now than when the 911’s boxer engine was air cooled. And that was last in 1998.

Of course, both VW and Porsche have been closely linked during their histories. Ferdinand Porsche is credited as the creator of the Beetle, even if he did have a little help and ‘borrow’ a few ideas in the process. Along the way, VW and Porsche have frequently collaborated, coming together in 1969 to produce the Porsche 914 and 914-6, with the following decade bringing the Porsche 912E and the 924 – the latter forever dismissed by marque snobs as ‘the Porsche with the VW