Increasing in size by forty-six percent during its lifetime, the 356’s flat-four proved the merit of racing as means of inspiring and improving engine development. A byword from the first days of the manufacture of Porsche sports cars, motorsport would continue to accelerate and validate the work of the company’s engineers in the decades to follow. If Porsche was to battle for outright victory in some of the world’s most prestigious races, not to mention take a greater market share of the European sports car sector through showroom sales of its production cars, however, it would need a more powerful engine with greater ongoing development potential.
Frankfurt Motor Show, Autumn 1963. The covers were whipped off the 901, a pretty two-door coupe previewing Porsche’s replacement for the highly successful 356. This sensational show car was the precursor to the 911 (a name change was required following Peugeot’s challenge to Porsche, when the French car maker claimed rights to three-digit nomenclature with a zero in the middle). The rest, as they say, is storied history, but just as interesting as the svelte new 2+2’s slippery lines was its engine. Carrying on where the design of the 356 left off, Porsche’s all-new flat-six was mounted behind the rear axle, setting the template for the 911 and one which hasn’t changed dramatically over the course
