G-SERIES AT 50
Porsche kicked off the 1970s with its first overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a triumph marking the beginning of the manufacturer's dominance of sports car and GT racing. Looking back at the period through rose-tinted spectacles is easy to do, but the early part of the decade was a troubling time, not only for the automotive manufacturing industry, but for the world as a whole. In 1973, for example, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) implemented an oil embargo against nations supporting Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The result of this policy was massive oil shortages in most Western countries, causing a spiral on inflation. Consequently, development of Porsche's thirsty V8-powered grand tourer slowed, affording the four-cylinder, two-litre 924 the opportunity to leapfrog the 928 and present itself as the first of the manufacturer's now iconic ‘transaxle’ family of products.
Porsche had been producing the 911 for a decade. As difficult as it might be to imagine today, the model had a difficult birth – there was no getting away from the fact this was an expensive car, especially when compared to the purchase price of the outgoing 356. All new body styling, the associated tooling, plus the development of a new twc-litre six-cylinder engine contributed to heightened manufacturing costs. Unfortunately (if somewhat predictably), the jump in numbers saw customers vote with their wallets – sales of the 911 were much slower than anticipated, affording the 356 a short stay of execution and, ultimately, resulting in production of the 912, essentially a cut-price 911 powered by Type 616 flat-four.
Despite the 912 comprehensively outselling the 911 following the smallerengined car's launch in 1965, sales of the 911 steadily grew, allowing the 912 to be retired in 1969. As the new decade got underway, however, it was clear the future of the 911 needed to be secured with a radical round of updates beyond successive increases in engine displacement, as had been the primary focus of Porsche's engineers in the 1960s. Their response to the challenge was conclusive – Zuffenhausen radically revamped the 911 and, for the 1974 model year, presented the first major evolution of the Neunelfer since its launch ten years earlier.
Beyond its modified exterior, the new 911's technology set it apart from its predecessors. What nobody could have guessed, however, was the long-lasting impact of this ‘G-series’ Porsche's overhaul – so comprehensive was Porsche's reimagining of the 911, it remained in production for almost sixteen years, ending with the arrival of the 964 in 1989. Indeed, this was a record-breaking run adding to the already record-rich annals of Porsche history.
The most striking features of the redesigned body were the accordionstyle ‘impact bumpers’. These were a technical solution to stricter North American road safety legislation demanding all new vehicles sold Stateside be able to withstand an impact at 5mph without sustaining damage, irrespective of whether the vehicle was travelling forward or backward. Porsche was obliged to react to these new rules and developed the rubber lip running the width of the G-series 911's nose, as well as the characteristic bellows seen on the side of the model's bumpers. As was necessary, these could be compressed by up to fifty millimetres without damage occurring to any important vehicle components. In the USA, impact energy was absorbed by elastic impact absorbers, which were offered as an option in all other markets.
The manufacturer's designers slightly modified the 911's characteristic ‘torpedo’ front wings (complete with their integrated upright headlights) and, at the back of
