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10 Best Porsches That Aren’t 911

Vukasin Herbez May 5, 2023

As we all know, the Porsche brand is defined by the iconic 911 model and all of its variants. As the most popular and well-known sports model, the 911 defined Porsche’s narrative and became synonymous with the brand. However, the legend of Porsche is far wider and stronger than just one car. Today, we will tell you about the ten most interesting and cool Porsches that are not 911.

Porsche 356

A predecessor to the legendary Porsche 911, the 356 model was the first proper sports car that this iconic company produced. Introduced in 1948 and sold until 1965, Porsche 356 had a four-cylinder boxer engine. Closely related to Volkswagen Beetle and T1 Van engines (via Porsche).

Porsche 356 - Porsche — Photo Credit: Pinterest

However, Porsche tuned this motor to produce much higher output and won numerous races with it. As you can expect, the flat-four sounded very angry and aggressive even though it produced modest power compared to later Porsche models. Over 15 years of production, there were numerous versions and variants, and this car established a company on the global market.

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Porsche Cayenne Turbo

Ever since the first Cayenne Turbo appeared in the early 2000s, the market of really quick, luxury SUVs was born. The Porsche, with four doors, raised body, and all-wheel-drive, may have offended a lot of brand purists, but it also brought so much to the segment in terms of driving dynamics, performance, and prestige (via Car and Driver).

Fast forward 15 years, and there is a new Cayenne Turbo on sale with even more power, faster acceleration, and better road holding than before. The heart of this lightning-quick SUV is the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine which pumps out 550 HP and sends them to the 8-speed automatic and intelligent all-wheel drive. The result is an impressive 3.7 seconds of 0 to 60 mph time!

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Porsche 959

Porsche 959 is one of the fastest and also most advanced and technologically complex supercars of the `80s. The 959 was a super Porsche in every way, not only by design but also by performance and price. It was a perfect blend of experience from racing, the latest technology, along with turbocharging, everything in one car – the 959 (via Stuttcars).

Introduced in 1987, the 959 had a 3.0-liter turbocharged flat-six engine with 450 hp, which was transferred to all four wheels over an intelligent AWD system, the first of its kind for Porsche. The car was also equipped with traction control, ABS, and a host of electronic systems that helped the driver. Although all this is pretty much standard in most new cars today, it was space-age technology in the late `80s. The performance of this technological tour de force was also astonishing. The 0 to 60 mph sprint was possible in just 3.7 seconds.

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Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo

The Panamera caused quite media attention when it first came as the first Porsche sedan. But soon proved that it was worth the name, and Porsche fans grew to accept it for what it is. For its second generation, Porsche offered the Sport Turismo model, which is an elegant station wagon with just a slightly different rear end. Just enough to be called a wagon. But this is not the end. Porsche also offers the Panamera Sport Turismo as Turbo S along with a hybrid drivetrain. Combining practicality, advanced technology, old-school power, and luxury (via Porsche).

The combined output of gasoline and the electric engine is 680 HP which is sent to all four wheels for best traction. Despite weighing over two tones, this Panamera is capable of mind-blowing 3.2 seconds from 0 to 60 mph time which is faster than many current sports cars.

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Porsche Macan Turbo

The introduction of the Macan meant that Porsche was considering the SUV segment as one of its main markets. The Macan is a mid-sized SUV with a performance-oriented design, drivetrain, and technology. And as such, it is one of the best driver`s cars in the segment (via Autocar).

The Macan Turbo is interesting due to the fact it has a 3.0-liter turbo V6 engine with 400 HP. Which is mated to a performance-calibrated 7-speed automatic and intelligent all-wheel drive. All of that is responsible for 4.4 seconds from 0 to 60 mph and 163 mph top speed. The base price for the Macan Turbo is pretty high since this is just a mid-size SUV with not that much space. If you want more performance and want to pay extra, move up to the Macan Turbo Performance Package, which has 440 HP and 4.2 seconds 0 to 60 mph time.

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Porsche 550 Spyder

Produced for just two years, between 1953 and 1955, the 550 Spyder left an everlasting mark on sports car history. This was an open-top race car for the street and the ultimate evolution of the Porsche 356 model. It was an immensely successful race car and a very exclusive road-going model (via Robb Report).

Behind the passengers was a 1.5-liter flat-four engine with just 110 HP, but since the whole car weighed just 500 kilograms, it was more than enough for blistering performance, at least for the standards of the day. Maybe this model would be forgotten if it wasn’t for unfortunate circumstances which made it legendary. The Hollywood icon James Dean owned a 550 Spyder and was killed driving it in 1955.

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Porsche 904 GTS

Produced for just two years (1964/65) Porsche 904 GTS was a racing car for the street. It was designed especially for the track but only homologated as a road car. The flat-four engine was positioned behind the driver and displaced 2.0 liters with a high output of 180 HP. Since this was a racing car, the exhaust was uncorked, which provided 904 with glorious noise (via Supercars).

The GTS was the evolution of the Porsche racing logic and paved the way for more extreme and much faster models like the 908 and the legendary 917.

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Porsche 916

Even if it looks like an ordinary, four-cylinder Porsche 914, 916 is a different animal. This special model was a rolling experiment on how to put an engine from a fantastic 911 2.7 RS into a smaller and lighter body (via Motor Trend).

The results were amazing, But Porsche feared that nobody could tame this beast or buy it since it was so expensive. In the end, the company only made 11 examples. Which are now considered the Holy Grail of the Porsche collector community.

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Porsche 944 Turbo

This forgotten gem from Stuttgart is one of the best affordable sports cars you can buy. They are still cheap, but if you don’t act fast, chances are that the prices will go stratospheric soon. Designed as an entry-level Porsche, the 944 had an interesting layout with a front-mounted engine and rear-mounted transaxle gearbox. The handling was sublime, and even though the base 170 HP engine wasn’t slow, the real treat was the Turbo (via Hemmings).

It had a 2.5-liter turbocharged engine that put out 250 HP. Due to its lightweight, good transmission, and aerodynamics, the 944 Turbo was a pretty fast car. The 0 to 60 mph took only 5.9 seconds, and this car could top 162 mph. Even today, this little Porsche can outrun some modern, sporty cars.

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Porsche 928

The 928 was a Gran Turismo coupe with a powerful V8 engine in the front, a transaxle gearbox, ideal weight distribution, intelligent suspension, and a space-age design. In contrast to the 911, which still had some VW Beetle cues, the 928 looked like it came from another planet. Although the early 928s had below 300 hp, the car was fast, and it was made for effortless cruising. And driving over continents in comfort, speed, and luxury (via Car and Driver).

For decades, this model was in the shadow of the famous 911, but recently people started realizing just how good those coupes are. And, of course, prices started going up.

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