The shape that started everything.
The launch car
The first 911 went on sale in September 1964 as a 1965 model. It carried an air-cooled 2.0-liter flat-six making 130 horsepower. The chassis was the work of Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche III. The engine was the work of Hans Tomala and Hans Mezger. The body — long hood, narrow waist, fastback rear — was instantly recognizable and would stay recognizable for the next sixty years.
It had chrome bumpers, slim front turn signals integrated into the bumper, and steel disc wheels with painted hubcaps. Inside: cloth seats with houndstooth pattern on the bolsters, a five-instrument dashboard with the central tachometer at the driver's eye level, and a metal-and-wood three-spoke steering wheel.
The variants
- 911 (1964-1973)
- Base car. 2.0 liter, later 2.2 and 2.4.
- 911S (1967-1973)
- Sport. Higher compression, more power, optional alloy wheels. The 911S was the enthusiast's choice.
- 911T (1968-1973)
- Touring. Lower trim, less power, less expensive. Often overlooked, increasingly collectible.
- 911E (1968-1973)
- Einspritzung — fuel injection. Mechanical fuel injection developed by Bosch. Middle of the range.
- 911R (1967-1968)
- The racing homologation. Stripped, magnesium engine cases, plexiglass windows. Twenty units. Probably the rarest production 911 ever made.
- Carrera RS 2.7 (1973)
- The lightweight reference. Built to homologate for Group 4 racing. Ducktail spoiler. Thin-gauge steel. 1,580 examples. Read more in our dedicated piece on the 1973 RS.
Why the silhouette never changed
The 911 silhouette is the result of one engineering decision: the engine is behind the rear axle. Everything else flows from that.
A rear-engine layout means the rear weight bias is pronounced. The car wants to oversteer. The chassis was tuned to compensate, but the laws of physics are unforgiving. To keep the car balanced, the cabin and front end had to be pushed forward. The wheelbase had to be relatively short. The hood had to taper. The roofline had to fall away from the cabin in a fastback, not a notchback. The car that resulted from these constraints became one of the most recognizable shapes in automotive design.
The end of the era
The long-hood years ended in 1974 with the introduction of impact bumpers — required by United States federal regulations for low-speed crash protection. The chrome bumpers were replaced with body-color rubber units. The slim turn signals moved into bumper modules. The car continued to evolve underneath, but visually the change was unmistakable. The G-body era had begun.
Long-hood 911s are now collector cars. The 911S 2.4 of 1972 and the 1973 Carrera RS 2.7 sit at the top of the air-cooled price ladder, well into seven figures for clean originals.