In the early 1970s, the Porsche 911 was in need of an upgrade. Porsche engineers updated safety features with the addition of U.S.-mandated five-mile-per-hour bumpers. it started galvanizing the body for better rust prevention, and a host of other upgrades. By far the biggest upgrade to the already venerated 911 was a turbocharger in 1974. It was dubbed the Porsche 930. In 1977, the 930’s engine displacement was increased to 3.3 liters and became, in technical terms, a performance monster.
The 930 accelerated from zero to 60 miles per hour in 5.2 seconds. That’s respectable in 2023, but astonishingly quick 46 years ago. It made 295 horsepower and 303 foot-pounds of torque from its flat-six powerplant, allowing it to achieve a top speed of over 160 miles per hour.
From then on, the Porsche 911 Turbo became the model to get and showed the sports car buying world that the little snail in the engine meant serious business. In the 1970s, it was revolutionary. By the 1980s, it was a performance car legend.
