File this one under ‘completely unsurprising special editions’. It’s the Porsche 911 Turbo 50 Years, and it celebrates – get this – 50 years of the Porsche 911 Turbo. Where do they think of these things?
Flippancy aside, we didn’t expect Porsche to let half a century of its whale-tailed boost machine sail by without some sort of commemorative model. Perhaps the only real disappointment is that the company’s been a bit… conservative.
Porsche 911 Turbo 50 Years – rear detail
Not that the current 911 Turbo S – on which this car’s based – needed its wick turning up any more. Its twin-turbocharged 3.7-litre flat-six sends 641bhp and 590lb ft of torque to all four wheels through an eight-speed PDK auto, and it’ll launch itself to 62mph in 2.7 seconds and hit 205mph.
It’s this recipe that Porsche hasn’t felt the need to mess with for the 50 Years, which is essentially a cosmetic package. As standard, you get some ’70s-tastic Turbo graphics down the side, which reference the 1973 911 RSR Turbo concept – the car that previewed the production Turbo from the following year.
Porsche 911 Turbo 50 Years – interior
They’re finished in the extremely cool-sounding Turbonite, a colour Porsche mainly uses for branded goodies like keyrings and water bottles but can also be specced on the new Macan Turbo (notably not turbocharged, because it’s electric). That shade’s also used on the 50 Years’ wheels. Meanwhile, the LED projectors in the door mirrors beam the image of a turbocharger onto the ground when you open the door. Hmmmm.
Unequivocally far more tasteful is the excellent tartan upholstery on the inside, which inevitably is also a nod to similar patterns found on early 911 Turbos. There are more flashes of Turbonite in here too, and plenty of Turbo 50 badges, just to remind you that this isn’t a normal 911 Turbo.
Porsche 911 Turbo 50 Years with Heritage Design Package – rear
Should you wish to remind yourself of that even more, you can opt for the Heritage Design Package, which throws in a much bolder racing-inspired livery (although you can pick and choose how much of it you want), gold badges, and the base colour of Aventurine Green.
Available to order now, the 911 Turbo 50 Years costs from £200,600, and just 1974 will be made. We probably don’t need to tell you what that’s a reference to. If you really want to go the whole hog, Porsche will also sell you an exclusive watch, with its face matched to that of the stopwatch on the car’s dash.
