November 3, 2015 – Porsche Centre Lebanon hosted a rather unique exhibition this past weekend featuring Porsche cars from different eras, beginning with models from the 1950s and ending with current 2016 models.
It was a sight to behold for petrolheads in general and Porschephiles in particular, and naturally, we relied on our talented photographer Majd Zoghbi to come back with some outstanding shots.
The cars were lined up according to era; the 1950-1960 era had several iterations of the Porsche 356, the first production model made by the German sports car manufacturer and the design which led to the legendary Porsche 911. It was introduced in 1948 and it lasted until 1965; the 356 came in many flavors, including Coupe, Cabriolet and Speedster, and it received many updates throughout its life cycle.
In 1963, the Porsche 911 was born, and much like the 356, it was highly popular and came in different versions; this white one in the picture above is a standard classic 911 model, but the blue one behind it is a more exotic and far more expensive variant…
…this blue exotic is a Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7, and there’s no way to describe it other than the word “epic”. It has a chapter of its own in Porsche’s history books. The Carrera RS is basically a racing-derived and hardcore 911; it saw the light in 1972 and all 500 units were sold within just one week of its introduction. It’s a car worth seven figures in 2016.
Over the years, Porsche kept updating the 911 with more powerful engines, upgraded mechanical components, better safety features and improved styling. This particular white Porsche is a 1989 3.2 Carrera Speedster, one of 2,104 produced. We imagine it carries a lofty price tag…
You know you’re a very lucky petrolhead when you lay eyes on more than one Speedster in a very brief timeline. This blue model is a 1994 Porsche 911 Speedster, and it’s based on the 964 generation of the 911, which came to life in 1989. Behind it are different iterations of the 964, including a Carrera and two Turbo models.
It isn’t the most popular 911 generation, but the “revolutionary” 996 – introduced in 1998 – was a major step forward as it introduced water-cooling after 35 years of air-cooled engines, and featured a major exterior and interior redesign.
The Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0; it’s the type of car that you hang a poster of above your bed. Simply put, it’s Porsche’s racing efforts translated into a legitimate road car. It’s just a shame we don’t get to see much of it as only 600 units were produced between 2011 and 2012.
It’s fascinating how a company that started out with one attractive little car developed into a leading sports car manufacturer in less than 50 years. Despite going slightly mainstream with models such as the Cayenne and Macan (not that they’re not sporty), Porsche hasn’t lost its sports car magic nor has it forgotten about its racing heritage, as evident by this lava orange mass of racing fury, the 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS.
Coming up with a completely new design is no easy task, but maintaining a design that is half a century old is an even tougher task, yet Porsche somehow makes it look so easy.
