35 YEARS OF 964 964 HISTORY
The 911 SC and Carrera 3.2 breathed new life into the 911 concept, but increasing competition from an armada of European and Far Eastern manufacturers necessitated a more comprehensive reinvention. The 964 marked a sea-change in the 911’s development. Porsche’s then CEO, Peter Schutz, and the manufacturer’s chief engineer, Helmuth Bott, aimed to make the new model the most advanced car to wear the 911 badge. Indeed, many of the 964’s key features were inherited from the earlier 959 project, bringing supercar technology to a much wider audience.
Despite Porsche’s claims the 964 was eighty-seven percent new over the outgoing Carrera 3.2, changes to the iconic 911 silhouette were prohibited. Nevertheless, the 964’s polyurethane bumpers, aerodynamic rain gutters and flat undertray were all new components with clear cues from the 959. The 964’s drag coefficient was improved to 0.32 over the Carrera 3.2’s 0.39. Additionally, devoid of any superfluous addenda, the newer 911’s passage through air
