Among all the automotive manufacturers on the planet, Porsche remains simultaneously the most anachronistic and one of the most futuristic. On one hand, the company maintains a steadfast commitment to its past with the outdated rear-engined layout of the flagship 911. On the other, Stuttgart engineers consistently push the limits of technology, most recently with the 919 Hybrid Le Mans prototype racer, the all-electric 919 Evo, and the street-legal Taycan EV.

Porsche fans also remain something of a bewildering group, as well. Air-cooled fanatics who prize low curb weights, raspy flat-sixes, and originality, they'll still happily bemoan any new product out of Stuttgart, from the 911's "angular" design when it debuted to the 996's water-cooled engine and now, the two fonts used on 992-generation 911's rear decklid.

But every gearhead, regardless of whether they're in love with Porsche or not, can admit that the company routinely sits at the top of the automotive industry. And a large part of Porsche's success has come about thanks to a willingness to take lessons learned on the racetrack and apply them to roadgoing sports cars—while transforming the potential of passenger vehicles like the Cayenne, Panamera, and Macan.

Porsche loves to celebrate its own long history, notably bragging that over 70% of the 911s it's ever built are still on the road. And Porsche contributes to the company's own lore by routinely partnering with organizations like the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles to provide potential Porsche converts with the kind of information they might need to one day make that first Porshe purchase.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Petersen and Porche teamed up to provide an online version of Monterey Car Week and now, on the verge of reopening to the public, the Petersen has planned a trio of new exhibits focusing on the history of supercars, extreme off-roaders, and Porsche performance.

In advance of the reopening, the Petersen invited me inside for a chance to check out the Porsche exhibit entitled "Redefining Performance" celebrating Stuttgart's commitment to excellence on the track and how it translates to success on the salesroom floor.

Willkommen Zu Petersen

Petersen Museum Porsche Feature
via Michael Van Runkle / HotCars

While the Porsche name will always call to mind the 911 when gearheads discuss the best cars of the entire internal-combustion era, the truth is that the 911 was more of an evolution of Porsche's ethos at the time than an entirely new product. The 911 originally debuted with the initial 901 moniker (which was eventually dropped due to naming rights issues) but early Porsche purists united in disgust at the new design, which had dropped much of the sensuous curviness that defined earlier models, especially the 356 which it replaced.

The 911 also introduced the flat-six into Porsche's sales lineup, after earlier roadgoing models were powered by flat-fours a la Volkswagen (don't forget that Ferdinand Porsche designed the original Beetle). This was an era when automotive manufacturers could still legitimately compete with cars that were radically different and Porsche's combination of low weight and aerodynamic efficiency allowed its smaller engines to nonetheless trump bigger, more powerful cars.

To start off the Petersen's new exhibit, case in point comes in the form of Porsche's first Le Mans racecar, the 1951 356SL Gmünd Coupe seen above. With covered wheels to reduce drag, matched by an underbody sheet, the Gmünd Coupe was able to score a first-in-class win and 20th overall at the grueling endurance race—despite being powered only by a 1.1-liter flat-four producing a borderline-hilarious 46 horsepower.

While the roadgoing 356 wouldn't receive the same covered wheels or underbody tray, the front bumper on customer cars was the same and helped to counteract the rear-engine layout's inherent weight distribution issues by improving stability at high speeds.

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Air-Cooled To Water-Cooled

Petersen Museum Porsche 2
via Michael Van Runkle / HotCars

While the 356 and 911 can be thought of as Volkswagen Beetle derivatives that retained the same rear-engined design, Porsche early on began building mid-engined cars, as well. The 550 would debut in 1953—two years after the Gmünd Coupe competed at Le Mans—also powered by a puny flat-four that would max out at 1.5 liters of displacement. But the 550's balance would go on to inspire further evolutions of the mid-mounted layout, notably the 718 with its flat-four and then a big step up to the 904, which would receive a flat-eight by 1964.

That year would also mark the first year of the 911, after its debut in 1963 under the 901 nameplate. But the flat-eight used in racing had a gnarly habit of blowing up its flywheels, while the 911 received a flat-six from the factory, so it only made sense that for 1967, Porsche was back to racing with the 910/6 (above) powered by a 2.0-liter flat-six. As if to cement Porsche's commitment to the flat-six engine, a few 910 racers were also built with flat-eights—at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, two of the eight-cylinder cars broke down while the other finished fourth. Even more impressive? The flat-six-powered cars achieved a 1-2-3 finish at the very same race.

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Thoroughbred Race Cars

Petersen Museum Porsche Interior
via Michael Van Runkle / HotCars

The 910 was, without a doubt, a thoroughbred racecar that could not be homologated for street use, notably unlike the 904 that was sold to the public as the Carrera GTS or the 906 which was sold as the Carrera 6. One of the main reasons was that the 910 used center-lock wheels to shave time during pit stops—today, high-spec 911 variants like the GT2 and GT3 can be optioned from the factory with center-lock wheels (which actually make things a bit difficult for mechanics who don't have a massive breaker bar to defeat the upwards of 400 lb-ft of torque required to take the cars' wheels off).

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The 911's Evolution

Petersen Museum Porsche 3
via Michael Van Runkle / HotCars

The original 911, having debuted either in 1963 or 1964 depending on who you ask, would enjoy a long production run that included a laundry list of changes until 1989, when it was replaced with a new design known by the internal code 964. Developments along the way included the iconic 930 Turbo, which still claims its own dedicated fanbase despite a well-earned "Widowmaker" nickname. The 930 Turbo would prove itself as a potent performer, especially when modified into 935 racing spec, though a little-known detail is that an earlier 934 variant was also sold to private racing teams.

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Past And Present Compared

Porsche Petersen Museum
via Michael Van Runkle / HotCaras

The wild livery on the 1977 934 RSR Turbo in the Petersen (pictured front, above) comes thanks to its privateer team, Kremer Racing. Powered by a 3.0-liter flat-six with a single KKK turbo bolted on, the 934 RSR Turbo was capable of pumping out an estimated 485 horsepower and reaching 178 miles per hour. Its abilities were well-proven at Le Mans in 1977, where despite steering and suspension problems, the exact car featured in the Petersen's exhibit would finish seventh overall and first in class.

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Today's Porsche Racers

Petersen Museum Porsche Feature 2
via Michael Van Runkle / HotCars

From the Porsche 934 RSR Turbo through to today's production 911, the sheer number of massive changes can't be overstated—water cooling being, of course, the biggest step when introduced to the 996-gen 911. The similarities also remain numerous, as well. For one, there simply aren't any other cars in the world that look like the 911. But despite the instantly recognizable shape of the 2016 Porsche 911 RSR seen here, even calling this car a 911 might be high treason to Porsche purists.

The biggest design change enacted in the 911 RSR to keep it competitive in the Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance class is that the flat-six engine has actually been moved ahead of the rear axle, much like a 914, Boxster, or Cayman. Porsche also opted against turbochargers and went with more of a GT3-spec engine, displacing 4.0 liters and producing an estimated 510 horsepower. That power is made all the more impressive by the extensive use of carbon fiber to shave weight, a must in today's composite-focused era and a mainstay in Porsche's current lineup, where the 911 in Turbo, GT2 RS, and GT3 RS form truly enters into the supercar class.

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Porsche Supercars

Petersen Museum Porsche Supercars
via Michael Van Runkle / HotCars

While the 911 RSR might have received a mid-engined makeover for Le Mans, Porsche still designs its roadgoing 911 models with the engines hanging off the back. Luckily, advances in traction-control technology allow for even amateur drivers to avoid the 911's notorious tendency towards sudden throttle-liftoff oversteer. Plus, the high-powered Turbo has been an all-wheel-drive monster since the 993 generation, while the base 911 received all-wheel-drive for the 964 generation after the 953 and 959 rally cars proved the efficacy of such a drivetrain when paired with the rear-engined layout.

Alongside the Porsche-specific exhibit, the Petersen has also pulled together "Supercars: A Century of Spectacle and Speed" to further entice the public back to the museum. I got a chance to check out that collection, too, which spans the whole gamut from literally the first car ever all the way up to the Bugatti Veyron.

No history of the supercar could be considered complete without at least including the Porsche 959, which was built as a rally car but nonetheless proved capable of becoming the world's fastest production vehicle on the tarmac, as well. And who could forget the infamous Ruf-modified 911 known as the CTR "Yellowbird" and its mind-melting hot lap of the Nürburgring.

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Air-Cooled Desert Flyer

Petersen Museum Porsche Off Road
via Michael Van Runkle / HotCars

The 911 platform's potential as a rally car has become all the more apparent in recent years, as the rise of safari-style builds has somewhat surprisingly coincided with skyrocketing values across the model's long history. With the original 953, Porsche explored the rear-engine, all-wheel-drive layout that would lead to the 959's supercar status—itself contributing to the rise of today's increasingly all-wheel-drive hypercars like the Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari LaFerrari, and Lamborghini Aventador.

But even the rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive 911 can provide enough traction off the tarmac, as the Rothsport Racing team proved with this heavily modified 964 example, which appears in the Petersen's third new exhibit entitled "Extreme Conditions" after competing in the NORRA Mexican 1000 in Baja both in 2017 and 2019. Surprisingly, in addition to the raised suspension, knobby tires, stripped interior, mud flaps, and rally lights typical of Safari 911 projects, the car also began its life with the 964's complex all-wheel-drive system, only to be swapped to rear-drive only for the grueling desert race. It's not the only crazy build on display in the Land Rover-sponsored off-roading exhibit, so stay tuned for more coverage of the Petersen Automotive Museum's impressive lineup ahead of its planned reopening.

Sources: newsroom.porsche.com, jalopnik.com, petersen.org, and youtube.com.

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