If, like us, you think the Porsche 911 is getting a little tiresome with a seemingly never-ending procession of new models looking exactly like that last one, then maybe it's time to seek out one of the rarer cars to roll out of Stuttgart
We are pleased to announce that, save for one extreme historic racer and another limited edition bearing the famously tired model number, there are no 911s here. Instead, a selection of decidedly rarer and more interesting Porsche roads cars, some of which might even be unknown to younger gearheads, and this is the crux of the matter, Porsche does not only make 911 sports cars.
10 Porsche Carerra GT (1270 Cars Built)
Compared to some of the rarer Porsche sports cars, the Carerra GT with 1270 examples might not seem particularly exclusive, but we think the GT deserves a mention simply for that wonderful V10 motor located just behind the driver's head.
A development of Porsches Le Mans-winning GT1 car, the Carrera GT utilized revolutionary weight-saving materials, built entirely from carbon-reinforced plastic, at the time a first for a production car. But without question, Porsche's 5.7-liter V10 is the star, producing 603hp and capable of propelling the Carrera to a top speed of 205mph.
9 Porsche 904 (108 Cars Built)
Dreams of finding a rare barn find vehicle doesn't get any better than this 1964 Porsche 904 GTS, not only is it one of the rarer models, but it is also unique among Porsche's sports car history due to its design.
Produced between 1964 and '65 Porsche's 904 GTS changed FIA GT sports car design with a new ladder-frame chassis and composite body construction process, having more in common with specialist race car design. Despite a short production life, Porsche updated the mid-engined 904 GTS to accommodate four, six and, even eight-cylinder engines for different FIA classes.
8 Porsche 356B Abarth Carrera GTL (20 Cars Built)
Any carmaker tackling the demands of Le Mans deserves the utmost respect, the famous 24-hour endurance race has a reputation for breaking even the most well-prepared teams and drivers. In 1960 Porsche not only competed with their 356B Carrera but secured an impressive class win.
Admittedly Abarth played an important part in the 356B's success, a custom light-weight body played a crucial part in reducing weight and improving aerodynamics. However, under the skin, Porsche's 356 was still largely VW Beetle-based, making the race win even more impressive.
7 Porsche 911 GT1 (20 Cars Built)
Despite the 911 branding, this road-legal racer has nothing in common with production models, save for the front and rear light clusters borrowed from the corporate parts bin.
It would have been easier to build a modified 911 to meet FIA rules. Porsche, however, opted for the more complex route of developing a new race car than making a road version for homologation purposes. Essentially both versions are identical, road spec cars making do with a mere 536hp to meet emissions regulations.
6 Porsche 356 America Roadster (16 Cars Built)
As unlikely as it seems, the existence of the Porsche 356 America Roadster is down to a single US dealer convincing Porsche bigwigs that customers needed a lighter, faster convertible version of the iconic sports car.
And so the aluminum-bodied America roadster was born. Equipped with a 4-cylinder 70hp motor, the US special could achieve a top speed of 110mph, which, considering this was the 50s, was quite an impressive feat. So what went wrong? The anticipated demand never materialized, coupled with expensive production costs convinced Porsche to abandon the project with figures a little hazy on actual numbers.
5 Porsche 968 Turbo S (14 Cars Built)
Porsche's success with front-engine cars until recently seemed to be a case of flogging a dead horse. No matter how capable or fast they were, sales figures accounted for a small portion of the German carmaker's annual totals.
Launched in 1993, the 968 Turbo S should have been a blinding success! Equipped with a turbocharged 4-cylinder pumping out 305hp, this was a proper supercar, capable of hitting 60mph in 4.9-seconds and a top speed of 174mph. As ever, Porsche's 911 stole the limelight, deeply impacting interest in the 968 Turbo S. Little wonder Porsche pulled the plug with only 14 cars produced.
4 Dauer 962 (12 Cars Built)
Unofficially, Dauer Racing produced road-legal versions of Porsche's famous 962 Group C racer, even using spare or refurbished bodies from the racing program itself. Externally, despite a few minor bodywork changes, they remain faithful to the original, even dedicated enthusiasts will struggle to separate the two cars.
Other than interior updates, the only other significant changes are to the 962s suspension system. A legal requirement for minimum ride height necessitated a custom adjustable hydraulic system, which given Europes love affair of speed humps isn't a bad thing. Saving the best for last, Dauer retained the turbocharged Porsche type 935 engine kicking out 730hp.
3 Porsche 914/8 (2 Cars Built)
Slapping a Porsche badge on a Volkswagen and vice versa doesn't make a lot of sense to us, the two brands are miles apart when it comes to image, however, behind the scenes, Porsche had secretly built two prototypes that had the potential to change the 914s fortunes.
Sadly the 914/8 project only ever reached the prototype stage with two working examples known to have been completed. Each equipped with Porsche's 908 series engine, a flat-eight design producing 350hp used in the carmaker's racing program. Unfortunately, the 914/8 development never went any further, Ferdinand Porsche deemed the performance to be excessive for road use.
2 Porsche 935 Street (1 Car Built)
At first glance, it's just another flat-nose conversion mimicking Porsche's legendary 935 racers. However, this is the real deal, a special one-off factory-built 935 homologation special built exclusively for TAG Group founder Mansour Oijeh.
Built-in 1983 by the new Porsche Exclusive division, this rare road-legal racer represented the extremes of Porsche's 930 Turbo, every part of the basic car's design scrutinized and modified to deliver maximum performance. Heavily revised bodywork only tells part of the story. Under the hood, the engineers fiddled with the 3.3-liter turbo flat-six to produce a more meaningful 375hp capable of propelling this rare Porsche to 210mph.
1 Porsche 918 RSR (1 Car Built)
Ordinarily, we would be content with Porsche's 918 Spyder supercars, that was until the German carmaker unveiled a more powerful, lighter, and driver-focused version. The RSR is the car Porsche should have built from the beginning.
Porsche's finest engineering minds have been busy with the 918's engine and electric motors, the combustion engine now producing 556hp at an eardrum bursting 10,400rpm to deliver a combined output of 757hp. The motors themselves besides adding 201hp now feature clever torque vectoring to improve grip and handling. Dubbed the laboratory on wheels, this is how Porsche spend their weekends off.