Porsche 911 993’s historical journey is well known

The 993’s historical journey is well known. Peter Falk, the famed Porsche engineer, produced a Lastenheft in the late 1980s that found the incoming 993 would have to achieve new levels of agility and responsiveness – not to mention refinement – and so the new 911 was born with its multi-link rear axle and six-speed transmission, among other improvements. That it was the last air-cooled Porsche 911 also ensured the car of its place in history and this, coupled with superior build quality over its water-cooled successor, is chiefly why values of the 993 never dipped.

In recent years though, the 993 has been overshadowed in the marketplace by its 964 predecessor, which has found itself at the centre of a high-end restoration movement that’s seen values soar above the last air-cooled Neunelfer. The 964, once the unfavoured 911, is now the most desired among enthusiasts for its rawness, while the more refined 993 Carrera has, comparatively speaking, been largely forgotten.

That could all be about to change. Our four cover cars are stunning, individual interpretations of the 993 Carrera in the modern age, the collective focus being to unlock a little more driving pleasure, to varying degrees of extremity.

While these cars have all been rebuilt privately, work is ramping up from renowned specialists around the world who recognise the 993’s performance potential. Tuthill Porsche’s stunning SC RS tribute is the first convincing backdate project from the UK that uses the 993 as a base (check it out in our news pages this issue). Meanwhile the Stateside entity, Guntherwerks, has further cemented its reputation as the premier 993 restomod outfit with the release of its recent Project Tornado turbocharged reimagining.

Of course, you may feel the 993 Carrera is absolutely perfect just out of the box. And that’s fine, but for those who have pined to see a 964-esque rebirth of the marque for the modern age, that’s very much happening now – and I can’t wait to see it blossom further.