One-off Porsche 911 Turbo pays tribute to original 1974 911T

Porsche has revealed a special one-off Porsche 911 Turbo that pays tribute to the original 1974 911 Turbo.

Developed by the Porsche Sonderwunsch (special wishes) personalisation division as part of the 911’s 60th anniversary celebrations this year, the 911 Turbo tribute was unveiled at the Icons of Porsche festival in Dubai, where a giant 911 was also awarded a Guinness World Record for the largest-ever inflatable vehicle.

Created with the support of colleagues from the Porsche Heritage & Museum, the special 911 Turbo is said to “remaster” the very first 911 Turbo that was commissioned for the 70th birthday of Ferdinand Porsche’s daughter, Louise Piech.

Back in 1974, the first 911 Turbo shocked onlookers with the combination of its narrow-chassis Carrera 911 body and a huge whale tale.

It was also distinguished by its use of red tartan cloth interior trim, which was handpicked by Piech to go with its silver paintwork.

That explains why the 911 Turbo special shown in Dubai also gets silver paint with a matching PORSCHE lettering decal along its sides.

The black five-spoke alloy wheels, which feature a silver outer edge, are also said to point to the original’s Fuchs-style black and silver polished rims.

The new 911 Turbo also gets extra aero aids, including a new front splitter.

Inside, it’s not known if the one-off 911 Turbo also features a red tartan interior, but it’s thought unlikely.

The original 1974 911 Turbo Nr.1 was powered by a smaller turbocharged 2.7-litre flat-six instead of the larger 3.0-litre that would go on to power the later 930-series 911 Turbos.

Producing just 177kW, it’s not known just how quick chassis number one was but the ’75 930 was said to be capable of a 0-100km/h dash of 5.2 seconds when it was introduced, topping out at 250km/h.

Today’s 911 Turbo, in comparison, is powered by a 3.8-litre turbocharged flat-six that pumps out an astonishing 427kW.

That equates to rocket-ship levels of urge off the line, with 0-100km/h taking just 2.8 seconds, while top speed is more than 320km/h.

“The initial idea for this project began a year ago,” said Patrick Gallas from Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur.

“We wanted to create a modern iteration of a car that was truly unique. Luckily for us, there is no shortage of Porsche cars that people label as icons. We elected to ‘remaster’ one of the greatest icons of them all – the original 911 Turbo that belonged to Louise Piech.”

The giant inflatable 911 shown in Dubai was based on the shape of the first-generation 911 (1963-73), measuring almost 20m long, more than 6m tall and 8m wide.

Porsche also used the Middle East-based Porsche festival to show off the latest third-generation Panamera sedan, 718 Spyder RS convertible and the 911 S/T.

Also in attendance was the wild Mission X concept that’s rumoured to preview an all-electric hypercar that will go on sale in 2027.

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