A first glimpse of the Porsche 911 996 – From the Old Box

At the end of last year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Porsche 996. Now we go a little further back in time, because in AutoWeek 9 from 1993 we find some special photos. There are clearly very early prototypes of the 996 here. The clay model, photographed from behind, even shows the 996 designation. The spotted design studies already shed quite a bit of light on what we could expect from the 996.

Stickers were stuck on the nose of one of the study models showing two different headlight designs. The left headlight (for viewers on the right) turned out to be quite close to the end result, with its spur towards the boot lid. The other copy looks more like the headlights that appeared on the Carrera GT much later. Furthermore, with the design of the nose, Porsche was already well in the direction it would eventually take for the 996.

Porsche 911 996 prototype

Beyond that, it was a slightly different story. Although the 996 got wider ‘hips’ than its predecessors, it was only slightly more subtle than on these clay models. The rear lights and the air grille have also been refined quite a bit after this setup. The back of this 996 study is almost even more reminiscent of the Cayman, which appeared much later than the 996.

Water-cooled eight-cylinder boxer?

In any case, it was a relief for the purists to see that Porsche would simply put the engine back in the back in the ‘911 successor’. We already told you thirty years ago that it would be a water-cooled one, so it was a bit of a swallow for the traditionalists in that respect. “It had to happen, because the noisy air-cooled engines that we still find in the 911 are in fact long gone,” we wrote. “Whether there might be a V6 or even a V8 later in the ‘996’ is unclear. As far as we can judge, there will be no room for such a power source in the back. However, it is said that the water-cooled six-cylinder boxer is joined by an eight-cylinder of the same type.” As you can see, we were still quite in the dark thirty years ago. Not surprising, when you consider that it would take another four years for the 996 to reveal all its secrets.

Porsche 993

Closer was the presentation of the 993, the 911 that should build a bridge to the 996. In the photo above you see the 993 disguised as a 964. We found this ‘mule’ testing in its homeland Germany and especially the artificial side screens at the front made it clear that the nose of the 993 would be different from that of the 964: “It gets flush headlights, but they are still hidden here under body parts of the current model.” A photo of the rear also showed that the taillights would also change significantly for the first time in the history of the 911. “The 911 model year ’93 has a wider rear and the taillight units are placed higher.”

The 993 would eventually go into production just under a year after this spot and, despite its appearance, which has changed quite considerably for a 911, is seen as the last ‘classic 911’. After all, it was also the last 911 that, in terms of basic shape, still strongly elaborated on the original model and also the last with air-cooled boxers.