Úvod »Automobily nákladní a tahače»Renault » Porsche 912 Limited Edition Extra 1965-1976
When Porsche released the completely new 901 model at the 1963 Frankfurt IAA, the world’s motoring enthusiasts stood up and took notice. Here was what they call a clean sheet design, a design that carried over nothing from the previous generation of Porsche sports cars. The styling, by Ferdinand Butzi Porsche, son of the company's chief Dr Ing Ferry Porsche, showed some family resemblance to the outgoing 356 models but that was the extent of any connection. The layout was pure Porsche: air-cooled boxer engine overhung at the rear driving the rear wheels through a new 5-speed manual gearbox; the fully independent suspension was by torsion bars but in a completely re-engineered way. The boxer engine—another Porsche tradition—was a completely new 2-litre horizontally opposed six-cylinder unit with a single chain-driven overhead camshaft for each cylinder bank. Not surprisingly it was considerably more expensive than the models it was replacing and so the marketing people at Porsche decided they needed a less expensive model that filled the gap between the 356SC that was still available and the new 911 as it was subsequently badged after Peugeot quietly reminded Porsche that it owned the rights to model numbers with the 0 in the middle. Out of this came the Porsche 912. It was the sensible and logical combination of the new 911 body and running gear with the 356SC's 1.6-litre OHV air-cooled boxer four-cylinder engine. Inside the trim was less opulent but quality was up to the usual high Porsche standards. The 912 was not as quick as the 911—nobody should have expected it to be in all honesty—but it drove with enough elan to satisfy those who appreciated the superb build quality and wanted a sports coupe with sufficient performance to satisfy their needs. Intriguingly, the 912 was by far the most popular Porsche in 1965-through-1967 before being phased out at the end of the 1969 model year, easily outselling the 911 which is probably not the way Porsche intended their circumstances to be. Over 15,000 were sold in those early years compared with just over 7,000 911s. Inevitably some members of the media branded the 912 as a poor man's Porsche 911 but that really was an unwarranted put down and showed their lack of appreciation of what Porsche was doing. The 912 was good value in its time—it only cost a fraction more than the outgoing 356SC—and has maintained its value over the years. It has become something of a sleeper in the Porsche world and is probably the best way to begin a Porsche ownership experience. From the driving perspective, it was certainly more forgiving than the 911 because it was nowhere near as tail-happy in cornering due to the four-cylinder engine being much lighter. Today a well maintained 912 will still give its owner many miles of motoring enjoyment. This is a book of contemporary road & comparison tests, new model intro's, long-term appraisals & owner's survey. Models covered include Targa, Coupe & 912E.