Even though I’m more likely to be able to afford to buy coastal real estate on the moon than an early Porsche 911, I’ve always really liked those early Porsches. I mean, I love the 356, too, especially because of my Volkswagen Beetle fetish, but there’s something about the way that Beetle-356-911 evolution happened that makes those early 911s really appealing.
I was thinking about the 911’s design, how it evolved from the 356 in a way that updated the look while retaining the essential visual elements and overall clean design language, so I looked into some of the intermediate design steps between the 356 and the 911 and found something fascinating.
Well, fascinating to me, at least. This is really just a detail, a forgotten footnote, but nevertheless one I think is really interesting. It has to do with the initial design brief for what would become the 901 (later 911, after Peugeot got fussy about number-names with a 0 in the middle), although even calling this a “design brief” is overly generous. It’s the notes that Ferry Porsche wrote about what he wanted the successor to the 356 to be:
“2-seater with 2 comfortable jump seats. Rear view mirror integrated in the wings. Easier entry.”
So, basically, he wanted something a little roomier than the 356 with some sort of occasional seating in the rear, easier to get in and out of, and, the part that caught my attention, a “rear view mirror integrated in the wings.” What? Wing mirrors have never really been part of the 911!
The more seats/more room part had been a goal for a while; an early 356 styling update exercise tried making a longer, notchback-style 356 with bigger doors, known as the 530, designed by Beetle and 356 designer Erwin Komenda:
So that part of Ferry’s list of goals wasn’t surprising, really. But that wing mirror thing feels so specific, and of the few criteria he mentioned, it’s the only one that had nothing to do with size and interior room.
When we look at one of the early 911 prototypes, the 1959 Porsche Type 754 T7 (also called the 695) above there, we can see that yes, there is a wing mirror perched proudly there. This was the prototype that really defined the look of the 911, and if you look at it from the A-pillar forward, it pretty much is the 911:
The rear notchback-style was later abandoned for the more traditional Porsche fastback design, which kept the car feeling more like an evolution of the 356, but it is pretty remarkable how early the 911 look was established.
Also, if you watch that walkaround video, note how cool those dash controls are.
This prototype seems to be the only one that adhered to Ferry Porsche’s request for a wing mirror, though! There were plenty of other fascinating design studies for the 911, many of which diverged from the basic Porsche design vocabulary a good bit:
Those quad-headlamp ones are really interesting; they were done by Count Albrecht von Goertz, the designer of the lovely BMW 507, but they really don’t feel like Porsches. I do like the interesting indicator placement on the right side of that quad-headlight one up there, though.
There’s a better view of that particular study; it’s interesting in just how un-Porsche-like it is. It feels maybe a bit like an early Lamborghini? It’s pretty cool looking, just not a Porsche.
This one also doesn’t feel terribly Porsche-like, but it is lovely. Maybe more Italian-feeling, too. And Porsche seemed really committed to making sure add-on driving lights worked in these designs, it seems.
This isn’t really the place for a really, really deep design dive into how the 911 evolved, but I do think it’s interesting how that one key detail that Ferry Porsche felt compelled to note specifically in the early design was so completely abandoned. Why was Ferry so into wing mirrors, and how did they talk him out of it? Was this something he gave up as a compromise for something else? I’m very curious.
I did get to drive a really early 901 once, and it was fantastic. You can watch it here, along with me spinning out a 356 America, like an idiot:
Top graphic image: Porsche
Huh. I’m seeing 917 in those shielded headlights
Did Count Albrecht von Goertz own a PackardBaker?
When I was 13 or 14, I had a neighbor who traded a ’65 Buick Riviera for a 912. Even the four banger Porsche seemed fun, and he drove it with verve. I don’t care to compare how they appreciated, but I think he made the right choice, dynamically.
I’m not sure why Porsche was hung up on 901. 911 sounds so much cooler. And I’m not sure why Peugeot was so protective on the X0X model names. At the time at most, they were only up to the 403 or 404. That was going to be a long time until they got to the 904 or whatever. And in the meantime, they’ve started using double zeroes in the middle. At least on some models.
Dogs pissing on fire hydrants, I guess.
Nine-Eleven fits now, but originally I can see why they wanted Nine-O-One as the name given Three-Five-Six was their original model and wanted to keep the same triple digit nomenclature.
911 is three digits. In some parts of the British Commonwealth, 999 is the emergency number. But it could also be Nein, nein, nien in a very stern Germanic accent.
BMW, Bristol and Ferrari all had X0X model names around the time. I read somewhere that it was more of a personal act of revenge against Ferdinand Porsche who did commandeer the occupied Peugeot factory during ww2 to produce weapons of war.
What a fun video. Thank you for that.
And no thanks for the 356-lust I’m now going to suffer from for who knows how long.
The quad headlights made me think of the Jag XJS.
I see that.
Funny you should mention this. I happen to be selling an undeveloped, 1/2 acre lot on the shores of the Sea of Tranquillity. Fantastic views! Very private. Reasonable offers over $19.99 considered.
Cute new places keep on popping up – around Clavius, it’s all getting gentrified. Such an easy flight.
It’s that darned monolith drawing them in.
…and… that indicator idea on the left side?
I’m assuming he meant right side of the picture, not the passenger side of the car (design buck). Very clever way of Jason to sneak in his trademark Gonzo the Great Easter egg.
I’m getting Plymouth Valiant vibes from the T 754 image.
Was something lost in translation? Those wing mirrors are mounted on the fenders, sure, but they’re certainly not integrated. “Integrated” makes me think of something like Pontiac’s hood-mounted tach, but with the tach replaced with a mirror, and attached to the fender.
Right? Integrated Wing Mirrors, makes me think of something like the Autech Zagoto Stelvio AZ1.
Yes! Something like that, but perhaps a bit less ungainly?
You took the words right out of my finger tips.
Since what “looks like a Porsche” has basically been defined by the 911, saying the styling prototypes don’t look like a Porsche is fundamentally incorrect. If they had become the 911, that’s what a Porsche would look like.
But the 911 is what we ended up with, and with all these prototypes you can see the designers trying different ideas until they finally got the design just right and said “Yes, that one, that’s a Porsche”. Like sculptors trying different blocks of stone until they find the one with the statue inside of it.
‘Vass? Ich sagt integrated into der wings! Nicht gerbolten on wie ein afterthought!’
530 Reminds me of a Karman Ghia with a little less junk in the trunk.
To my eyes, Porsche always seemed to produce designs that are about a decade ahead of their time. Like how the 356 looks very much like a 60s car, from the get go.
Wing mirrors on the 911 would then have been off, compared to the “regular” style chosen.
It looks like mirrors weren’t standard on the 356 – looking online I can see a few different types and positions, some wing mounted, some door mounted. Potentially dealer-fit items, I guess?
Taking into account Porsche’s idea that his cars were designed for daily use on the autobahn rather than something to pose in at St. Tropez, I’d imagine he was thinking about practicality – mirrors are handy, and making sure that they’re fitted at the factory would ensure that they were good quality and put in the right place for vision purposes.
That image following the “it pretty much is the 911″ is giving me DS sans 2nd row vibes.
That’s a wing-mirror, but when you said ‘integrated’ I was expecting something like the Autech Zagato Stelvio AZ1. I bet Ferry would have loved that!
I imagined something like that, but your example is great. Holy shit is that car cool.
That 754 looks cool! Too bad they didn’t make that in production along with the 911 they did make.
I get Pacer Vibes from that one.
It’s nice to see that, historically speaking, there’s always good design ideas waiting in the wings.