James May compares '85 & '05 Carreras

[911mot]

Welcome to the most eagerly anticipated comparative road test of the past 20 years, a definitive distillation of two decades of inconclusive ramblings by some of the most boring people on earth. This test liberates one of the greatest debates of our times from the stagnant arena of the local pub and addresses it anew in the fresh, balanced and beer-free environment of the East Sussex lanes. Yes, folks, it's Porsche 911 Carrera versus Porsche 911 Carrera.

Mine's the proper one: James May's 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera (right) sits in the dubious company of the 2005 model

Pictured below left, in red (the dark, bloated dinosaur of a car if you're viewing this page in black and white), is the base-model 911 for 2005, the Carrera. On the right, in silver, emerging from the early-morning fog just as the gleaming brand Excalibur was held aloft in the mists of Avalon by the mystic, wonderful, samite-cloaked hand of Nimue, is my own car, the base-model 3.2-litre Carrera for 1985 whose purchase I described last week. So, which is best?

Twenty years separate the two cars, and 23 years separate my car from the original. Pedants could even make a case for a direct link with the Volkswagen of the 1930s, since the guts of the Beetle were used to create the post-war Porsche 356, whose basic layout inspired the 911. But already we have arrived at the nub of what put me off buying a 911 for so long, namely that 911 owners can be annoyingly nerdy.

But anyway, the 1985 car is significant because in many ways it represents the last hoorah of the original 911 design, being essentially the same shape, mechanically improved and more powerful, yet still bereft of power steering or any of the other driver aids that later served to banish the 911's reputation as a widowmaker. Shame.

And here is another curious link I have just thought of. The VW Beetle, the true forefather of the 911, is credited to Ferdinand Porsche (acting on Hitler's orders) but its design was copied - by which I mean stolen - from an air-cooled, rear-engined prototype created by Hans Ledwinka, design genius of the renowned Czech company Tatra.

Ledwinka also designed a rear-engined V8 monster called the T87, which was popular with German officers until the Führer forbade its use, such was the toll its fearsome handling traits exacted on his senior staff, and they had to make do with the Beetle-based Kubelwagen instead.

A generation later, as VW was ordered by the courts to pay a crippling amount of compensation to Tatra, the ghost of the betrayed Ledwinka emerged in Porsche's 911, and promptly started lobbing the owners into ditches again. Sorry.

Anyway, parking these two cars side-by-side demolishes any notion that the 911 is some sort of automotive immutable. Place any recent 911 next to its immediate predecessor and you will get a sense of its gentle evolution. But separate them by four generations, as we do here, and you can see that there is not a single component in common between the unadulterated 1980s thoroughbred and the lumpen approximation claiming to be its rightful heir in the 21st century.

Even the badge is different. The only constant in the equation is that the engine is still in the back, but at best that's just bloody-mindedness and at worst a pathetic attempt by Porsche to fake a spiritual relationship between the new 911 and the sort of car the company produced in its heyday (which, in case you hadn't yet realised, was 1985).

Toyota has attempted a similar stunt with the Corolla, claiming that the same car has been around for half a lifetime. No one is fooled there, and I'm not fooled here. Just because the new 911 feels, in essence, like the old one, and the engine makes the same sort of noise, and vibrates the viscera in the same way, and the front end still feels as lively as it ever did, doesn't mean there is any significant similarity between the peerless silver car and the tawdry appliance that is here spoiling your view of it.

Yes, they've mimicked the instrument design of the old car in the new one but, again, I'm not going to be swayed by mere tinsel. The heating and ventilation works perfectly in the 2005 car, which confirms that Porsche has no sense of its recent heritage.

Of course, the later car is (technically) faster and more stable, and has superior brakes, but these are hardly the attributes the connoisseur demands of a true sports car. We want the unalloyed pleasure of bowling along a B-road, seemingly propelled by just a handful of moving parts thumping away in the back somewhere, and at the mercy of wonky stoppers if it starts raining. We don't want to feel that we can climb into a Porsche and emerge unruffled in Monte Carlo. The best 911 ever, then, is the 1985 3.2 Carrera.

Curiously, I've just been reading C20th Cars by Hilton Holloway and Martin Buckley. It features a smattering of 911 variants, but not the one representing the apex of the model's development, which is the 3.2 Carrera of 1985. This book is therefore rubbish and not recommended.

• James May co-presents BBC Top Gear, which returns, like Porsche Cabrios, in the spring.

[masraum]

Where do these little tidbits come from? Does he have an internet column someplace or are they from the magazine?

[911mot]

He writes for The Telegraph newspaper. I did a blatant C&P from the site

[Bobboloo]

James May, Der neu Fuerer for the Carrera camp on this board.

Is the SCWDP gonna take this lying down?

[jfw834]

interesting article.....i'm actually suprised at the review, compared to Clarkson's review of the 997 which was quite good. (actually he was praising the S model, not the base carrera) But still, i would have liked more detailed driving observations and first hand comments in this article to support his argument. I mean, of COURSE they don't have the same parts! They are 20 years apart in technology.....

[Beethoven]

Bit of a tosser, isn't he?

[TaffyJoe]

"wonky stoppers" gawds, I love it!

[imcarthur]

The stupid git is off by two years.

Hey James, the 1987 is the best 911 ever.

Great Brit tongue in cheek . . .

Ian

[masraum]

I love those Top Gear guys, all of them, crack me up. Now if only we could get the chick from 5th Gear to defect to Top Gear...

[masraum]

Yes, the only way I know anything about the shows is because I have downloaded about 15 Gigs of the shows from the Internet. I think I've got all of the 2004 Top Gears, many of the 5th gears, and a few of the shows from 2003 and earlier.

Broadband is a wonderful thing.

[911mot]

Now if only we could get the chick from 5th Gear to defect to Top Gear...

Oh yes

[911mot]

[klaucke]

No offense to you guys with Carreras or 85's, but I would hardly say that the 1985 model was the "best ever" 911. I realize he's being sarcastic, at least at first, but now that he owns a 911 he should mention the heritage, a la 67 S, any early S, 73RS, early Turbos, etc.

[Deeks]

ha... this is making me look forward to the new series more than ever. JC is outnumbered well and truly. I'm looking forward to James May maybe doing a road test.

[Glasgow 911SC]

Originally posted by klaucke
No offense to you guys with Carreras or 85's, but I would hardly say that the 1985 model was the "best ever" 911. I realize he's being sarcastic, at least at first, but now that he owns a 911 he should mention the heritage, a la 67 S, any early S, 73RS, early Turbos, etc.

I guess it's all about everyday usability, rust resistance, power, economy but still keeping that raw, edgy feel. The 3.2 is pretty good in this respect.

[masraum]

I went and registered on the Telegraph website, and have read several of his articles. Excellent! I'm not much for most of what I read in American Car Mags. I love to read Peter Egan. Actually I think I need to eventually buy the Peter Egan books that Road & Track sell, but there's often something interesting to read in the Brit car mags. Less PC, less of the same ole thing, and more feeling often times.

[Chuck Moreland]

All his tongue-in-cheek comments aside, the picture really does speak a thousand words:



For all the styling improvements the 997 makes over the 996, only one of these cars is timeless, striking, and unique.

[masraum]

Yep, she's no waifish model type, but she's darn sexy in a feminine tomboy kind of way, and seems like she'd be a load of fun in at a pub or just to hang out with.

[Sonic dB]

Humourous article...thanks...His last 4 paragraphs are clearly tounge in cheeky.

Its clear that his recent purchase has evolved into substantial bias. James May has become....one of US. The nerdy Porsche owner.