Editorial: The Transaxle Era
When the 924 made its debut 50 years ago, it laid the foundations for a new era at Porsche. It was a move that required courage – at a time when progress could be experienced in a unique way.
How do we shape the future? This question now drives Porsche like never before. The brand’s identity is defined by courage, foresight, and expertise, resulting in more than seven decades of innovations that evolve into classics. Sports cars that reflect and then ultimately transcend the spirit of their time.
The Porsche 924’s debut 50 years ago kicked off an era that has shaped the company over the long term. And thus the transaxle concept for Porsche sports cars was born, with the engine up front and transmission at the back. This represented a departure from the familiar rear-engine principle of the 356 and 911 – a step that required not only courage, but also the foresight to recognize that even front-engine sports cars would inspire customers, and the expertise to apply the transaxle technology properly.
The 924 in 1976 marked the beginning of a technological development that continued with the 928, 944, and 968. In the Dossier of this new issue, we travel back to a time when progress felt tangible in extraordinary ways – in music, fashion, technology, society, and with Porsche. We take a look at the circumstances that led to the manufacture of front-engine models, and explain why their architecture is widely viewed to be groundbreaking, even from today’s point of view.
The transaxle era continues to resonate to this day. Porsche came away from that time with valuable insights for the future. What has remained is the courage to break new ground.
Thomas Hagg
Head of Channels and Publications“The transaxle era continues to resonate to this day.”
We also go on a journey of discovery with the Macan Turbo on one of the most spectacular routes ever – the North Coast 500 in Scotland. For our Roadbook, we travel to the far north of Great Britain and discover a unique cultural heritage.
In Zell am See, Austria, we come across the 911 GT3 90 F. A. Porsche, which itself is inspired by tradition in an extraordinary way, based on a 911 of the G-Series once driven by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, often simply called F. A. The designer of the 911, who passed away in 2012, would be 90 years old today. With his son Mark Porsche, we visit locations with strong ties to the family.
We admire a piece of his design legacy in Malaysia, where we get together with Derrick Lim, whose sports car collection is housed at two different locations – in Kuala Lumpur and on the island of Langkawi. We accompany the Lims on a family trip across the exotic island that reveals yet another brand quality – the power of Porsche to unite and create community around the world.
We hope that you, the Porsche fans, can also experience this extraordinary feeling anew again and again. If you’d like to tell us all about it, please write to us at christophorus@porsche.de.
