Actually, the word carrera in Spanish means race, but in Porsche’s workshops in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen in 1953, the dedicated engineers were making music with their new four-cam engine. The ‘sound of music’ was coming from the company’s new secret weapon, the Ernst Fuhrmann designed four overhead camshaft engine designed for their lightweight 550 Spyder race car.
Based on their original 1,086cc boxer motor, the 1953 version of Porsche’s standard 1,488cc power plant pushed out 55bhp. Not much by today’s standards, but when Fuhrmann’s Type 547 1,498cc four-cam Carrera motor was first tested in 1953, output was boosted to 100bhp thanks to a complex overhead quad-cam system.
Without sufficient time in which to thoroughly race test the new motor, Porsche nevertheless set its sights on entering the fourth Carrera Panamericana in 1953, an all-out road race through the Mexican hinterland. Started in 1950, Porsche, in its official capacity, had stayed away from the Panamericana for the first three years but still offered factory support to their customers who competed as privateers in the early 356 models. Still a fledgling manufacturer in 1953, Porsche decided to enter a full factory team consisting of two 550 Spyders powered by the racing version of their standard road going 1,500cc motor.
Results were encouraging if not spectacular in 1953, but when they returned in 1954, the fifth and final running of the event, the cars were fitted with the new four-cam engine. Against the backdrop of massive factory support of the Mercedes, Ferrari and other big teams, Hans Hermann brought the 550 Spyder home in third place overall. Although not an outright victory, it counted as one of Porsche’s most significant results as it placed the Stuttgart manufacturer’s name high up in the rankings along with the big names.
From that moment forward, the engine which powered the 550 Spyder in Mexico was known as the ‘Carrera’ engine, just as the motors which powered their cars at Le Mans were known as the ‘Le Mans’ engines by their mechanics. This was done simply in order to physically identify which motor one mechanic might be referring to when discussing developments back at the Stuttgart workshop. The name had a good ring to it and when the idea was proposed to develop a road going 356 with a four-cam motor, it was decided to name it the 356A 1500 GS Carrera Coupe in recognition of the company’s success in Mexico.
The Type 547 engine soldiered on in many race cars throughout the 1950s, developing as much as 180bhp in the very quick, purpose-built 904 racer. Taking around 100 man-hours to assemble, this motor was by far the most complex that Porsche had ever produced and was intended initially for racing purposes only. However, when the decision was taken to fit the 547 motor to a road car, it became company policy that the Carrera name would in future be given to the highest performing road car in the Porsche range.
That was fine while the 356 range was still current, but when the new 911 was introduced at the 1963 IAA in Frankfurt, there was no Carrera included in the model line-up. In fact it would be another nine years before the next Carrera model was introduced, that being the mighty Carrera RS 2.7 of 1973. Still an air-cooled motor, the Carrera RS was powered by the awesome 210bhp 2,687cc six-cylinder boxer motor, which could propel the car to an impressive 150mph.
Ferry Porsche was heard to say later, that had he known back in 1963 when the original 911 was introduced, that the engine capacity would be continuously increased, he would have designed it in such a manner so as to prevent this. Porsche was a firm believer in keeping the whole package as small as possible in order to increase speed, performance and overall handling. However, even this policy would run out of steam later as Porsche race cars were unable to match the big eight and twelve-cylinder prototype racers at Le Mans, leaving them to pick up a myriad class wins.
In 1974 the Carrera engine was increased to 2,994cc and in 1975 with the launch of the awesome Turbo, the Porsche engine was increased yet again to 3,299cc. This was all made possible through improved bore coatings, namely Nikasil, which allowed the engineers to increase bore diameter without increasing the stroke, thereby reducing cylinder wall thickness while retaining the same crankcase dimensions. The 911 Carrera model was discontinued in 1977 but by then the standard 911 was running with a powerful 3.0-litre engine.
The arrival of Peter Schutz as Chairman of the Board in 1981 saw a revival in the 911’s fortunes, as from 1983 onwards all 911 models were given the name of Carrera with the exception of the Turbo, which took over the mantle as the company’s top performing road car. In marketing terms, the justification for the broad use of the much-respected Carrera name across the whole 911 range, was to support flagging sales. For the 1984 model year, engine capacity of the 911 Carrera was again increased to 3,164cc and this power plant continued until the introduction of the 964 series Carrera 4 in 1989 which saw one of the biggest hikes in engine capacity to 3,600cc.
The 3.6-litre Carrera motor stayed with the 911 right through until the end of the 993 series in 1998. With the exception of the mighty Carrera RS 3.8 (1993), an awesome road legal racer and the Turbo which now also enjoyed a larger engine, the standard 3.6-litre was regarded as one of the most successful of Porsche’s engines. With smooth power delivery from their traditionally air-cooled motor, the 993 series Carrera is now a highly collectable model amongst 911 enthusiasts.
With the introduction of the 996 Carrera with its ‘Boxster eyes’ in 1998, Porsche opened a whole new chapter in their history with the all-new 3,387cc water-cooled boxer motor. Water cooling was almost forced upon Porsche as regulations now dictated that noise emissions had to be reduced, and this quieter, slightly smaller capacity engine delivered 300bhp (15bhp more than the outgoing 993 air-cooled 3.6-litre unit).
Few people would have thought it possible back in 1963 that the Stuttgart engineers would be able to continually increase the size of the 911’s engine to its biggest capacity of 3.8-litres (1993 Carrera RS), while still maintaining the original basic body shape. The body had grown unavoidably with increased customer demands for electric equipment such as power windows, air conditioning, sunroof, central locking, power seats, widow demisting – the list goes on. All of these electrically driven units required more power and inevitable that meant a bigger engine and of course a bigger body to accommodate all of that paraphernalia.
Introduced in 2002, the 997 Carrera and Carrera S once again offered increased engine capacity over its 996 predecessor. The Carrera was fitted with a 3.6-litre water-cooled engine (325bhp) while the Carrera S came with a 3.8-litre unit (355bhp).
The engineers have continued to develop and improve the 911 since its introduction forty-three years ago, and as one Porsche engineering veteran put it, “I think the 911 will be there for ever, there is no question about it. It has so much potential still to go”.
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