Porsche Museum’s Oldest 911 Ever, Now On Display

Presented to the public for the very first time—the 911 (901 No. 57) at the Porsche Museum.

Finally, after three years of restoration, an icon is given birth to… again. It is the Porsche 911 (901 No. 57), the oldest 911 in the Porsche Museum's possession, and it is majestic. Back then, it was known as the 901, but Peugeot claimed that it had been using three-digit numbers with a zero in the middle since 1929. To avoid further conflict, Porsche replaced the ‘0’ with ‘1’, and a legend was born.

For more than five decades, the Porsche 911 has been viewed as the most iconic sports car. There has never been any other sports car that has been as revered, and no other sports car has ever won so many races. It is THE personification of the Porsche brand.

The red coupe in the Porsche Museum, which was restored to its former glory, has a heartwarming story. It was actually a barn find, and this came about when a German TV crew, who was working on an antiques and memorabilia programme, stumbled across two 911 models dating back to the 1960s.

One of the cars had the chassis number 300.057, and it was discovered that it was built before the model line was renamed. Porsche Museum decided to buy both models and a makeover project commenced.

Being a barn find, the car was in a deplorable state and much work had to be done. The old 911 had not been restored in any way, which allowed the specialists at Porsche to restore it as closely as possible to the original. That painstaking effort took three long years and when it was brought back to life, we imagine that a euphoric feeling must have passed through the Porsche camp.

 The 911 is more than a car; it is a cultural icon that has and will continue to stand the test of time.