1966 Porsche 911 'SWB'
- 1966
- Polo Red
- Black Leatherette
- LHD
Type 901/01
Original Colours of Polo Red with Black Leatherette
Matching Numbers
The 911 traces its roots to sketches drawn by Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche in 1959. The Porsche 911 was developed as a more powerful, larger and a more comfortable replacement for the 356, the company's first model. The new car made its public debut at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show (German: Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung). The car was developed with the proof-of-concept twin-fan Type 745 flat-six engine, but the car presented at the auto show had a non-operational mockup of the single-fan 901 engine, receiving a working unit in February 1964.
It originally was designated as the "Porsche 901" (901 being its internal project number). A total of 82 cars were built as which were badged as 901s. However, French automobile manufacturer Peugeot protested on the grounds that in France it had exclusive rights to car names formed by three numbers with a zero in the middle. Instead of selling the new model with a different name in France, Porsche changed the name to 911. Internally, the cars' part numbers carried on the prefix 901 for years. Production began in September 1964, with the first 911s exported to the US in February 1965.
The first models of the 911 had a rear-mounted 130 hp (97 kW) Type 901/01 flat-6 engine, in the "boxer" configuration like the 356, the engine is air-cooled and displaces 1,991 cc (2.0 L) as compared to the 356's four-cylinder, 1,582 cc (1.6 L) unit. The car had four seats although the rear seats were small, thus it is usually called a 2+2 rather than a four-seater (the 356 was also a 2+2). A four or five-speed "Type 901" manual transmission was available. The styling was largely penned by Ferdinand "Butzi" Porsche, son of Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche. Butzi Porsche initially came up with a notchback design with proper space for seating two rear passengers but Ferry Porsche insisted that the 356's successor was to use its fastback styling. 7 prototypes were built based on Butzi Porsche's original design and were internally called the Porsche 754 T7. Erwin Komenda, the leader of the Porsche car body construction department who initially objected, was also involved later in the design.
Our car, chassis 304562, was built in May 1966 and supplied new via Porsche Cars America as per the Certificate of Authenticity. It was specified in Polo Red (6602) with Black Leatherette as the car is presented today, Optional equipment included Webasto, Antenna, Coloured Windows, Hubcaps with Porsche Crest and safety belts. It is believed this was as one owner, 55k miles car in America before it was brought to the UK for a comprehensive restoration. In April of 2023, Autofarm serviced the car and without doubt, one of the best presented 911 SWB’s.
Now available for viewing at our central London showroom.
