Back in 1981, Porsche was going to get rid of the 911. The 928 was always meant to replace the 911 as the company’s top model, and the 911 was always going to become a thing of the past. Even though 911 was still very popular in the 1970s and early 1980s, Porsche wasn’t going to make any changes to it until they stopped making it altogether. Obviously, that didn’t happen, and the fact that the 911 is still going strong after 42 years is proof of that. The new CEO at the time, Peter Schutz, saved the car from being thrown away. The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, has put together the perfect exhibit to show how the 911 came back from the brink of death to become one of the most famous sports cars of all time. It’s called Porsche 911: The Evolution of an Icon, which is a good name for the show.
This show opens on Thursday and has 16 amazing Porsches from members of the North Ohio Region PCA who live in Cleveland. There are a dozen 911s at the event, including everything from a 1980 911 SC Targa to a 2003 996 GT3 Supercup. An early production 928, a beautiful 944 Turbo that was modified by Andial, and possibly the nicest 986 Boxster still in existence help show how the 911 has changed over time. The 959 Komfort, the tech-giant Porsche of the future, is the perfect way to finish off the show. This exhibit is a must-see if you don’t know much about Porsche’s history from the early 1980s to the present day. You can find out more at thecrawfordmuseum.org. It runs from November 17, 2022, to April 2, 2023.
