Noises everywhere. From the engine, the transmission, the whole drive. A familiar soundscape, and yet louder and closer than what we are used to. It is the acoustics of a prototype.
Porsche constructed it to refine the teachings of the pure sports car, with a 911 Carrera whose aesthetic concept sought a closeness to motorsport. They later called it Club Sport.
A coupe which, according to the specifications, was supposed to be 100 kilograms lighter than the Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 of the time with its 231bhp. And thus a Porsche emerged, with its scaled-back purity turning the fascination of the 911 into an unforgettably authentic sports car experience.
The basis for the prototype was provided by a vehicle with the identification number WP0ZZZ91ZF100848. The “F” stands for the year 1985, while “848” is the serial production number. It is one of the sports car manufacturer’s great treasures, and a unique specimen, which helped Porsche become skilled in the art of renouncement.
Three decades after the vehicle was built, we have taken it back to where the story began: in Werk 1, the first Porsche plant, in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. Sitting inside the first 911 Carrera Club Sport, we follow in the tracks of its history, driving past the Porsche Museum to the right of the roundabout at Porscheplatz and turning off in the direction of Weissach.
This stretch of road has served as an automotive lifeline connecting Porsche Werk 1 and the Porsche Development Centre since the summer of 1971. People like Ferry and F. A. Porsche drove this route, and with them generations of engineers and designers.
Anyone who owns a Porsche, be it a new vehicle or a classic, should make a pilgrimage to these streets once in their lives – either before or after the local rush hour. It is a short journey through the geographical centre of the world of Porsche.
Just as in 1985, when that year’s “serial number” 848 took this route for the first time, late in the summer of 2016 we drive the 911 towards Weissach once more, round behind the small town of Schweiberdingen in the direction of Hemmingen, and later turning left to continue towards Weissach.
These are small country roads, on which great cars were fine-tuned. Cars such as the G-series Porsche 911 Carrera Club Sport, introduced in 1987 and built only 99 times.
From Weissach, we take this unique vehicle out into the Swabian Alps. These are routes on which Porsche engineers took cars such as the first 911 Carrera Club Sport to be honed and refined many years ago. 
We drive the one millionth 911 in Scotland.
Read about the four BMW M3 variants that didn’t make it past the prototype stage.
