See the Evolution of the Famed Porsche 911 in 7 Photos – WIRED

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Slide: 1 / of 7. Caption: Caption: 1963-1973: The original. Designed by Alexander Ferdinand Porsche, the 911 was the automaker's second production car, but the first that really mattered. Its basic design has evolved over the years, without losing its distinctive look.Porsche Archiv/Porsche-Werkfoto

Slide: 2 / of 7. Caption: Caption: 1974-1989: The G Model. A decade after its debut, the 911 had built its reputation, and there wasn't much sense in changing the car. The "G Model" hardly touched the proportions or interior, and skipped frills for elegant simplicity. Porsche Archiv/Porsche-Werkfoto

Slide: 3 / of 7. Caption: Caption: 1988-1994: The 964. The late 1980s weren't so good for Porsche, which was dealing with a sluggish German economy as well as heated competition from cars like Acura's NSX. And so it overhauled the 911, adding four-wheel drive, power steering, ABS, and a rear spoiler that deployed above 50 mph. Porsche Archiv/Porsche-Werkfoto

Slide: 4 / of 7. Caption: Caption: 1993-1996: The 993. Porsche boss Heinz Branitzky had hoped the 964 would serve for 25 years. Expensive to produce and beaten by the competition, it came nowhere close. So in 1993, the Germans brought out the 993. The last hurrah of the air-cooled Porsche, the 285-hp sports car offered improved, and more comfortable, handling. Porsche Archiv/Porsche-Werkfoto

Slide: 5 / of 7. Caption: Caption: 1997-2006: The 996. Heading into the new millennium, Porsche shocked traditionalists with the 996, the biggest break from the original look in more than 30 years of 911s. One 993 owner dismissed it as "a managerial limousine." It was a good car, Poschardt writes. Just not that good for a 911. And dropping the air-cooled engine for a water-based system still makes the old-school angry. Porsche Archiv/Porsche-Werkfoto

Slide: 6 / of 7. Caption: Caption: 2004-2013: The 997. The successor to the troublesome 996 didn't bring things all the way back to the original look, but it came close enough to calm the nerves of those happier in the past. The 997 added some of the athleticism missing from its predecessor, and was soon deemed a potential classic. Porsche Archiv/Porsche-Werkfoto

Slide: 7 / of 7. Caption: Caption: 2011- : The 991. Sitting alongside the car Ferdinand Alexander Porsche designed nearly 50 years earlier, the seventh generation of the 911 has clearly taken on modernity. The water-cooled engine stuck around, the edges softened, the nose extended. But anyone who spots it will recognize it as the Porsche 911. Porsche Archiv/Porsche-Werkfoto

The Porsche 911, like the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette, has pulled off the neat trick of remaining thoroughly modern yet utterly timeless. The latest models look a lot like the car that rolled into the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1963, making it instantly recognizable even to people with no interest in cars.

You could fill a small library with the books written about the venerable sports car from Stuttgart, and the newest is Porsche 911: The Ultimate Sportscar as Culture Icon by the almost perfectly named Ulf Poschardt. It details, in beautiful detail, the evolution of the 911.

The cars iconic status belies its humble origins with the VW Beetle, which Ferdinand Porsche designed. The Beetle begat the Porsche 956, which Poschardt describes asa functionalist manifesto. It emphasized aerodynamics, minimal weight, and practicalitycharacteristics his grandson, Ferdinand Butzi Porsche, emphasized when he set out to build a more comfortable, more powerful vehicle. That car, the 911, featuredtwo doors, four seats, and a roof that sloped from the windshield to the taillights, nearly covering the engine out back.

The 911 didnt get much attention at the Frankfurt Motor Show, according to Poschardt, but the design proved a winner. The details have changed in the five decades since, but the fundamental lines are just as beautiful today as they were then.