The year was 1974. Porsche was basking in the success of the 911 Carrera RS 2.7, which boasted 210bhp. And just like that, the 911 Turbo (930) entered the arena with 260 horses and a top speed of 155mph. The sprint to 60 came in under 6 seconds.

We have Professor Ernst Fuhrmann, a Porsche design engineer, to thank for taking lessons learned from racing and applying them to the first road-going, turbocharged and pressure regulated, production sports car. There had been previous attempts by other car manufacturers at turbocharging production cars, however, none more famous than the first Porsche 911 Turbo.

Porsche didn't invent the turbo, they merely took it to the next level. The turbocharger was patented in 1905, and was common on diesel truck engines by the 1950s. More directly though, Porsche was taken with BMW's attempt at turbocharging one of their racers in 1969. Porsche stepped into Can-Am with their 917, powered by a 5.4L flat-12 turbocharged to over 1000bhp. This of course, prompted rules changes in Can-Am racing.

Porsche introduced the first 911 Turbo in 1973 at the Paris Auto Show. While it wasn't in production yet, their intent was clear. With the engine of the Carrera RS 2.7 increased to 3.0L, it found it's way into the production 930 launched in 1975. The car came across the Atlantic for 1976 thru 1979, however, various reasons kept Porsche from importing it to the United States from 1981 to 1985. Many European spec 930s made their way stateside though, through grey-market channels. The mighty 930 returned to America in 1986, and ran through the end of 930 production in 1989.

The information and picture presented above is taken, in part, from PORSCHE: Generations of Genius, written by Brian Laban, published by Chartwell Books, Inc.

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