ELUSIVE

It's got it's name on a bunch of Porsche's, my watch and tons of my ski gear.....
Does anyone know where this word comes from?
Just curious.

Stacey

Coochas

Found this thread on flat-6: http://www.theautobahn.com/forum/arc...php/t-937.html
It says that in the 1950s there was a South American race, the Carrera Panamerica, that Porsche did well in....Carrera is also Spanish for "race."
Whether or not this is all true I have no idea !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Leader

Carrera does, in fact, mean race in Spanish.

icruze

Coochas is right, the car was named after the Carrera Panamerica a 2000 mile endurance race in Mexico. If you look at the 2006 sales booklet on the 911 you get from the dealer it discusses this. (I'm waiting for delivery of mine so I re-read it when I need my 911 fix...I need help )

rjmaclean

Since were on the topic - why does the 911 Carrera series skip from 993 to 996?

_____________________________

'06 997 C2S Seal Gray / Full Black leather

djantlive

Because Porsche felt it was a significant departure.

Chris 996

The word "Carrera" is Spanish in origin meaning "race". This concise term outlines the company's philosophy and identity. Since the introduction of Carrera in 1963 this great brand became clear market leader in the German-speaking area and nowadays is a worldwide leading manufacturer of slot car racing. For 40 years Carrera has been a synonym for racing pleasure, action, speed and excitement at top level. The history of Carrera makes it possible to bring the world of motor sport into one's own four walls.

I like the idea that the word Carrera has adopted it's own definition: For 40 years Carrera has been a synonym for racing pleasure, action, speed and excitement at top level.

Vancouver83LTD

no
because the 996 was ready to be launched for the 1996 model year, and it wasn't that far from 993. In reality both the 996 and 986 were ready to be launched in 1996 for the 97' model year, but the 993 was so well received the boxster bowed first and the 996 came later, in 1998/1999

Kevin H. in Atl..

Please explain 964, 955, 987, 997, 924, 944, etc.

Le Chef

The number sequence is not tied to "significant change" as in new models. Porsche use a numbering sequence to signify engineering projects, some may be small some may be big. Between 993 and 996 were 2 other engineering projects that probably dealt with things we saw on 996 or 997 or will come later - e.g. PASM, or the PDK gearbox we have yet to see.

The numbers also having nothing to do with the year of launch. The original 911 was project # 901 and was launched as such in 1964 (no reference to date there). It only became "911" when Peugeot made it clear that they had registered all 3 digit numbers with a zero on the middle, forcing Porsche to change to 911.

Cogito

It worked so well for the Carrera they're using the other half of that race's name for the new sedan,
the Panamera?
From Coochas' post ...... "It says that in the 1950s there was a South American race, the Carrera Panamerica, that Porsche did well in....Carrera is also Spanish for 'race' ".

Dan V

some additional info I found on this legendary name:

14 pre-A Porsche 356 Carrera Speedster were made in 1955. It is very difficult to define the exact specification of these first models. They were regular Speedsters equipped with the four-cam engine and different options, built to the buyers' needs. The very first cars did not carry the Carrera name as it was not used by Porsche back then. At the Paris Salon in October 1955 the first pre-A speedster with Carrera badging, believed to be # 81060, was shown to the public.

In 1956, the Porsche 356 Carrera Speedster was a full production car and was mentioned in the brochures. The cars did not differ a lot from their non-Carrera (1600cc and 1600cc super) counterparts except for their engine of course. The Carrera 356's were misunderstood and misused by some. Regular Porsche owners were not used to revving their cars up to 6000 rpm and more. However, the Carrera engine was a (slightly) tuned-down racing engine built to perform in the higher rev-ranges.

Coochas

I just have to say that this IS an interesting thread!!! There's some cool history here.

InTheAir

Ditto.

pcar964

You spend $50 grand on a sportscar, and... ahh, never mind...