From Saturdays to Mondays this month I’ll be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Porsche 911, a model which was originally called the 901.

In 1959 a prototype 4 seat two door Porsche, sketched out by Ferdinand “Butzi” Porsche, was built known variously as the 695, T7 and 754, the front and extreme rear of which bears a resemblance to today’s featured Porsche 901 and later Porsche 911, but it had a more upright rear window than the coupé 2+2 of the later models.

The first public appearance of the Porsche 901 with a mock up 128hp, 2 litre, flat 6 motor was at the 1963 Frankfurt Motor Show. When the 901 was presented at the 1964 Paris Auto Salon Peugeot took exception to the 901 moniker as they were globally known for their model names featuring three digits with a ‘0’ in the middle. Porsche, after a legal dispute which Peugeot won, changed the name of their new model to 911, however not before 82 901’s had been completed as prototypes and show cars.

Of the 82 901 models built a few made it into private hands, one of which today’s featured car #27 is said to have been sold off the 1964 Earls Court Motor Show stand to an aeronautical engineer called Mr Sorjo Ranta. Mr Ranta kept the car until selling it to Ruf family, known for their Porsche tuning and restyling business.

Note some open sources say the RUF owned 901 is #37, if you happen to definitively know which number is correct please chime in below with references if possible, the #27 was quoted from the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d”Elegance information board at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Thanks for joining me on this “It’s not a Peugeot” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for a look at a 1967 Porsche 911R Replica. Don’t forget to come back now !