2010 Porsche 911 Turbo

Driving a 911 Turbo is like coming home. It was the subject of my very first feature story in Automobile Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 1, page 71. My 3000-mile drive from Detroit to Porsche's new Reno, Nevada, headquarters was to celebrate the return of the 911 Turbo to America after an absence of five years. I remember the opening quote from our then-technical editor, Trant Jarman: "I've got a suspicion that this car can be quite naughty. And you just know that if the cops get you, they're gonna make you take off all your clothes." And that Turbo produced a screaming 282 horsepower and a mind-bending 287 pounds-feet of torque. That would be about the power of today's Volvo station wagon. There is a reason the word "Porschephile" exists. There is a reason the Porsche Club of America has such a robust membership, fond of long communal drives and track days. The 911 Turbo is driver's dream, challenging your body of knowledge, rewarding your skill and attention to detail behind the wheel. With its seven-speed dual clutch transmission, torque vectoring, active suspension, stability management, and dynamic cornering headlights, today's Turbo is like today's home -- extremely high-tech and more usable than ever. But it's still a special car and forever in the pantheon of my all-time greats.
- Jean Jennings, Editor-in-chief