Given the outsize popularity of the air-cooled 911, this may come as a surprise.
In commemoration of the millionth 911, Porsche released a video showing the evolution of the model, charting how many were built up to each generation change. From 1963 to 1998, when the last air-cooled model was completed, Porsche had built 443,134 911s in total. Around that time, Porsche introduced the 996-generation 911, which was the first to be water-cooled.
From the 996's
introduction up until now, 556,866 911s have been built, constituting a
significant majority of Porsche's rear-engine sports car.
At
first, this was is a surprising revelation given both the huge
popularity of air-cooled 911s and the fact that they were in production
for 35 years. Porsche has only been making water-cooled 911s for around
20 years, by comparison.
This figure makes sense, though. Porsche saw a huge uptick in sales with the introduction of the 996, and both the 997 and today's 991 have seen similar success. The last 20 years have been good to the Porsche 911.
