The early development of the 901 was centralized around a proven concept – develop another air-cooled, rear-engine sports car, but this time equip it with a more-powerful six-cylinder “boxer” engine. Much as his father, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, had done for him a generation earlier, Ferry Porsche entrusted the body design of the Porsche 901 to his eldest son, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche (F.A.).

 

The decision to utilize Ferdinand Alexander created an upheaval within the Porsche organization. It had been assumed that Erwin Komenda, who had developed the body design for the Porsche 356 and led the body design department up to that point, would be responsible for the 901’s design. F.A. Porsche complained that Komenda made unauthorized changes to his design and caused internal strife within the group. As the design took shape, Ferry Porsche took his son’s drawings to neighboring chassis manufacturer Reuter to fabricate the first prototypes of the Porsche 901 design.

 

The car’s success at the Frankfurt Auto Show proved unequivocally that production of the 901 would begin as soon as the Porsche facilities could re-tool to begin production. There were still a good number of 356 C orders to be filled, and while production of the 356 C would continue for at least another year while additional engineering was completed on the 901, public appeal for the new car seemed very promising.

 

In September 14, 1964, production on the new Porsche 901 began and over the following week, a total of 82 cars were manufactured. One of the Porsche 901 prototypes was transported to the Paris Motor Show in October, 1964, and was once more well received by almost everyone – except for the executives of the French car manufacturer Peugeot.

 

Peugeot objected to the “901” designation because they too had patented a three-digit numeric designation for one of their cars that contained a zero as the middle digit. They asserted that they had ownership over the naming convention and had already sold many models in multiple markets bearing the same designation. Porsche’s solution? Change the middle “0” to “1” and call the car the Porsche 911.

 

Officially, the 901’s that had already been constructed were used for testing and for additional exhibitions, and Porsche never sold any of the original 82 units to private customers.

​

Production of the Porsche 911 began in September 1964.

 

The 1964 911 featured a four-seat configuration, although the rear seats were small – and considered too small to be used by anyone but a small child. As such, the car was designated as a “2+2” rather than a true four-seater.

 

The Porsche 911 came equipped with either a four- or five-speed manual “Type 901” transmission. The outward styling of the car maintained the conceptual elements originally drafted by Ferdinand Porsche, with many elements ultimately added by Erwin Komenda (who initially objected to Ferdinand’s involvement with the design).

 

By the 1960’s, the popularity of the Porsche 356 had won over the hearts and imaginations of many Americans. While in its humble beginnings Porsche may have initially focused on developing its automobiles for a European market, a large focus was placed on marketing the 911 to the United States. Left-hand drive Porsche 911’s began production almost immediately and the first 911’s were marketed to the United States in February, 1965.

​

Source: supercars.net