The 911 story began in 1963. The '901' as it first debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show was powered by a 2.0 litre air-cooled flat-six producing 130bhp, reaching 62mph in 9.1 seconds and butting up against the limit of physics at 130mph.

Since the days of the 901 however, things have gotten rather out of hand. We champion Porsche’s of the ‘80s, ‘90s and early 2000’s as pure drivers cars. To this day a 997 GT3 RS remains one of the most coveted track day weapons ever created, while many a tale of remorse has been shared in this office about a 993 that got away...

However, after a customer’s 991 Carrera T became the subject of a test drive, it became immediately clear that this was something special.

Lucky owners could choose between a short-ratio seven-speed manual gearbox complete with a shorter, more direct gear selector or Porsche’s slick seven-speed PDK. Power is sent exclusively to the rear wheels through a mechanical limited-slip differential, and Porsche’s Active Suspension Management (PASM) system. It’s a very back to basics approach that, try as we might, find it hard to fault.

Porsche exercised admirable restraint with the power output of the 991 Carrera T. The 3.0 litre twin-turbo flat-six was already capable of producing 370bhp and 450Nm of torque, just like the standard Carrera, enough for a 0–62mph sprint in just 4.5 seconds. Instead, they considered the full package, ditching weight where possible.

Compared with the standard Carrera, the T sheds around 35kg of bulk from the overall weight, that’s an entire child! But don’t feel bad about leaving the young ones with the grandparents, as along with lightweight glass, reduced sound deadening and lightweight sports seats, you can opt to remove the rear seats altogether!