Tech
Porsche Debuts 50th Anniversary 911 Turbo
Porsche never forgets an anniversary, and 2025 happens to mark 50 years since the debut of the first 911 Turbo in 1975. How to celebrate? By building a special edition, of course. Break out your checkbooks, 911-ophiles, because the order banks are open for the 2025 911 Turbo 50 Years. To snag one, all you need is an appreciation for forced-induction history and a check for $263,095.
The Turbo 50 Years is based on the current 2025 911 Turbo S, which means it gets a 3.7-liter flat-six that makes 640 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque, sent through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. The hardware doesn’t much change compared to a standard Turbo S—suspension is lowered by 0.4 inch, and there’s a sport exhaust system with black tailpipes—but the graphics and color scheme are all about exulting the turbocharger.
Decals on the side of the car recall the 1973 RSR Turbo that presaged the production 930, and the wheels and inlays are painted in a color called Turbonite. A badge on the decklid depicts a turbocharger, and the puddle lights even project turbocharger images on the ground beside the car.
The interior gets the throwback treatment with tartan upholstery and plenty of Turbo 50 shoutouts scattered about, including on a numbered plaque above the glove box. Owners wishing to lean into the retro vibe even harder can spec the Heritage Design package that brings sport classic wheels and, if you’re so inclined, the lollipop-style race numbers on the doors. You can choose any number you want, as long as it’s between 0 and 99.
But is there a special watch available to buyers of the Turbo 50 Years? Glad you asked, and the answer is of course. Porsche Design is also building 1974 chronographs that stick with the theme, including Turbonite elements and a strap fashioned from the same black leather used in the car. A clear case allows a view of the winding rotor, which is styled to resemble the wheels on the car. One cannot accuse Porsche of ever wandering off-brand.
The Turbo honorific, once synonymous with the extra-spicy Porsche 911s, has been diluted to the point that Porsche itself applies it to cars that don’t even have engines while withholding it from models that actually do use turbochargers. But the 911 Turbo 50 Years is here to remind the world, or at least everyone else in the valet line at Nobu, where it all started.
Ezra Dyer is a Car and Driver senior editor and columnist. He’s now based in North Carolina but still remembers how to turn right. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and once drove 206 mph. Those facts are mutually exclusive.