LOS ANGELES — Of all the awesome cars packed into the L.A. Auto Show, this vintage Porsche was the one we most wanted to drive home.
We’re suckers for small sports cars, and this 1961 718/8 W-RS Spyder stole our hearts. What’s not to like? It’s small, it’s nimble and with 210 horsepower it’s got all the power we need to make the drive home on Highway 1 an absolute joy. Yeah, yeah, 210 ponies is nothing these days. But this car isn’t about brute power. It’s about finesse, and you can’t tell us this car wouldn’t be a blast on a tight, winding road.
Don’t take our word for it. Take Dan Gurney’s. He and co-driver Joachim Bonnier took second — behind a Ferrari — in this very car’s debut at the famed Targa Florio endurance race in 1961. The four-cylinder engine was swapped for an eight-cylinder in 1962, and the car won its class at the Targa Florio and the 1000 Km of Nurburgring. It finished second in the World Cup of Speed and Endurance that year. The little Porsche that could came back for the 1963 season, an unusually long lifespan that earned the car the nickname “Grandma” among the mechanics.
The 718 gave way to the equally beautiful 904 — which remains one of our favorite Porsches. And though Porsche doesn’t build them quite like this anymore, some of the 718’s DNA can be found in the new Boxster Spyder that Porsche unveiled here last week. At $61,200, the Boxster is a little more financially feasible, if not quite as cool.
Photos: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
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