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While most people know the story of how the pre-production 959 took victory under the gruelling desert conditions of the Paris-Dakar, much less is known about the testing these cars underwent in the opposite extreme.⁠
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Very few cameras were present when Porsche took these prototypes through the upper latitudes of Sweden and Norway. Unlike the Dakar, these tests were totally shielded from the media, so the photos that do exist are few and far in between.⁠
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Famously, the 959 was dependent on a number of electronic systems that simply hadn’t been offered on production cars by then, add to that an all-wheel-drive system that Porsche were also trying for the first time. Nobody knew how these would fare in temperatures this low, so they insisted that the same cars used for high speed testing on Italy’s Nardo test track should be just as reliable on Norway’s North Cape, the northernmost point of mainland Europe.⁠
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The tests led to a few design alterations on the final production cars, but the prototypes crucially all survived. One of them even went on to be owned by Dr Ferdinand Piëch, who is said to have daily driven it to and from work in Germany.⁠
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So if you own a 959 and you want to spend your summers in the Sahara and your winters in Greenland, you can thank a handful of engineers in 1980s Stuttgart for making that possible.⁠
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Photos by Porsche⁠
Words by for Type 7

This shoot had been on my mind since last summer 💭

I had known the cars, and their owners, for years. Barcelona-based collectors, focused on rare specifications and less common models, and the 964 Jubilee fits naturally within that criteria.

In March 1993, Porsche introduced the 911 “30 Jahre” at the Geneva Motor Show. Also known as the Anniversary model, or simply “Jubi”, it was created to celebrate 30 years of the 911.

The car was based on the 964 Carrera 4 but used the wider Turbo-Look body, powered by a naturally aspirated engine and all-wheel drive. An unusual combination at the time, but later more commonplace with models like the Carrera 4S.

Production ran between 1993 and 1994. The majority were built for the German market, With only 7 cars destined for Spain.

The 964 Jubilee Register feels almost confidential. A small, tightly connected group of owners, quietly documenting the cars. Not all of them are accounted for, but enough to identify patterns in colours and specifications.

We left Barcelona early, before traffic started. The road into the Penedès was empty, which made it easier to focus on the cars.

Silver paint highlights the shape of the 964 most clearly, emphasising the width and proportions of the metalwork. The purple is more difficult to read. Without direct light, it appears almost black, though the violet tones become obvious in sunlight. The red is different again. It’s a factory one-off. Deep, dense, with very limited reflections.

Even inside, the differences remain noticeable. In the red car, more light enters the cabin. Blue tones appear along the top of the windscreen, along with reflections from the exterior paint.
In the purple car, the darker exterior reduces reflections, and the cabin feels more uniform.
The silver sits in between, with a more neutral result.

We parked the cars side by side in an abandoned village in the heart of the Penedès. Silent and untouched, it provided the ideal place to compare them properly, appreciate the subtle differences between each example. Three cars based on the same concept, each with their own distinct character.

Photos and words by for Type 7

“I came up with this car based on a desire to ‘build one like we used to’. I was surfing the web looking at cars and came across it. No flares, barely running, etc… That’s when I asked my friend of 20+ years Marco to take on helping me”.⁠
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A 90s RS drivetrain in a 70s body. The interchangeability of parts between Porsche models is part of what made them so popular with hot rodders, the idea that you can take parts manufactured decades apart and adapt them together to create the finished package you want is an enticing formula for anyone used to the struggles of working on cars.⁠
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Nowadays modifying Porsches is a highly commercialised practice, but the old-school car builders are still around if you know where to look. James Shira did not create The Deuce to make a profit out of it, he just wanted to see what would happen if he tried.⁠
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“The car is mechanically set up. Paint and body are next but not pressing, I just want to use the car now and enjoy it without worrying about paint chips etc… I like to take the car out in the evenings after the traffic dies down and I can find some open road. The car loves being pushed. I’ve also picked my kids up from school in it which gets some unusual looks from the other parents, she’s a loud car!⁠
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I’ve made a lot of friends through the Porsche community. I also did my first restoration in a public storage unit outside of NYC, and getting that car running and driving was a big emotional thing for me. My dad, who passed a few years ago, was a huge automotive guy. We used to work on cars in our little California garage when I was a kid, and we’d go to all the car shows too. One of his go-to moves was ‘big engine, small car’. In a way, I’m still hanging out with him today via my builds.”⁠
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Photos and Interview by Jonathan Harper for Type 7⁠
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Part 2/2

Nine cubes of frosted glass, stacked and scattered across a pool of still water in Xinxiang, China. From the air at dusk, the whole thing glows like something found on another planet 🧊
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Completed in 2021 by Zone of Utopia and Mathieu Forest Architecte, with interiors by WUZ Design and engineering by Arup, the Xinxiang Cultural Tourism Center anchors a new tourism district in Henan province dedicated to winter sports. The architects took the ice brief about as literally as it gets. The glass panels carry a printed frost crystal motif that shifts between opacity and transparency depending on the light, turning near-white at certain hours and almost entirely see-through at others.⁠
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Inside: a restaurant, cafe, shops, reading rooms and children’s spaces, all threaded through with open-air terraces carved from the gaps where one cube overhangs another. Those triangular voids are the quietly brilliant move. They give the whole composition its sense of precariousness, like it could tumble at any moment, which is precisely why you can’t stop looking at it.⁠
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Photos by Arch-Exist

Porsche Speed Yellow (SY) is one of those rare colours that simply works 💛

While many yellows fade under harsh sunlight or lose their character in the shadows, Speed Yellow holds its depth and presence in all conditions. It photographs beautifully not because it’s loud, but because it’s confident, always vibrant, always consistent.⁠
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First introduced in 1991 on the 964RS, Speed Yellow became synonymous with Porsche’s most focused RS and GT models throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Yet some of its most compelling appearances are the unexpected ones. On narrow-body 911s, early Boxsters, Caymans, and even the 968, it highlights purity rather than aggression. The colour beautifully complements the clean uncluttered body lines of the aforementioned cars allowing the design to speak clearly and honestly, and is more effective I believe on these cars than the aggressive looking RS and GTs.⁠
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GT models may dominate the conversation today, often treated as the ultimate prize, but that perspective misses something important. When someone says, “It’s just a base Carrera,” it undersells what these cars truly represent. The narrow-body Carrera is the 911 in its purest expression. It doesn’t need embellishment to justify itself.⁠
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The narrow-body 964 and 993 are the perfect example of this. They mark the final chapters of the air-cooled story, a lineage that began with the original short-wheelbase 901 in 1963. But they aren’t merely the end of an era; they are a celebration of everything that came before. In that context, Speed Yellow feels perfectly at home, bold, authentic, and unapologetically Porsche.⁠
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Photos and words by Simon Jessop | UK Photographer for Type 7