Autoportal India

Porsche has long been expert at putting new variants into even the tiniest of niches, a smorgasbord strategy that creates a plethora of possibilities. With the current 911, the range runs from the basic Carrera to the S and the GTS and on to the twin pinnacles of the motorsports-inspired GT3 and the supercar-baiting Turbo S. Throw in cabriolet and Targa variants, and the ability to select either rear- or all-wheel drive and manual or PDK dual-clutch transmissions on much of the range, and you have a bewildering array of choices—and that’s before considering the options list that’s longer and more financially punishing than the German tax code. You could spend days with the online configurator without ever finding the perfect solution.

The new Sport Classic, then, could be a perfect shortcut for those who are rich in cash but short on time to make such tricky decisions, or who want to make some otherwise impossible combinations. In essence it is a rear-drive version of the normally all-wheel-drive Turbo, one that also comes with a standard-fit seven-speed manual gearbox in place of the PDK that is mandatory in the Turbo, plus pretty much a full set of ticked option boxes. You’ll notice it also has a ducktail spoiler.

This is because the Sport Classic is one of Porsche’s Heritage Design limited-run models, which take inspiration from different eras of the company’s history. In the Sport Classic’s case, that era is the late ’60s and early ’70s, with the fixed wing clearly referencing the famous ducktail worn by the 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7. Other retro design touches in the new car include Fuchs-style alloy wheels, checked cloth inserts on the seats and the door panels, and gold badging. The red in the Porsche logos is the more orange shade the company used back when sex was safe and racing was dangerous.

This is because the Sport Classic is one of Porsche’s Heritage Design limited-run models, which take inspiration from different eras of the company’s history. In the Sport Classic’s case, that era is the late ’60s and early ’70s, with the fixed wing clearly referencing the famous ducktail worn by the 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7. Other retro design touches in the new car include Fuchs-style alloy wheels, checked cloth inserts on the seats and the door panels, and gold badging. The red in the Porsche logos is the more orange shade the company used back when sex was safe and racing was dangerous.

The Sport Classic might look (slightly) like an RS 2.7, but it doesn’t drive like one. That’s unsurprising given that the new car weighs over 60 percent more than its famous predecessor and has two-and-a-half times more power. It’s also because the 2023 Sport Classic’s dynamic character feels close to the 911 Turbo on which it’s based. Power and torque have been reduced slightly due to the limitations of the manual gearbox—the SC’s 543 horsepower and 442 pound-feet representing reductions of 29 horsepower and 111 pound-feet, respectively, but the character of the 3.7-liter flat-six remains intact, with little lag and huge midrange muscle.

The Sport Classic might be the most powerful 992-generation 911 to be offered with a manual gearbox, but beyond novelty, the stick shift really isn’t a significant highlight. There are two reasons for this: The first is that as a product of the regular 911 clan rather than the Motorsport line, the SC uses the seven-speed gearbox, which has less precise shift action than the GT3’s scalpel-sharp six-speeder and the complexity of four planes.

The gearbox handles direct shifts between consecutive ratios cleanly and features a rev-matching function to smooth downshifts. But we sometimes found ourselves lost when trying to skip intermediate gears or move across planes, often ending up in fifth when looking for third, or even seventh when aiming for fifth.