Porsche 911 964

The Porsche 964 is the 911 that had to grow up without losing its soul. Launched in 1989 and built through 1994, it looks like a classic 911 with smoothed-over bumpers, but Porsche actually rebuilt roughly 85% of the car underneath. Out went the torsion-bar suspension; in came coil springs, power steering, ABS, and a heater you could operate without a degree in interpretive dance. The heart, however, stayed pure: a 3.6-liter air-cooled flat-six, still hung defiantly out behind the rear axle.

The 964 debuted as the Carrera 4, the first all-wheel-drive 911, borrowing tech trickled down from the otherworldly 959. For the purists, the rear-drive Carrera 2 followed, and just as importantly, the 964 arrived when Porsche was on financially shaky ground and quietly proved there was still a hungry global audience for the rear-engined sports-oddball. In a some ways, it's the car that kept Porsche's lights on (alongside some strategic collabs with Audi).

These days the 964 occupies the perfect middle-ground between the classic Porsche look and more modern car design, and serve as the canvas of choice for coveted restomods like Singer, who start with a 964 and turn it into rolling art. Whether you want the everyday-usable air-cooled 911, the all-weather confidence of a Carrera 4, or the foundation for your own seven-figure reimagined dream, the 964 is a brilliant bridge between old and new.