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"My first spin in a Porsche 911 was like learning the truth about Santa Claus. I&amp;#039;d just turned 25 and had spent almost that many years obsessing over the machine. Like a lot of people, I hung 911 posters on my wall and read every bit of magazine copy\u2014including the ads\u2014so often I could recite them on command. The press and the ownership cult presented the Porsche as something mythical, the embodiment of everything a sports car was expected to be. So on that day in 1995, when I climbed aboard and heard the sounds of the door closing and the engine firing, I figured I&amp;#039;d just hit the apogee of life. The car didn&amp;#039;t stand a chance.  In the years since, I&amp;#039;ve waffled between thinking the 911 was an overhyped, overpriced anachronism and completely falling for it. For the money, there are always quicker cars. A few years ago, I took out a then-new Carrera GTS. Fun piece, terrific steering, and so on, but the power-to-weight ratio wasn&amp;#039;t much better than that of a Boss Mustang, to say nothing of a Corvette. Yet thanks to the Porsche PR machine, at least two reviewers in this business called the $104,000 GTS a &amp;quot;bargain.&amp;quot; Porsches are never bargains, which isn&amp;#039;t the same thing as not being worth the money. The 911 is an antidote to increasing corporate sameness, and I&amp;#039;ve come to believe that&amp;#039;s worth every penny. The car&amp;#039;s sounds, the odd but immensely satisfying way it goes around a corner, and the combination of practicality and entertainment remain unmatched. I completely get the Porsche&amp;#039;s allure, which is why assembling this special anniversary issue\u2014over 50 pages of 911, more than we&amp;#039;ve ever devoted to one car\u2014was almost as much fun as driving one.  The hitch was adding something to the conversation. Countless volumes have been written about the 911, but we knew enough to realize there was still plenty of uncharted territory. In the process, we highlighted one of the things I love about the auto industry\u2014the successes are often less about calculated decisions than one man relying on instinct. The 911 succeeded in part because Porsche killed the more usable but ungainly sedan version, and it endured because company CEO Peter Schutz, an American, spared it from the gallows. The lesson is simple: If you&amp;#039;re lucky enough to be struck by lightning, don&amp;#039;t screw it up.   One snowy day last March, a friend of Executive Editor Sam Smith stopped by the office with a near-perfect 1995 Carrera, the last of the air-cooled models. Sam&amp;#039;s friend graciously threw me the keys, and I took a quick spin. The steering wheel jiggled over pavement ripples, and the suspension glided over bumps with fantastic compliance. To my mind, that chassis has the perfect combination of modern isolation and vintage feedback. Throw in the expansive view and back seats fit for my kids (Schutz once called them the car&amp;#039;s most important feature, because they introduced the next generation to the 911&amp;#039;s charms), and damn, I need one. I&amp;#039;ve been poring over classifieds ever since. After all, Christmas is only six months away. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a4262/editors-letter-50-years-of-911/>