The tale may be apocryphal and the quote certainly isn't verbatim, but anyone who has fallen under the spell of arguably the world's most successful sports car will probably choose to take as gospel the alleged response of Dieter Rams to a journalist who asked why he chose to drive a Porsche 911. 

With a quizzical look (and, I like to think, a slightly raised eyebrow) the doyen of German modern industrial design is said to have replied: "Simply because it is the most efficient means yet devised of travelling quickly by road from A to B...." 

The question this article is intended to answer is simple, too: "How did the Porsche 911 become an icon?"

Porsche 911SC xray breakdown from A Collected Man Lonodn

The anatomy of an icon, with an inside view of the Porsche 911.


The answer, however, is anything but - in fact, it can be compared to asking how the Rolex Submariner achieved the same status and, indeed, it's probably fair to say that the two have a great deal in common in terms of the 'form and function' requirements which have always been so intrinsic to Rams's creations. 

In fact, both meet nine of the criteria that Rams set-out in his famous 10-point design ethos - namely innovation, usefulness, 'understandability', unobtrusiveness, honesty, longevity and not 'over done'. Only the Rolex, however, truly meets point number 10: environmental friendliness. But nine out of 10 ain't bad, (as Meatloaf didn't say).

At this point, it's probably worth mentioning that I have owned and enjoyed a 911 for the past 15 years. Like many people who are 'into cars', buying a 911 had long been a goal that simply had to be achieved and, after years of thinking about how I couldn't afford one, I was suddenly seized with an inexplicable 'now or never' urge.

It happened so suddenly, in fact, that I didn't even give myself time to look into the myriad pros and cons of ownership, the upsides and downsides of different models or whether or not I wanted a coupe, a cabriolet or a Targa; an E, a T, a Carrera, an SC or an RS; an early car with slim bumpers or a later one with impact bumpers  - or a two-litre, a 2.4, a 2.7, a three-litre, a 3.6, a Turbo, a 964 or a 993. And as for gearboxes - did I care if the car I ended up with had a type 901, 911, 915 or G50? Not a jot.