With the production of one last 911 Speedster, Porsche officially completed production of the 991-generation 911. Its successor, the 992, already started production. Now that Porsche has finished making the special editions of the old car, there's room to start expanding the 992 lineup.

And while the new 992s will certainly be faster and more luxurious than the 991 models they replace, the 991 was a deeply important and seriously good car. It represented Porsche's best attempts to balance a changing car market with an enthusiast-oriented brand identity, with the car getting bigger and more luxurious while also offering stripped-out enthusiast specials like the 911 R and GT3 Touring.

It wasn't always perfect—there was a moment when it looked like the manual-transmission option in GT3 wouldn't return, for instance—but the 991 showed that a company could build performance-focused, well-executed sports cars and still make money doing so. Even as Porsche's lineup of crossovers and sedans has come to make up the vast majority of the company's sales and profits, the constant iterations and special versions of the 991 made clear that Porsche remains committed to its most loyal fans.

And they, to Porsche. That sort of investment was only possible because of how readily 991s were snapped up, from the basic Carreras to the $274,500 Speedster. All told, Porsche made 233,540 991s worldwide. That sort of money-where-our-mouths-are commitment from enthusiasts is why, as other sports car teeter on the edge of cancellation, the 911 will live on as an expansive lineup of enthusiast sports cars.

It may not be the leanest or rarest 911, but the 991 was a fantastic car.

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