Liberty Lake dealership rolls out new Porsche 911

A bit of automotive past and present came together Saturday at an area dealership.

Porsche aficionados – some call themselves “addicts” – ogled a collection of every generation of the Porsche 911 at Porsche of Spokane in Liberty Lake. They also celebrated the unveiling of the new Porsche 911 – the seventh generation since its 1963 inception.

“There’s an enormous amount of history,” sales manager Klaus Kindor said about the vintage cars. The collection was assembled by the Inland Northwest Porsche Club.

Considered one of the world’s most revered sports cars, the Porsche 911 has largely remained the same over the years. But the new 911 is different from its forebear in many ways.

“It’s a brand new car from the ground up,” Kindor said. “It really is a special car.”

The new 911’s wheelbase is longer, the car is wider, it weighs less and, perhaps most importantly, it’s “faster than its predecessor,” Kindor said.

The car, which boasts 400 horsepower, goes from zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds. Its base price for the S-model is $96,400, Kindor said. The one that was unveiled Saturday costs $126,000.

Race car driver Tony “a2z” Adamowicz, who embodies a huge amount of Porsche history himself, also attended.

Adamowicz brought Porsche its first Trans-Am racing championship in 1968 and is the only U.S. driver to ever race the iconic Porsche 917K – “The Holy Grail of Porsche,” he said – in competition.

“So I’ve been in the Porsche realm for quite a bit,” said Adamowicz, who’s 70 and still competing in races. “It’s addictive. It stays with you.”

The second car he ever bought was a Porsche, and he’s since purchased many more, he said.

“It still gives you that feeling,” he said of the newly unveiled 2012 Porsche 911. “That feeling that really only Porsche people know. Everything about the car represents an evolution of the Porsche.”

But there are two schools of thought when it comes to the 911. Some say the last “real” 911 was made in 1998, the final year the car was produced with an air-cooled engine before it switched to a water-cooled engine.

Regardless, more than 100 car lovers gathered at the dealership to enjoy the German autos – both the new and the old.

Bill Simer, with the Porsche Club of America Inland Northwest Region, had his pristine white 1970 Porsche 911S on display. He said he owns 12 Porsches in all.

“It’s a passion,” Simer said. “I like them all.”