Porsche 901

The Porsche 901 was the name originally intended for the Porsche 911. Porsche presented its successor to the 356 as the 901 at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1963, and the cars were built in late 1964, 82 between 14 September and 16 November, and shown at the Paris Auto Salon in October. Officially those cars were used for testing and exhibitions and none went to private customers, though several later reached private owners. Peugeot objected to Porsche using any three digit number with a zero in the middle, so Porsche replaced the 0 with a 1 and called the car the 911. The same rule led to the 904 being sold as the Carrera GTS and the 906 as the Carrera 6. Enthusiasts still use 901 for the five-speed aluminum gearbox of early 911s.