Type 7 | The Outback Turbo

The Outback Turbo

The story of how the first water-cooled 911 Turbo proved its worth with Porsche Australia.

Picture the scene: it’s 2000, the 996-generation Turbo is just landing on the shores of Australia, and Porsche have a perfect plan to drive a Speed Yellow example via the scenic route to the very top of the continent.

Photographer Peter Watkins captured the drive, heading along the 640km long, almost entirely unpaved, Cape York Developmental Road towards the finish at the Cape York Peninsula, which sits at the very northern tip of the country.

To make the trip possible the only modifications were some extra spacers on the suspension and subframe, alongside some foam in the doors to help with waterproofing as it took on deep river crossings.

Otherwise these images are of a totally stock supercar, capable of nearly 200mph, taking on one of the most difficult roads in the world - just to prove that it can.