959
In the early 1980s Porsche would begin the biggest transformation of the 911 to date (and perhaps since). Originally designed to test the limits in rally car racing, the Gruppe B, as it was originally called, would go on to be the most advanced car of the era.
This model would eventually become the 959, the fastest production car ever built when it debuted in 1985. The 911 at its heart was covered in a sleek, new aerodynamic body. It's rear-engine layout was somewhat tamed by a new all-wheel-drive system, aided by a new control system that could asymmetrically deliver power to either the front or rear wheels, something now commonplace on even the average family car.
Porsche never did fully campaign the 959 on the rally circuit, but they did enter a pair of the purpose-build racers in the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1986 to see how their new creation would fare. They finished 1st and 2nd in the exhausting trans-continent race.