As Porsche sought to replace its aging 356 it created the 901. Introduced to much fanfare at the Frankfurt Motor Show on September 12, 1963, it was more modern, refined, and faster than the car it was to replace. Foreshadowing its eventual status as a cornerstone model for the brand, the 901 was hailed as the car that would carry Porsche into the future by the press of the day.

Setting in the stone, the rear-engine flat-six formula, the 901 dazzled show-goers with its longer and sleeker appearance. At a svelte 2,300lbs it made use of the all-new air-cooled 2-litre flat-six cylinder engine driving 130bhp and 128lb/ft of torque through a five-speed manual transmission to the back wheels. It could hit 60mph in 8.7 seconds and had a top speed of 131mph. Everything about the 901 was centred on delivering the optimum driving experience — from the minimalistic interior, to the new suspension, to the engine note.

A hit it seemed.

Porsche began production based on the positive response a year later, in September 1964, with a concentration on European markets. A month later things would take an unforeseen turn as the 901 hit the floor of the Paris Motor Show. There it garnered the eye of French automaker Peugeot. The 901 was the first time Porsche had used a 3-digit name with a centre number a zero.

Non, Non, Non, said Peugeot. Porsche received a letter of trademark infringement from the French brand explaining that it was they who owned the rights to the nomenclature being used for the 901. According to Peugeot, it held the worldwide rights to the type designation consisting of three-digit numbers with a zero in the middle. At minimum, the car couldn’t be sold in France under that name. By this time all the promotional material and badges for the 901 had already been printed. Even more alarming 82 units had already been built.

Porsche was in no state to rebrand the model, much less battle Peugeot in court. It complied and looked for a solution. It is rumoured that Ferry Porsche, unwilling to recast new numbers for the 901 badges, simply suggested that the zero be dropped and replaced by a one after seeing a pile of them scattered across a table, creating the now legendary 911 nameplate.

With over a million units sold worldwide, and over 60 years of setting the standard for two-door, high-performance, rear-engine sports cars, the Porsche 911 continues to this day.