LOS ANGELES — Porsche has a rich tradition of offering specialty versions of its definitive 911 model. Remember the original 1973 Carrera RS? How about the 1989 Speedster? Or our personal favorite, the 1993 RS America? But for 2008, Porsche is offering the 911 sports car in a staggering 15 different flavors: S models, turbos, cabriolets, turbo cabriolets, all-wheel-drive Carrera 4s, Targas, GT3s and, of course, the 530-hp, 204-mph GT2. Whew. What’s next—a GT2 RS Cabriolet? Well, actually, that doesn’t sound too bad.

But has the dozen-plus-model 911 lineup—each one more limited, more expensive and more powerful than the next—made the original Carrera a snoozer? Hardly. We borrowed one here recently and absolutely piled on the miles. First, the Carrera tackled our daily commute. Then we made a few freeway blasts down to Orange County—with a backside in all four seats. Later, we took to the canyons—the natural habitat for a car like this. We found that in many ways the original Porsche sports car is still best in breed. —Ben Stewart

The Specs

If any Porsche can slide right under the noses of L.A. motorists and Johnny Law alike, it’s our Macadamia Metallic coupe. Yes, it’s brown, but it’s the sweetest brown we’ve ever laid eyes on—and we dig it, so back off. Let the Beverly Hills guys roll with their Porsches painted Speed Yellow or Guards Red. Hell, let them get the tickets, too. This 911 is understated and downright gorgeous when combined with that beige interior. The 911 Carrera starts at $73,500, and ours added full leather, power seats, bi-xenon headlamps, navigation and a few more options that brought the price up to $85,765. That ain’t cheap, but it’s certainly more reasonable than the cool $100,000 base price of a Carrera 4S Cabriolet or $126,200 for the Turbo.

It’s been four model years since the 997 generation of the Porsche 911 entered the market, and the design still looks fresh with those wide rear hips and traditional round headlamps. Like all 911s over the past 44 years, a horizontally opposed six-cylinder still resides in the way-back position. The standard Carrera gets a 24-valve 325-hp 3.6-liter unit with 273 lb.-ft. of torque. And ours came paired to a six-speed manual, as Ferry Porsche would have wanted it. It’s worth mentioning, too, that with an estimated 18 mpg city and 26 mpg highway, the basic 911 delivers rather respectable fuel economy.

The Drive

Three-and-a-quarter ponies may not seem like much these days when the base Corvette’s V8 makes 430. But squeeze on the throttle, and that big flat Six delivers a deliciously smooth and progressively steep power curve. It certainly pulls harder than its power rating suggests. That’s especially true around town, where you can lug this car down to school-zone speeds in Third gear. Porsche claims 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds. But as quick as it may be in a straight line, to us, this car isn’t about the drag race. The Six is most happy singing between 3000 and 7000 rpm on a tight canyon road. That’s where the exotic sounds of the powerplant echo off the mountainsides and really bring this ride to life.

The pedals are placed just right for heel-and-toe downshifts. And shifting consumes little brainpower; the lever slides in and out of gear more precisely and more easily than just about any sports car on the planet. On real roads like this—not a racetrack—there’s more than enough power to have quite a lot of fun. We honestly never missed the 30 extra horses from the S model.

Behind the wheel, the 911 has always felt organic—that’s the real draw. The steering comes alive in your hands and twitches with a delicate accuracy. And as you push the Carrera harder and harder on a challenging ribbon of road, the job gets easier—and more fun. We shut off the stability control, and on a rear-engine car like the Porsche 911 that means squeezing on the throttle as you enter a turn to plant the rear tires. We found there’s probably more grip in that suspension and those wide, 18-in. tires than you would ever really need on a public road. Just once, we felt slight understeer. But that was probably our fault, not the car’s. Like all Porsches, the big, 12.8-in. front and 11.8-in. rear disc brakes are stellar. The pedal is firm and feels like a natural extension of the driver, providing the exact amount of stopping power you’d anticipate.

Around town and on the freeway, we were surprised at the stiffness of the base suspension. It’s not harsh, but it feels competently firm—ready for the good roads when you are. This is no grand touring car, but you’re talking sporty first, comfort second in a 911. Still, at least one of our back-seat passengers was comfortable enough to take an hour-long catnap. Go figure. Speaking of comfort, maybe it was the interior color or the soft carpet on the lower part of the door panels or the Alcantara headliner above, but few cars we’ve driven recently were as warm and inviting as this 911.

Complaints? Well, we would gladly trade the number of features in the entertainment system for larger buttons—they’re difficult to operate when the car’s in motion. But then again, who needs a radio when that flat Six is singing? Like the Corvette line, Porsche 911s are practical sports cars: Two people can carry luggage for a weeklong trip in this puppy thanks to those rear seats and the front trunk.

The Bottom Line

The more expensive, more high-performance 911s may grab the headlines these days. But when you consider the practicality and civility necessary for a sports car day-in and day-out, we’ll take a six-speed Carrera. And make ours brown, thank you very much.