Sitting snugly in the bucket seats of a GT3 you get the feeling that this is a 911 that leans more towards the Lotus Elise/TVR school of thought that less is more. ‘Lightweight’ is the key word here which is why a 0-60 time of 4.0 seconds is easily achieved in a car that has few of the creature comforts associated with most showroom-ready 911’s. What is the point you may well ask? Well Porsche had already made quite a name for itself on the track up to the late 90’s and the factory had a strong presence at Le Mans up until 1999 when it decided to hand the baton to Audi. The GT class was the new focus for Porsche and hence the series of homologation specials that started the run of GT cars for the road. These are not warmed-over versions of your bog-standard 911. Oh no, the GT3 comes with a completely different engine. The displacement might be similar (3600cc) but interestingly the engine and gearbox design is based on the older air-cooled version. Incredibly this gives the GT3 a racing heritage that dates back to the 1960’s with the 904/906 from that period. Just shows you how good the boys at Pawsha are at combustion engineering! Titanium engine components help reduce weight even further and with 380bhp on tap this is a car that feels seriously quick. 80% of the engine’s torque is present at only 2000 rpm. Yummy! For the record Walter Rohl managed to chuck the car around the ‘Ring in 7 minutes 56 seconds so it ain’t no slouch. Apart from the GT3 badges and the big double-decker rear spoiler there is not a great deal to set this rare 911 apart from it’s lower-powered stablemates. Which is cool if you don’t want any unwelcome attention otherwise go for the RS version with its loud stickering emblazoned down its flanks. If you are looking for a nice Seal Grey example with the optional CD and climate control then get in touch because we have just placed one on our books on behalf of the current owner. Click here for full details
The Car Spy 