Arena Red Porsche 911 GT2 is the Ultimate Get For Tech Billionaire
One of only 194 Porsche 993-era GT2s ever made, Jan Koum’s GT2 is the only one to wear Arena Red.
Imagine working on the next great app, then building it up to the point where a big tech company comes knocking on your door to drop a full armored truck of cash on your driveway in exchange for owning your hot app. What would you do with those stacks (aside from retire to live the good life)?
If you’re WhatsApp founder Jan Koum, and it was Facebook who paid you $19 billion for your messaging app, you’d buy a Porsche. Or maybe 100, which he did. DuPont Registry ran a story of one of Koum’s most special Porsches, a truly rare 993-era 911 GT2.
The 993 GT2 was already a rare bird to start, as only 194 were ever made. However, Koum’s GT2 is the only one of the 194 to wear Arena Red Metallic paint.
His GT2 was sorted out by fellow collector and restoration expert Frank Troche, who calls Germany home. He told German magazine Porsche Klassik that while the United States has plenty of restorers to go around, “it’s unlikely that anyone in the U.S. would ever reach our standards of perfection and obsession to detail.â€
Koum himself demands his Porsches to be perfect, having once owned a beat-up 924 that he worked on to keep running. But he always dreamed of owning a mint-condition Porsche. So, any cars that he (or his team of scouts) find around the world are sent off to Troche for inspection before landing stateside. It’s got to be nice to have your own personal Porsche concierge.
This particular GT2 packs the 3.6-liter twin-turbo flat-six making 424 horses to the rear, which the engine put out during the first two years of the 993 GT2. In 1998, output was boosted to 444 horses. It also has the aluminum doors that were first used in this generation of the GT2, which were replaced with steel units for the 1998 model year.
While Koum is a hardcore Porsche fan, he isn’t a man of speed. That task is left to none other than rallying legend Walter Röhrl, who took Koum out on a high-spirited drive in the Arena Red GT2 for Koum’s 40th birthday. Because of his skill behind the wheel, Koum gave Röhrl a free pass to drive any of Koum’s Porsches whenever he wants.
“That thing really does go like the wind,” Röhrl told Porsche Klassik of Koum’s GT2. “It’s almost hard to believe! Some years ago, I drove the 700-horsepower Le Mans racing version, and that was certainly capable of burning the rubber. But in terms of power and speed, I’d be hard pressed to find a difference!â€
Photos: DuPont Registry
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