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Amazing how timeless 996 is. That picture could be fifty years old or from now. People really have no idea if 996 is an antique or brand new. It’s probably the most anomalous car design in the entire history of the automobile.
Pinky Lai said in a recent interview: “996 came closer than any other Porsche to Ferry’s original vision for the 911.”
He’s probably right. Ferry Porsche said once of Type 911: “I looked around for the car I wanted and couldn’t find it. I realized I would have to build it.”
996 is finally that car
Originally Posted by GC996
Cool picture. My son who was about the same age when he went with me in 2002 to buy my 996. It will be his some day.
I don't know, if you go on the 997 forum the 997 is the last real 911 and the 996 is glossed over. Surely they know better?
I was in the 997 camp until I bought a 996.1 aero car. Now the 997 looks pretty bad. From the interior to the front bumper poke to the size etc..
The last 2 997's I've owned and sold I have no regrets. And the last one was a 997.1 GT3 that I sold just before the price explosion. Still have zero regrets.
I was in the 997 camp until I bought a 996.1 aero car. Now the 997 looks pretty bad. From the interior to the front bumper poke to the size etc..
The last 2 997's I've owned and sold I have no regrets. And the last one was a 997.1 GT3 that I sold just before the price explosion. Still have zero regrets.
Test drove both 997.1 and 997.2 (C2's) and really liked them, but didn't find it any better (or worse) than the 996's test drove. Interior was more techy than cared for, but that's really the only thought I had.
996 prices were so damn low so figured it was worth a shot, driving experience was comparable (although the 996 has no nannies) and figured could sell and net zero or possibly make a couple bucks if decided didn't want it long term. 5 years later can't think of anything I'd replace it with (less a GT3, but that's not in the cards).
Yup I wouldn't regret selling any GT with a sunroof either
Originally Posted by 168glhs1986
The last 2 997's I've owned and sold I have no regrets. And the last one was a 997.1 GT3 that I sold just before the price explosion. Still have zero regrets.
To me, even the 997.1 is "too new", and not analog enough.
We see around a 50/50 split of 996 and 997 family members annually, but for 2022 and the first 1/3 of 2023 the shift will find 70% of our work coming from the 996 family. The stats of year and sub- models could not be more different over the last 3 years. People are even going back to the early Boxster at a higher rate than the 987 variants (and even Cayman).
The earliest 996s continue to fill the slots here more than anything else. People finally learned what we already knew :-)
I had a new 997.1 launch vehicle back in the day ceramic brakes and all, also had a 996.1 amber early car back in the day. Looking back the fondest memories are 996, even glad about the 996 speeding ticket in first week of ownership. Good times.
997 lost the 911's legacy Connolly leather, and introduced the massive, switch and toggle riddled, irremovable center console. Also the 997 abandoned the legacy 911's warm familiar "orange glow" VDO gauges (996 gauge cluster was still manufactured by VDO; logo on rear instead of gauge faces) and introduced instead the "modern" Porsche's current ice-age of frozen-blue digital LED's and electronic readouts glued on everything everywhere. Not to mention 997 brought the advent of an ever-increasing host of new and intrusive driving, performance, and suspension nannies, and all their meddlesome plastichrome accoutrements.
The 997/991/992 driving environment is literally an alien spacecraft to any classic 911 driver.
How is any of that "real 911"??
Originally Posted by Billup
I don't know, if you go on the 997 forum the 997 is the last real 911 and the 996 is glossed over. Surely they know better?
As much as Type 996 was "hated" for its headlights by retired plastic surgeons in Beverly Hills, it was even exponentially all the more loved for "the headlights that won LeMans!" (Magnus' words, not mine) the world over by Porsche insiders from launch day one! Now after more than two decades of willful ignorance, there is at long last this inevitable great awakening into 911 history taking place.
Early 996 and Mezger owners are in for a wild ride into numbers that no one would believe right now even with a Tardis.
<<<<<<<LOOK DIRECTLY LEFT ON THIS PAGE at my avatar: As far back as 2005!! "Total 911" freaking launched their magazine's inaugural issue #1 with "Early 3.4" Type 996. IF that was not the freaking writing on the wall then just exactly what is??
This 996 "phenomenon" is not new. It's only new to retired plastic surgeons in Beverly Hills.
Edit: That's a VESUVIO purple on the cover of Total 911 BTW. And there is actually a VESUVIO PURPLE MY1999 for sale RIGHT NOW on BaT(no affiliation). Run, don't walk there. AFAIK Vesuvio purple is the only color reserved exclusively for the 911 ever. EVER. Which of course is why Total 911 chose Vesuvio for the inaugural cover: Total 911 is the only magazine dedicated exclusively to Type 911
PS, that auction's pictures color are way off, here is a good shot of Vesuvio purple in daylight:
Originally Posted by Flat6 Innovations
To me, even the 997.1 is "too new", and not analog enough.
We see around a 50/50 split of 996 and 997 family members annually, but for 2022 and the first 1/3 of 2023 the shift will find 70% of our work coming from the 996 family. The stats of year and sub- models could not be more different over the last 3 years. People are even going back to the early Boxster at a higher rate than the 987 variants (and even Cayman).
The earliest 996s continue to fill the slots here more than anything else. People finally learned what we already knew :-)
Don’t really know why some Porsche owners are like this and I’ve noticed it more now lately. With the exception of Vipers, most other sports car owners generally don’t disregard other models as “real” or not “true”.
"The 996 cockpit at night may as well be 911 circa 1964: it's the exact same look and feel."
Really? Have you ever been in a 1964 911 ?(I doubt it)... At night? C'mon, how dark do you think it is in the real world? It might look and feel the same if you're tripping... Jeez! You need to calm down dude - it's going to be at least a few years before your 996 becomes "an investment"... ;-)
I've driven the 70's SC's which are almost identical. Same feel as 996. Tight. Analog. Orange. VDO!
And Connolly leather in every breath.
Originally Posted by dporto
"The 996 cockpit at night may as well be 911 circa 1964: it's the exact same look and feel."
Really? Have you ever been in a 1964 911 ?(I doubt it)... At night? C'mon, how dark do you think it is in the real world? It might look and feel the same if you're tripping... Jeez! You need to calm down dude - it's going to be at least a few years before your 996 becomes "an investment"... ;-)
11-12-2021, 08:55 AM
Yup I wouldn't regret selling any GT with a sunroof either
