gbarron

Yes, I had a 2/98 coupe with full leather interior including the dash, option codes 936, 981, & 983.

TheChunkNorris

Everything about that interior is amazing but wished they went with the GT3 delete.

GC996

Hah, they had to squeeze in the PCCM for advertisement.

jdbornem

No kidding, he's missing his moment.

OP, @bdronsick has a a very very long thread all about the unique qualities, some real, some subjective, of the early '99 cars. That will tell you all you want to know, and then some.

parris

They are not actually.
Even if you want to consider them "special" because they were manufactured together with the 993 (even all the 996 after were also produced in the same line), as you can read in that piece of text, that was just until early in the year 98, what applies for MY98 cars (second column in the table)

Model year for the 996 changed around July, meaning that most of the US cars that you see in the US as manufactured in 98, are in fact, MY99 (they will count in the third column) and there is nothing special in those numbers.

Special are definetely the first 14 MY97, and the MY98 if you want, because is the first full year of production and because is the year with less production, but none of them made it to the US (where they started to arrive in MY99 format, meaning manufactured from mid 98 to mid 99)

NYoutftr

If you have one yes
If you don't no

GC996

Haha. Aren't they (996s) all special like snowflakes? What about the ones with unicorn colors and a Porsche umbrella?

Mike Murphy

There are certain unique things you will find on the early cars, but they made a lot of 996s across any model year.

I would focus my energy on finding the special car that fits you and not worry about rarity.

I’ve driven many different 911s across different generations, including different 996s, and they all felt different in their own way.

Porsche got lucky that the very first liquid-cooled all-new 911 wasn’t riddled with typical Gen 1 issues that many other car manufacturers face.

Woodman71

I do have the first brochure for the 996 and it states:

"Every 911 engine is still hand assembled in the Porsche tradition by a single technician. Each engine is then tested rigorously-on the bench for up to half an hour, with a full minute nonstop at redline. And ultimately, the final exam: 90 minutes on the Autobahn..."

Not sure how/where/if this fits into the discussion, I just thought it was cool.

GC996

Some of you old timers may remember this.

Leeroy89

I’m not convinced that being built on the same line as the 993 is such a great thing to brag about. Great looking cars, but 993 production was already using the “improved” (aka cost saving) production techniques that Porsche learned from the Japanese consultants.

Most people think this started with the 996, but that is a misconception.

It is true that early build 996.1 cars had a different interior plastic material than what was used in later cars, but Porsche changed it because of customer complaints that the interior felt cheap. Strangely, the later build 996.1 interiors that have the “upgraded” plastic don’t seem to age as well as the early build cars that drew the complaints at the time.

EVOMMM

Also the leather of the early cars was better grade as well

3/98 911 coupe

yes I have the leather dash, I also have factory 408s. Having an 03 turbo, I wish I had the Bose stereo in the 99. I have the better Nokia amp enhanced stereo but it’s not as good as the Bose. The interior on the 997s in my opinion doesn’t age as well. The early cars have Connolly leather ie rolls Royce.

dan_189

Feel like my 97' Boxster is special because it's one of the first. That said I love my 996.2 more. Interior build finishes are better wearing in the 996.1 though

GC996

Here you go. A comparison by Lee Sibley who is a 996.1 owner. He outlines differences between the two generations. As always, he does a nice job.

What's interesting is that Lee talked about the 996.2 interior being if higher quality than the 996.1. I suspect quite a bit has to do with the interior packages you are comparing. Leather vs plastic used and color of plastic.

Bottom line is one is not better than the other, it just comes down to your personal preferences. What makes any car special is that you get or build exactly what you want. To me, any 996 is good.