sithot

Very enlightening article in issue #5 of 000 regarding the development of the 996 GT3.

Interview with Hartmut Kristen

"How did the GT3 moniker come about?"

"The GT3 was the replacement for the Carrera RS. The reason for the name change was that there were all kinds of RS cars. Audi
had the RS2. Ford had an RS. Everybody was using RS. So the sales department said, "We don't want to have that anymore."
We started branding with the 993 GT2, naming it after the class that it was homologated for. After the GT2, we had a GT1.
So we called the new Carrera RS a GT3"

And if you haven't read the Kussmaul Chronicles, it is a book any Porsche racing enthusiast should own.

http://www.kussmaulchronicles.com/index.html

onelove

Love this months 000 for these insights, previously read Hans Mezgers book and have been meaning to purchase the Kussmaul one, thanks for the reminder!

stout

Thanks, everyone. Glad to see this article connect with the right crowd!

Best,

pete

pranqster

Pete

This issue is a dream come true for me. The article is a wealth of information regarding the 996 GT3.
I assume that there are very few 996 GT3's that are still owned by their original owner.
I bought my 996 GT3 new and it has been on the track continuously since.
I plan on keeping it for a very long time.

My renewal will be coming your way soon.

Regards,

Pranqster

LuisGT3

If you love Porsches and don't have a subscription to 000, you're doing yourself a huge disservice.

stout

I heart this post.

I remember the first 996 GT3 press car that came my way at Excellence. Had the Guards Red car a week for a test with an RS 2.7, and fell madly, completely in love with the 996.2 GT3. Then came an Arctic Silver one for another week, and a road test with the 996 GT2. It was the first modern Porsche (first Porsche?) I had ever driven where I had no desire to change anything...where I thought I could drive it for 30 years with no changes, and just keep learning to be a better driver. Also, it was the day that the 911 Turbo became a lot less interesting to me, good as the 996 Turbo was. And the Turbo has remained largely uninteresting to me until the 991.2 Turbo/S signaled a return to form—though I'd still rather have a great 996 GT3. I remember wondering, 15 years ago, if I would still feel like I did about the 996 GT3 in the long term. My feeling was yes, I would—as even a third test with a CGT, 996 GT2, and 996 GT3 still made the first GT3 we got seem special.

And I was right. Few Porsches since 2003 have felt as special, only one or two factory GT3s among them. Good on you for buying one, keeping one, and using it.



pete

​​​​​​​Many thanks, Luis!

Turbo Jonny

porschedog

^ good point.

I wanted a 6GT3 for a long time- wife finally said "fine, get one" A few months later I had it. I love this beast. It amuses me how many of the "new" GT3 owners have no clue what we have.

stout

The 996 GT3's performance still holds up surprisingly well, much in the way the RS 2.7's decades after it was built. Cars have and will continue to become faster.

And it won't matter.

cgfen

I refer to that issue of Excellence often, the red GT3 and the red 2.7
It was obvious in your "scribes" over the next few years how truly good you thought the 6GT3 was / is even as more modern / improved / "better" cars cycled through your press fleet.
And I too found the impetus to re-subscribe to 000, partly, so that I can read your most recent homage.
Hoping it is similar depth to the special red Cayman GT4 CS? article from last year.

Cheers

Craig


With Rays and San Rensho

Turbo Jonny

stout

Many thanks, and I think it's more in depth than the GT4 CS piece—but different. 000 is evolving, and will continue to evolve. It really isn't like doing any magazine I've worked on before.

A 996 GT3 with a bike rack. How cool is that? Very cool, is the answer. Love it.

Turns out 000's cofounder has a 987.2 Spyder, and we are both huge fans of them. I almost ordered one when he did. I sometimes regret not doing so. So, it's a good bet you will see that Porsche pop up from time to time. In fact, it already did in the 918 story in Issue 000, as the benchmark for sports car purity against which to measure the 918 Spyder on a certain set of California roads.

Excellence has a great back issues page, here: https://www.excellence-mag.com/back-issues

Entering "GT3" in the search bar will uncover a lot of 996 GT3 content, but April 2004, June 2004, and April 2005 are the issues referenced here.

AP328

I had never heard of this magazine. Two questions, can it be subscribed to from Canada? Second question, is it possible to get this issue with the GT3 information with a new subscription?

Turbo Jonny

AP328

I went to the website and I see Canada is a possibility and that issue 5 (GT3) is part of a new subscription.