This Garage Has One of Every Porsche GT Ever Made
Porsche's dream garage contains a full array of GT cars, one that Chris Harris was lucky enough to visit recently.
One of Each
To automotive enthusiasts in general, the letters "GT" signify something special. For most, GT means "Grand Touring," a car made for long-distance comfort and performance. But for Porsche fans, it means the ultimate in both road and track performance. Porsche knows how special its GT cars are, which is why it keeps one of each in a special garage. And Top Gear's Chris Harris was lucky enough to get an invite to check out this dream garage recently.
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Noah's Ark
Harris was given a tour of the garage by none other than Andreas Preuninger, the boss of Porsche's GT division. Preuninger accurately refers to the collection as Porsche's "Noah's Ark" of GT cars, though he admits that he didn't come along until the second-gen 996 GT3. Regardless, as Harris points out, that car was a big upgrade on its predecessor.
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Paying Tribute
"That was my dream project because I always had a Carrera RS 2.7 poster above my bed when I was 10 years old," Preuninger said. "It happened because we needed to homologate new wheel carriers for the 996 RS racecar, but I wanted to pay tribute to the 2.7 RS. So we added a carbon bonnet, and what was, for the time, a huge wing."
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Lots of Firsts
That model was also the first Porsche street car ever upholstered with Alcantara, and its steering feel was actually influenced by the BMW M3 CSL, interestingly enough. The duo then moves on to the first 997 GT3, which featured Michelin ultra-high-performance tires for the very first time.
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Past and Present
Regardless of how much he adores the past, Preuninger also points out how important it is to look forward with each new generation of GT car, too. "I think it’s very important to touch base with the old cars, to reset the internal button because in the memory, you tend to glorify the past and forget the new. My whole team drives these cars to make sure that the new car will fit its line of ancestors correctly, so the GT3 values, virtues, and DNA remain."
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Inspiring Cars
After scoping out a second-gen 997 GT3, Harris moves on to the very special GT3 RS 4.0, which Preuninger admits Porsche still benchmarks against new cars to this day. The duo also touches base on the controversial PDK-only 991 GT3 and how it inspired the 911R, as well as the fact that Preuninger "wanted an engine that sounded like a Nineties 911 Turbo without the lag," when he designed the GT2 RS.
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Borrowed Time?
Altogether, this is a fascinating look into the mind of Porsche's GT boss, one that ends with a discussion regarding the latest model - the 992 GT3. With any luck, we'll still be talking about these amazing cars well beyond the latest model, even as things like internal combustion engines seem to be on borrowed time.
Photos: Top Gear
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