Guards Red, Black Leather, All Original

In stock now is this beautiful all original unmolested Porsche 996 GT3 Mk1, one of just 106 UK RHD cars and of those one of just 15 in Guards Red.

Finished in Guards Red with black crested leather sports seats, airconditioning and leather dashboard the car was first registered on the 13th October 1999 and delivered by Lancaster Porsche Centre Cambridge. Since then the car has covered just 24798 miles and has a superb service history, all with Official Porsche Centres;

27/09/00 at 2790 miles, Lancaster Porsche Centre Cambridge
01/10/01 at 4881 miles, Lancaster Porsche Centre Cambridge
03/10/02 at 6204 miles, Lancaster Porsche Centre Cambridge
02/04/04 at 7779 miles, Porsche Centre Reading
26/04/05 at 10924 miles, Porsche Centre Reading
22/05/06 at 12217 miles, Porsche Centre Silverstone
13/12/07 at 13161 miles, Porsche Centre Silverstone
02/01/09 at 19742 miles, Porsche Centre Leeds
16/01/10 at 24259 miles, Porsche Centre Leeds.

With its specially developed engine in place, the rear-wheel drive-only GT3 became the first production car to lap the fabled Nurburgring in under eight minutes. Many additional developments were also made, ride-height being dropped by 30mm thanks to fully adjustable dampers with shorter, firmer springs and adjustable anti-roll bars. There were also adjustable spring platforms and strengthened ball bearings. Brakes were now 330mm cross-drilled and ventilated discs all round (compared to 318mm front and 299mm rear for the standard 3.4-litre Carrera), the four-piston aluminium monobloc calipers coming painted red. Lightweight 10-spoke 'GT3' wheels had an 18-inch diameter and measured 8 and 10-inches across at the front and rear respectively. Meanwhile, that high performance motor was developed not from the regular Carrera engine, but as a normally aspirated version of Porsche's GT1 unit, turbocharged versions of which had been used to win outright at Le Mans in 1998.

Complete with titanium con rods that allowed the engine to rev much harder and higher than the 3.4, displacement of these specially built engines was precisely 3600cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 100mm x 76.4mm. With compression upped to 11.7:1, dry-sump lubrication and re-mapped Bosch DME sequential engine management, there was an extra 60bhp over the standard 3.4-litre production motor. With 360bhp being produced at 7200rpm, the GT3 was the most powerful normally aspirated 911 ever offered to the public. The engine was coupled to a six-speed gearbox taken from the 993 GT2, a handful of which had been built in 1998.

In the end, that extra 30kg was negated by the additional power, the GT3 posting some outstanding performance figures. Top speed rose to an astonishing 187mph, 0-60 dropping from 5.2 to just 4.7 seconds. Aesthetically, a number of subtle aerodynamic tweaks were made, a deep wraparound chin spoiler minimising air-flow beneath the car. Deeper side sills further enhanced the GT3's more aggressive demeanour, as did a unique two-tier adjustable rear wing featuring a Gurney flap mounted on its lower trailing edge. This look was also achievable on 3.4-litre 911's by specifying the 'Cup' aero kit although you could tell a genuine GT3 by its super low ride-height. Inside, there were leather trimmed bucket seats and GT3 logos on the instrument fascia whilst in true RS tradition, the stock Carrera's rear seats were junked and the vacant area trimmed with carpet. Otherwise, only a couple of the luxuries you would normally find on the Carrera were missing from the GT3, air conditioning having been moved to the options list and electric mirrors deleted, power-operated windows remaining standard. - Thanks to QV500.com