You Know You Want To: £20K Porsche 996 Turbo

The everyday supercar, now available at an everyday price...

You can buy a manual Porsche 911 (996) Turbo for £20,000. Yep, that sentence is now a reality. The ultimate expression of the everyday supercar and a stalwart of the 911 range since the early 1970s, the generation before last of 911 Turbo can be had at very tempting prices.

Budget a few extra quid for an interior valet...

And why wouldn’t you want one? The 996 Turbo is a 190mph car, capable of running 0-100mph in 9.4 seconds. Moreover, Porsche arguably dialled back the terror for the 996 iteration of 911, producing a more accessible, forgiving and usable Turbo than previously. Finally, the horror stories associated with some 996 engines don’t apply to the Turbo as its engines are derived from the Le Mans GT1 project.

OK, a cheap 911 Turbo is likely to have plenty of miles on it. But you would struggle to identify this car’s 110,000 miles from the photos. The paintwork still looks in decent condition and the wheels seem scuff-free.

The interior does let the side down slightly, although its tatty appearance could surely be rectified with a clean and some leather treatment.

And it isn’t even as if this 996 is some kind of personalised monstrosity no sane person would ever consider buying; it comes in a very subtle Seal Grey hue, and the manual transmission is a boon as well.

There are nine stamps in the service history (four from Porsche, five from specialist Steve Bull), the clutch was replaced last year (a circa-£1K task) and buying a 996 with two fresh tyres will certainly save you an expense.

Of course you can’t run a 420hp Porsche that is now 12 years old on a shoestring; it will cost you £600 to change the front discs and pads at a specialist and the combined fuel consumption is less than 22mpg.

Seal Grey paintwork a desirable colour

But that should hardly come as any surprise, and there can’t be many cheaper ways to achieve such all-weather performance.

So there you have it; 19 grand for what is arguably the first modern 911 supercar, from a dealer, with a service history. Whatever next? A £17K V12 Ferrari you say?

Porsche 996 Turbo
Price: £18,995
Why you should: It's a lot of bang for your buck
Why you shouldn’t: Not the ideal car for motoring on a shoestring

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Schermerhorn

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