Porsche 911 (993) GT2 Evo 'Harlekin' for sale
The 993 GT2 Evo was always exceptionally rare, but only one looked like this...
When it was announced that LMP1 prototypes would be ditched at Le Mans in favour of the more road-focused Hypercar category, I was hoping that the GT monsters of the 1990s would make a return. That looked to be the intention of the rule set initially, with manufacturers required to produce a set number of road-going variants for homologation. But, as is always the case with top-tier motorsport, the regs were watered down; while that’s led to a bumper field of LMH cars for this year’s 24, the road-relevancy has been scrapped completely.
Now, I’m not the sort of person who desperately wants to see Formula 1 technology in hatchbacks and SUVs. Quite the opposite, in fact. But there’s something special about a car that’s been built solely to go racing. Take the Porsche 911 GT2, for instance. The modern incarnations are hugely impressive and have been adapted to race in SRO’s new-ish GT2 championship. But none are as special as the original car, simply called the GT, which Porsche threw together to meet the FIA’s GT2 ruleset in the mid-1990s and has since gone on to become one of the most sought-after 911s ever.
This, however, isn’t one of the original GT2s. It’s even more special than that. Before the arrival of the 911 GT1 in 1996, Porsche sought to adapt its existing GT2 racer to compete with the Ferrari F40 LM and McLaren F1 GTR in the upcoming GT1 category. Enter the deceptively named GT2 Evo, which might just be the wildest 911 ever produced (mid-engined RSR and GT1 excepted). To bump the GT2 up a category, Porsche dialled up the twin-turbocharged 3.6-litre engine to 600hp – a 170hp jump over the road car – courtesy of new pistons, camshafts, exhaust system and, of course, beefier turbos. Just imagine how terrified the drivers must have been when it started pouring with rain during the car's first Le Mans appearance in 1995.
As far as I can tell, this GT2 Evo never turned a wheel at La Sarthe. Instead, Porsche presented the car at the 1995 Frankfurt motor show, complete with barmy ‘Harlekin’ livery, to draw in team owners looking to enter top-tier GT endurance racing. It was sold to a collector after its stint as a show car, who took the concept of an art car perhaps a bit too literally by locking it away their ‘private museum’ for the best part of 25 years.
It has, however, been ‘meticulously’ cared for in that time to ensure the car was ready to go on a moment’s notice. It’s since spent the last three years with Mechatronik in Germany, the same dealer looking after Sebastian Vettel’s old Nissan GT-R, so you’ll have to take travel and import taxes into consideration when enquiring about the POA. It won’t be cheap, obviously. Porsche only produced 11 examples of the 911 GT2 Evo, but this Harlekin is a one-off. Hard to see how a one-of-a-kind version of arguably the most sought-after 911 is going to sell for anything less than many millions.
You’ll get your money’s worth, though. Most modern racing cars bear little resemblance to their road-going counterparts and require a team of engineers to get them going. This, on the other hand, is ripe for appearances at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Members Meeting. At anywhere it can go, really. And after so many years locked away, a 911 this awesome deserves to be seen at every possible opportunity.
Jodie Kidd's video of it - https://youtu.be/njk0RL6kiSg?t=1485
If anycar deserves wrapping it's this, even better a very expensive respray.
You could of course repaint it, but you would instantly be wiping out its main USP and a chunk of financial value. If you don't like it you'd be better off in every way just buying a different car.
It will clearly end up in another collection and never be driven, but you can see why someone would do that. As a collector's piece, it's right up there with the best in Porsche terms.
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