Carrera GT wins best supercar of the last 25 years
What else could it be? Sit back, get comfy - and turn up the volume...
There was some debate about whether to include the Porsche Carrera GT in the PH25 best supercar vote. It came perilously close to hypercar in some people’s book. Then there was a question of cost: if there are any left for less than a million quid, we’ve not seen one. Not only would that mean a supercar vote with one car potentially worth ten times that of some others, it made the chance of sourcing one at short notice even harder. Borrowing somebody else’s six-figure supercar is one thing; asking to drive a 20-year-old exotic worth as much as a nice townhouse is quite another. Not even Porsche UK has one.
But it made the cut, and it was most certainly the right decision. The CGT won at a canter, we found a car with a very generous owner (thank you, Lucas - you’re a hero in more ways than one), the sun shone when needed and we’ve rounded out quite the quintet. Our five-video series of the best cars since 1998, as voted for by you, is complete: Carrera GT, E39 M5, Caterham 620R, GR Yaris and S1 Elise. Appropriately PH-y, no? Should make for quite the group video next month, too.
Just to see a Carrera GT up close is to know that it was a worthy winner of this vote. It’s such a clever piece of design, somehow managing to be attention-grabbing yet quite unassuming; this still isn’t a shouty supercar, but it’s one you can’t draw your eyes away from. It’s smaller and daintier than might be expected, awash with beautiful details and perfect proportions. Similarly, nobody ever talks about a CGT interior much, either, yet it’s a proper treat: the materials are lovely, the gear lever-dominated centre stack is stunning, and the dials are a model of clarity.
But you’re not here to hear about Carrera GT ergonomics. It’s the driving experience (among other things) that almost certainly made the Porsche 980 your PH25 winner and, without wishing to spoil the video, the accolade is richly deserved. Not unlike other cars in this series, the Carrera GT feels just right for how we think of peak analogue supercar in 2023.
Any more power would have the potential to overwhelm the joy of having a manual gearbox; any less might make it feel a bit old. A carbon tub means it feels super strong and secure, yet it’s also pleasingly compact - three pedals and a stick will always retain a classic feel, too. And while there’s grip and purchase aplenty, this is clearly not a supercar you’re going to liberties with. In what can now be seen as project straddling the modern and traditional eras, Porsche created a masterpiece.
The Carrera GT isn’t perfect, of course - but it’s not far off, either. Regardless of what anybody says, the clutch is fiddly when manoeuvring, but to have such low reciprocating masses when going faster feels an impossibly exciting trade-off that’s more than worth it. And even if maybe it shouldn’t, the fear of its less friendly (and rather infamous) handling characteristics always looms large. For what it’s worth, on the day it felt utterly sensational: an engaging, absorbing, communicative and exhilarating mid-engined Porsche. One powered by an otherworldly feat of internal combustion.
Despite previous experience of a Carrera GT, being reunited with that 5.7-litre V10 is to be enraptured and enthralled all over again. The abiding memory from a day in its company is of an engine that beggared belief. Of course the sound is the thing that’s most obvious (and there's plenty of that in the video, courtesy of an aftermarket exhaust), but there’s also torque, outrageous response and just the most incredible appetite for revs. To have that engine paired with a divine manual gearbox really is an unmitigated pleasure.
That the powertrain comes wrapped up in such a beautiful shape and alongside a driving experience of such rich reward makes the Carrera GT a worthy winner of the PH25 best supercar vote. Should have been no great surprise, really. We have lived through a quarter century of some fantastic cars, and arguably none better than Porsche’s V10 supercar for the 2000s. But we’ll decide that for certain once we've assembled our finalists in a car park somewhere. For now, enjoy the CGT - and pray for your speakers…
One odd thing, my partner at the time, a banker, regularly used to go and drive new Porsche models at their launch as a guest of Porsche (she once couldn't be bothered to go and drive the new Turbo Convertible as she had already driven the hardtop - oh to have those choices to make, I'd have sold a kidney) and I was always amazed how easily they would give out the keys to things with huge performance.
But the GT - for that you had to be driven, by some chap called Walter, which with certain high profile incidents later maybe gives an indication of the skill required for this car.
Which makes me lust after it even more, there is something about a spikey car.
But I don’t think I lust after one. There are a few cars I like to think I could explore, maybe with time and practice sneak up and peak over their edges, but this scared Walter Rohrl. If it were a person it would have a “look but don’t touch” haughtiness I couldn’t afford. Would love a day out with it, but that would be enough.
Voted for the LFA.
Like most Porsches I don't actually like the way it looks though, but I can forgive it for that because of the engine and gearbox for sure.
My memory of the Porsche's in-era reception was that it was deemed a bit underwhelming; generic Porsche blob looks, and the marginal extent to which it was a sharper and more rounded car than the Enzo (and testers disagreed on that) didn't offset the latter's power and visual drama.
My memory of the Porsche's in-era reception was that it was deemed a bit underwhelming; generic Porsche blob looks, and the marginal extent to which it was a sharper and more rounded car than the Enzo (and testers disagreed on that) didn't offset the latter's power and visual drama.
I remember seeing one stopped at a traffic light in Dublin years ago. Even at idle, it sounded vicious. I pretended to need to re-tie my shoe, to give myself an excuse to linger, to listen to it while it drive off ...
I remember seeing one stopped at a traffic light in Dublin years ago. Even at idle, it sounded vicious. I pretended to need to re-tie my shoe, to give myself an excuse to linger, to listen to it while it drive off ...
A worthy winner, just for that sound alone.
My memory of the Porsche's in-era reception was that it was deemed a bit underwhelming; generic Porsche blob looks, and the marginal extent to which it was a sharper and more rounded car than the Enzo (and testers disagreed on that) didn't offset the latter's power and visual drama.
Also I can't remember that Carrera GT ever being regarded as anything other than beautiful. From that generation of cars it was the Enzo that was controversial looking.
saw a few in real life, went to look at a grey example long time ago, just for looks, not the money sadly, but looked at it when new, then heard a lovely V10 sound, on came a black one that was even way more Beautiful by looks and that sound.
and ah, no flywheel? hm, thats why it sounds so bike engine like fast.
and ow, 1 time around here were I live, I was just coming from the GAMMA shop who are next to a double way around my city, and spotted a black carrera GT I was waiting to go right and it went in front of me, I thought this is a once in a lifetime moment :-) so fastly (with my then Hartge Z3 V8 5.0) I went after it, he was in front second lane for the stop lights, I turned down my windows for the sound :-) sadly there was a slow car between us... but once that car was gone, I had the space to get closer, the driver spotted me and floored it, what a glorieus sound and moment :-) made my day.
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