It doesn't seem all that long ago that the 996 generation of Porsche 911 was universally derided - too ugly, too water cooled, too much like a big Boxster. Those were the days of £7k Carreras, and presentable cars for not much more. But who would have wanted one of those?
Well, how times change. Now the 996 is being recognised as an important chapter in the 911 story; it'll never acquire quite the prestige of a 993, nor will it be as handsome as a 997, but the late-90s 911 is now a much more covetable prospect. There are restomod projects like the RPM CSR package, for example, and the 996 was the car that brought us the GT3 - now 20 years old, don't forget.
There are Mezger-engined Turbos, and plentiful manual cars - because the auto wasn't all that great back then. And if you want a really tenuous association to boost the 996's appeal, the GT1 could be mentioned, which took first and second at Le Mans in 1998. Combine that with the 996's ongoing march towards classic status, with even the youngest cars now 15 years old, and the consequent drop in numbers that will have occurred along the way, and it's easier to make sense of the growing appreciation the model has enjoyed.
Then, of course, there's the GT2. Once upon a time it was seen as too soft and too prissy to be a proper GT2, following as it did the widow-maker 993, but nowadays 460hp from a twin-turbo flat-six, rear-drive and no driver aids beyond ABS sounds fairly intimidating, thanks very much. The 996 GT2 was also notable at its launch back in the early 2000s for the standard fitment of Porsche Carbon Ceramic Brakes, which have gone to become a near-mandatory option for all manner of performance cars 15 years later.
Especially noteworthy amongst 996 aficionados (if such a group exists) is the GT2 Clubsport, of which this Speed Yellow 911 is one. Just 70 of the 1,287 GT2s made were Clubsports, identifiable by the usual CS bits and bobs: cage, bucket seats, harnesses and extinguishers. Contemporary criticisms of the GT2 being a little muted and aloof to drive might be allayed by being a little closer to the action, even if it still might not be as immersive as a GT3.
It's that rarity, though, that's ensured this GT2 is being offered for sale at a quarter of a million pounds. That and the impeccable condition, this one having covered just 5,000 miles since 2001, never gone on track in that time and retained its original paint. The 996 has reached the big leagues, then, this GT2 comparable in value to both later 997 GT3s and earlier 993 RS Clubsports.
And while the 996 GT2 hasn't quite enjoyed the legendary status of those cars - and arguably never will - a pristine Clubsport will make a worthwhile addition to a GT collection. There wasn't a 996 GT2 RS, so this is the ultimate of the generation, and later 997 GT2s came with more in the way of driver assistance - correct us if we're wrong, but this GT2 must be one of the last 911s sold without traction or stability control. Which is kind of cool.
The status is becoming easier to understand with time, put simply, and will likely only rise as the 911 evolves further. Don't forget, either, that beyond collectors there could be those for whom the 996 was their era of 911 growing up - and regardless of ideological wrangling about 911 evolution, we all remember those a little more fondly as adults, don't we?
Teenagers from the early 2000s will be in their early 30s now; there might have been a yellow 911 with a big wing on the bedroom wall, and now's the chance to get one for real. Just for twice the money they cost brand new...
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