Porsche 911 GT1

1996–1999·Coupé

When the FIA GT1 class demanded a road-going homologation car, Porsche answered with the 911 GT1 Straßenversion — and in doing so built one of the least 911-like 911s ever: a mid-engined car whose front chassis derives from the 993 and whose rear subframe came from the 962C Group C prototype, sharing only the headlamps with the production 993. Two fully road-legal prototypes were built first (one homologated with the German Federal Ministry of Transport in early 1996, the other now with a collector in Bahrain), then a production run of roughly twenty 'GT1 Straßenversion' coupés in 1997 with 996-style headlamps, most in Arctic Silver or Fern White, plus one further road car — the GT1-98 Straßenversion — in 1998. The road engine is the race engine detuned for emissions: 544 PS (400 kW; 536 hp) and 600 Nm, 1,150 kg, six-speed manual, 0–100 km/h in 3.9 s and 308 km/h. Twenty-five road cars were needed to satisfy the regulation in total. The GT1's descendants took overall victory at Le Mans in 1998 — Porsche's sixteenth win and, at the time, more than any manufacturer. It belongs in a 911 showcase because Porsche built it under the 911 name and in the 993 GT2 lineage, and because the alternative — omitting the most famous GT1 of all — would leave a conspicuous hole; it is filed here with the caveat that its own Wikipedia page says the car is not generally counted as a true 911.