The Porsche Carrera GT is unquestionably one of the defining supercars of its era. Equipped with a glorious-sounding V10 and a temperament to match, Porsche made only 1,270 units.
The story of the Carrera GT began when FIA rule changes put paid to Porsche’s plans for a new Le Mans prototype for the 1999 racing season. Suddenly, the German carmaker was left with a race car engine but no car. At that point, the decision was made to adapt the engine for road-going use and put it in a brand-new vehicle platform.
The Porsche Carrera GT stretched the limits of automotive technologies back in the day. Among other things, the supercar pioneered the use of carbon-fibre monocoque with carbon-fibre reinforced plastic subframes in a production car. Then, there was the engine – a race-derived screaming fire breather that revved to 8,400 rpm and cranked out 603 hp and 435 lb-ft of torque.
A traditional 6-speed manual transmission and a notoriously finicky clutch system feed that power to the rear wheels. In skilled hands, the Carrera GT could hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and continue on to a 205 mph top speed. Those numbers may not seem that impressive today, but back in 2005, those were class-leading figures. The Porsche Carrera GT set a 7:28 minutes lap time at the infamous Nurburgring circuit, a record that stood for over half a decade.
Photo Source: RM Sotheby’s
