Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion: The Le Mans Winner

In the mid-90s, the BPR Global GT Series rules stated that race cars had to be based on road cars. Porsche found a loophole. They built a pure race car first, then made 25 road-legal versions to satisfy the rulebook. The result was the 911 GT1. It won Le Mans in 1998.

Design: 911 in Name Only

Technically, it is called a 911. But underneath, it is a Frankenstein.

• Front: The front half of the chassis is from a 993/996 911.
• Rear: The rear half is a custom tubular space frame derived from the 962 Group C race car.
• Engine: The engine is mid-mounted (not rear-mounted like a 911).

The Engine: Water-Cooled Pioneer

The 3.2-liter twin-turbo flat-six was one of Porsche’s first water-cooled engines (before the 996).

• Power: 544 hp.
• Torque: 600 Nm.
• Transmission: A manual gearbox. But unlike a normal 911, the linkage is so complex (due to the mid-engine layout) that shifting requires patience.

Driving on the Road

The Straßenversion (Street Version) is barely civilized.

• Ride: It crashes over bumps.
• Turning: The turning circle is enormous.
• Heat: The cabin gets incredibly hot because the coolant pipes run through the sills. But at 150 mph, the race car DNA wakes up. The downforce pushes it into the tarmac, and the steering comes alive.

Value

Only 25 units were made. Today, they trade for $10 - $12 million. It is one of the “Holy Trinity” of 90s GT1 homologation cars (along with the McLaren F1 and Mercedes CLK GTR).