One to Buy: 1 of 1 Iris Blue 1996 Porsche 911 GT (993) (SOLD)
As the final air-cooled iteration of the fabled 911, the type 993 occupies a special place in Porsche history.
Between 1993 and 1998, the firm built a variety of hugely desirable variants on the 993 platform. However, the one that stood head and shoulders above all others was the GT, of which just 194 were built in road-going trim.
Conceived to homologate the most potent racing car possible, the 993 GT dropped the standard 911 Turbo’s four-wheel drive system in favour of a rear-drive set-up and added a more potent 430bhp Flat 6 engine. Other upgrades included stiffer suspension, more direct steering, massive new Speedline wheels and a reinforced six-speed manual gearbox.
Cosmetically, brawny wheelarch extensions were tacked on along with a custom dual plane rear wing and RSR-style chin spoiler.
Customers could specify an interior in one of two trim levels: Comfort (M002) or Club Sport (M003).
Among those handful of 911 GT road cars built, only a tiny fraction were configured with a unique Paint to Sample shade for the bodywork. One such example is currently on offer at the DK Engineering showroom in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire.
This particular car was ordered by the owner of Porsche Centre Rouen and 25 year President of the French Porsche Owners Club, Phillipe Aunay.
Mr Aunay’s 911 GT was the only example painted Iris Blue Metallic. It was also specified with manual windows, radio delete, airbag delete, comfort seats and air-conditioning.
Following his passing in 2004, Mr Aunay’s family retained the 911 GT until 2016. Today it has covered 43,600km and is offered in superb original condition throughout.
Reprinted below is DK Engineering’s description for this spectacular one-off 911 GT:
1 of 1 Paint to Sample Iris Blue Metallic
43,600km
LHD
In 1995 Porsche introduced the new 993. Although they were probably unaware at the time this was to be the last of the iconic air-cooled 911s. In competition, all-wheel-drive had been banned by most sanctioning bodies by the mid-1990s. This was as a result of Porsche's success with the four-wheel-drive 961, Audi's rally wins with the Quattro and the later track success of the Nissan Skyline. This presented a problem for Porsche, whose Turbo was fitted with four-wheel drive; the solution was simple and this was the GT2, which was built with rear-wheel drive only. A side benefit turned out to be significant weight savings, and the GT2 was instantly competitive.
A factor of Porsche's intention to go racing was that they had to build a number of road-legal GT2s in order to homologate the model for racing. At about 430 horsepower the 3.6L twin-turbo flat-six ran higher boost than the standard Turbo model and developed almost as much horsepower as the racers and was mated to a manual six-speed gearbox. The GT2 shared the cutaway wings with the Carrera RS and had removable and replaceable bolt-on flares in order to fit wider wheels for racing and quickly fix crash damage. The Large rear wing provided additional down-force, with air intakes on the sides for the engine. With saving weight in mind the bonnet and doors were aluminium and the side and rear window glass was thinner. In addition, the three-piece, light-alloy Speedline wheels had Stahlgrau magnesium spiders. In fact, the body was lowered by 20mm compared to the 911 Turbo to reduce drag.
As chronicled in the definitive GT2 book; Porsche completed just 194 road-going GT2s as well as a further 78 race cars. The standard paint palette was limited and evolved over the production run of the GT2, with Arctic Silver replacing the earlier Polar Silver and so on. As such, whilst just 25 or so cars received the rare Paint to Sample option, a number of these were optioned with previous colours including shades of black, white and silver. Fewer than half a dozen cars built received a unique paint scheme. This is one such example.
Optioned from new in Paint to Sample Iris Blue Metallic, this example was optioned with manual wind windows, a radio delete, airbag delete along with comfort seats and air-conditioning.
This example was ordered new by Phillipe Aunay; a prominent figure in the Porsche world, Aunay was co-founder of Porsche Centre Rouen and president of the Porsche Club of France for some 25 years prior to his passing in 2004. A ardent collector of both the fastest Porsches (both road and race) and a curator of the wildest colours, his car ownership was varied. Owning no fewer than three 2.7 RS’ including a Lightweight, a 2.8 RSR, a 964 3.8 RS in Light Yellow, a 964 RS in Blood Orange, a Guards Red 3.0 RS. There was also the ‘Toblerone’ liveried 3.0 RSR amongst others.
The car was used extensively by Aunay and remained in his collection even when other cars departed. Phillipe Aunay sadly passed away in 2004 but the car would remain within the family until 2016 at which point the collection was offered to three Porsche specialists in Europe.
Most recently this car has resided in Monaco, care of an ex-Formula 1 driver. The mileage stands at 43,680 kilometres from new and all the panels on the car are original. This 911 GT is accompanied by its original service book and bookpack and is available to view at our showrooms outside London immediately.
