One to Buy: Guards Red 1996 Porsche 911 GT Club Sport (993)
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Between the mid 1960s and late 1990s Porsche produced no shortage of genuinely great 911s whether it was purely road-going variants, homologation specials or GT racing cars.
However, the title of ultimate air-cooled 911 can quite legitimately be aimed at the twin turbocharged 993-based GT launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1995.
Porsche created the 911 GT to pave the way for the most extreme machine possible with which to contest the Grand Touring racing categories of the day. Just 194 of these range-topping road cars were built with their fat arches, dramatic aero kits, tuned 430bhp Flat 6 motors and reinforced six speed gearboxes.
Chassis tweaks included suspension from the recently introduced Carrera RS, wider 18-inch Speedline wheels and more direct steering.
In addition to the standard M002-optioned Comfort specification, Porsche offered the 911 GT with the radical but rarely specified M003 Club Sport pack.
The M003 Club Sport variant came with a fully integrated body coloured roll cage, Recaro bucket seats trimmed in fire-retardant fabric, six-point harnesses, a battery cut-out switch and fire extinguisher. The carpet and sound deadening was deleted. To further reduce weight, a clutch disc with torsional dampers was fitted instead of a dual mass flywheel.
Just 33 cars were built to Club Sport trim between 1995 and ‘96, one of which is currently on offer at the DK Engineering showroom in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire.
A 1996 domestic market example painted the iconic Guards Red, it has today covered a little over 30,000km and has recently been subjected to a meticulous restoration by renowned Porsche expert, Paul Mclean of GT Classics.
