1999 Porsche 911 Carrera 4

This 911 is an early ‘narrow body’ 3.4-litre, four-wheel drive Carrera 4 that’s been lightly prepared for circuit work. But don’t let its wild GT3 body accoutrements fool you, mechanically it’s largely standard and very far from intimidating. In fact, it was bought as a demonstrator from a 911 fan and racer and the vendor has since used it to learn circuit craft, gaining his ARDS racing licence with this Porsche. The reassurance of grip from its four driven wheels proves a real boon for track work, especially while learning the basics –important safety gear in the form of a rear half roll cage has also been added. But, best of all, ratios in this Porsche are selected via the six-speed manual transmission rather than any of that Tiptronic nonsense.

Beyond the customary track-day procedure of stripping the interior and fitting bucket seats and harnesses, this 911 also benefits from a few vital chassis improvements. The anti-roll bars front and rear have been upgraded in order to lessen body roll and improve turn-in. The brakes have also been given a boost with some high-performance pads and a set of braided steel lines for improved pedal feel. In essence, it’s ready to take on a track day at a moment’s notice or, if that’s not your thing, can be put back to standard very easily and quickly.

Who doesn’t love the simple and clean silhouette of an early 996? It might have proved divisive a quarter of a century ago, but these days it’s found much wider appreciation. In fact, we’re pretty sure that most of the drama over its styling has been hyped up in the intervening decades. Period magazines certainly rated the car very highly and few really seem to have shed a tear at the 993’s passing – hard as that may be to believe today!

If you can tear your eyes away from those genuine GT3 alloys – and the equally legit body kit – you will see a largely fine-looking Arctic Silver millennial 911. The paint on the exterior panels still has a good deal of shine left and appears to present well. Though, as this has been a track car for a few years now, there are inevitably a few marks here and there. The most obvious ones are found on the nearside which, according to an independent assessment in the history file, has been painted at some point in the past. There’s a small patch of paint missing from the centre of the passenger side skirt, plus some smaller imperfections on both the door and front wing on the same side. It’s also no surprise to find the usual stone chips to that low and exposed front end, which has also apparently been painted in the past (according to the same inspection).

Those wheels seem to be missing their centre caps, though according to the vendor, they’re the genuine GT3 articles. That means that despite showing some lacquer peel, they’re well worth the cost of refurbishment. The vendor also informs us that he has another set of the same GT3 wheels, with a near new tyres of Pirelli Trofeo R tyres – available via separate negotiation. The good news is that there doesn’t seem to be any dents in the panels and the headlights appear to be clear of clouding. There is some corrosion beginning to take hold, with a small patch of bubbling just peeking above the passenger side skirt. There’s another even smaller spot on the lower edge of the driver’s side front wing.

The 996’s interior was never considered the paragon of Porsche cabins to begin with, which makes its removal in this instance all the more palatable. In a quest for less mass, the transmission tunnel trim, carpets, rear seats and original front pews have all been binned. In their place are a pair of sexy carbonfibre bucket seats, some Schroth five-point harnesses and a genuine Porsche half rear cage in the back. The latter item has a chrome finish that’s a bit flashy, as are the ‘GT3’ kickplates and exterior badges (on a Carrera), but all are easy enough to return to standard. Remember that this is really a track car now, though none of its modifications can be considered irreversible.

What’s left of the original cabin trim – basically just the door cards and dashboard – seem to be in good order, there’s a small crease in the passenger door card and a stain on the headlining worthy of note, however. The vendor also points out that this is a noisy place to be now that the majority of the soft trim and sound proofing has been removed.

This millennial 911 has few weak spots but those common to the model have, according to the vendor, been sorted. He states that ‘it's taken nearly a decade to cover 10k miles and during this time I’ve spent a fortune on it with a new radiator, IMS bearing, RMS, clutch, brake discs and pads, top mounts, front arms, brake ducts etc.’ There’s certainly plenty of evidence of these new parts under here from what we could see. The anti-roll bars, drop links, bushes, lower control arms and brake ducts certainly still look nice and shiny. Equally, there are a few bits that are starting to look tired, including the exhausts and most of the plastic undertrays. The latter appear to all still be in place, but several are missing chunks or are cracked and have been secured using cable ties. Though they all seem to still be hanging on.

The engine bay appears tidy and free of any obvious sign of leaks, with coolant for example up to the right level and of the correct type (OAT). Once again turning to that handy February 2021 inspection, there’s a line mentioning an oil leak. This was put to the vendor who reported that it was inspected by Porsche specialist JAZ, who in turn cleaned it and concluded that it wasn’t severe, yet warranted observation.

The floors look ok with just a long scratch in the underseal all to report, but we couldn’t get a good look at the sills due to that GT3 body kit. There’s some surface corrosion evident most of the bits that don’t fall into the list of replacement parts above, though we couldn’t see any sign of significant rot. The latest MoT tester seems to have agreed with us, as he only noted some corroded brake pipes as an advisory. The vendor tells us that these have been subsequently cleaned and given an anti-corrosion treatment. We also took note of some corrosion to the battery tray, but generally this Porsche seems to still be good and strong.

Before this 996 spent its life on the race track, it was enjoyed by its ten previous owners as a fast-road toy. Its road-going history is well-documented, for example, we know that the car was delivered new to Mann Island Road Range dealers in Merseyside on 22 June, 1999. The car’s first two services were carried out by the same dealer. Specialist care followed until Porsche Centre Chester carried out a basic annual service in 2006. From then on, annual or bi-annual regular servicing continued at a range of specialists with a major service in 2015 conducted by Rupert Lewin Racing Ltd. (including fuel filter & brake fluid at 88k miles).

Just 2000 miles later, in August of this year, another annual service was completed along with some routine maintenance at Porsche specialist JAZ. The St Alban’s firm replaced the front and rear brake discs – to resolve a run-out vibration issue. At the same time, JAZ overhauled the front suspension arms and mounts with new bushes. The handbrake shoes were also replaced as one side had failed. The bill for all this came to a few pints shy of £4k. That brought the servicing up-to-date and together with that seemingly very comprehensive Performance Assessments’ inspection from earlier this year, this Porsche seems to be wearing its condition on its sleeve.

Road legal track cars have a great following and as frequent track-day attendees, we can certainly see why. You can drive to your local circuit and hammer around all day then, hopefully, come home again under your own steam. No trailer or transporter nonsense/cost to worry about. The flip side is that they don’t often make for very comfortable road cars.

While that’s certainly the case with this 996, its preparation hasn’t been taken to the point where it’s no longer either usable or reversible. If you’re handy with the spanners and can rustle up a 996 interior, you could get this back to a road car in a weekend. That’s why we’re confident it’s well worth our estimate of £20,000 - £28,000.

This car is being sold from the trade, and is located at The Market’s Abingdon HQ; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.