2002 Porsche 911 (996) Turbo

It’s hard to believe, but there are some people out there who think that a 911 Turbo is a maddeningly slow thing that only really appeals to timorous, cowering, lily-livered wimps who wouldn’t say boo to a goose.

It’s to cater for the decidedly macho tastes of such people that Porsche fettlers and tweakers such as RUF, Gemballa and FVD Brombacher GmbH exist.

And it’s the last of those whom we must thank for taking the already fearsomely potent 420bhp car that left the Zuffenhausen factory and turning it into something altogether punchier.

This LHD manual car was supplied new in Arab Gulf States specification to its first owner, a British chap who lived in Dubai.

He soon after commissioned the supplying Dubai dealership, Al Nabooda Motors, to source and fit the FVD Brombacher ‘520 RS’ Stage 2 tuning kit (which includes the sports exhaust, revised induction system and upgraded ECU) and take the car to a monstrous 510bhp and 550 lb⋅ft of torque. 

Also fitted, whilst the car lived in Denmark, are alternative 19" cross-spoke 3-piece alloys, Tech Art side-sill extensions and a Tech Art GT2-style rear spoiler blade – the latter items body colour-coded and fitted to the car when it had the equivalent of 6,875 miles on the clock  (the original split-rims didn't retain proper tyre pressures). 

A quick-shift gear-change kit was fitted by Al Nabooda Motors in April 2003 when the car had covered 13,125 miles.

It was exported to the UK by its original owner in 2005, when it was first registered with the DVLA. 

The vendor, who has an impressive collection of fine classics, bought the car in 2008, when the car had 25,872 miles on its odometer. 

In 2024, when the clock was showing 46,980 miles, the vendor took the car to BW Autohaus for a full mechanical reconditioning, which included the fitting of new US-sourced hybrid turbos and their ancillaries, plus a new battery. 

The car was dyno tested and found to be good for just under, wait for it, 600bhp.

Mercy.

That work came in at a pretty robust £7,077.94.

We have driven the car and can attest to the fact that it is an absolute tarmac-shredding beast of a thing

With the merest twitch of your ankle it sets off for far horizons like a stabbed rat and builds momentum like the Flying Scotsman. 

And, thanks no doubt to its hybrid turbos, there’s not so much ominous lag to endure while waiting for 600bhp to be dumped on you all at once. It’s much more progressive than that.

However you look at it, this car is blisteringly quick and is engineered to deliver devasting performance on demand, whenever you feel like unleashing it.

Recent bodywork repairs include paintwork to the front valance, splitter and bonnet, and the fitting of new OPC front grilles and the driver’s side scraper seal. 

The bodywork is really very straight and true on this car and we failed to find any dinks, dents, ripples or other aberrations of note anywhere.

The Tech-Art side skirts and spoiler (which goes up and down as intended) add to the car’s aggressive, purposeful stance, as do the fat split-rim alloys.

The shut-lines and panel gaps are crisp and consistent, too, as befits one of Zuffenhausen’s flagship offerings.

The Arctic Silver paintwork has held up pretty well and retains decent levels of shine and lustre.

There are a few stone chips on the rear bumper, and on the front valance; a paint chip on the o/s/r wing near the air duct; a blister to the paint atop the n/s/r wing, a few scratches and chips to the sill covers; and the headlamp cowlings are cloudy and in need of some decent cleaning products, a polishing machine and a good helping of elbow grease.

The wheels are OK but are not without some dinks, dents and scuffs, and a little bubbling under the paint here and there.

They are shod in Continental ContiSportContact 3 rubber – 235/35 ZR19 at the front, 315/25 ZR 19 at the rear. The tyres look to have a good amount of life left in them.

The black plastic panel between the windscreen and the frunk lid has faded to grey. 

There’s a fairly central chip to the windscreen which may or may not be of interest to an MoT examiner.

From what we can see, the badging and other exterior fixtures and fittings are all in very good condition.

The sunroof works as intended.

The condition of the interior is far more a reflection of the car’s low mileage than its age and, aside from a little light creasing to the outer bolsters on the front seats, there’s really very little to suggest that you’re sitting in a 24-year-old car.

The ‘draped’ leather upholstery and trim is in Porsche’s rather fetching shade of Metropole Blue.

The front seats are as comfortable and supportive as we’ve come to expect of Porsche, who have long been just about the best in the business when it comes to sportscar seats.

The rear seats, as ever, don’t look as if they’ve ever been called upon to support the weight of anything much heavier than a Panama hat.

The car has a lot of carbon-fibre-effect trim on the centre console, around the gear selector and on the sill kick-plates. 

It’s mostly in pretty good nick but in one or two places it’s starting to warp and lift a bit, which suggests to us that it might have been retrofitted as a wrap.

We don’t know.

The headlining, door cards and carpets are all in fine fettle. There is a spare set of mats with the car.

The original Porsche head unit also comes with the car, along with the aftermarket Kenwood screen item that’s currently in situ.

The frunk is following the same script as the rest of it in terms of quality and condition.

As far as we’re aware, all of the dials, knobs, switches, levers and instruments are fully functional and do what they’re supposed to do without hesitation, deviation or repetition.

There’s not much to be learned by peering into the engine bay of a 911, but what we can see looks clean, dry and in its right and proper place.

As far as we can tell, the undersides of the car are good, too, except for the jacking points, which are corroded and flaking. 

The car comes with its original manuals and book pack, including a service book that’s stamped with a mixture of main dealer and specialist stamps up to 2017.

The car also comes with more history than the Ashmolean Museum, with invoices, receipts and bills detailing everything that’s been done to it and spent on it since it left the factory.

Very usefully, there are detailed print-outs that put all the work done into meticulous chronological order, and there’s also a forensically-detailed report into the car’s condition carried out at the request of the vendor by North of England Porsche Inspector John Robinson for automotive consultant Peter Morgan in 2008. 

The car has an MoT certificate that’s valid until 13th August 2026.

This is a serious bit of engineering.

It has the raw power and brute force to make other 996 Turbos look and feel a little anaemic, but it also has the poise, balance and road manners to be a perfectly useable everyday car.

It is happy to be either Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde, according to the driver’s whim.

Happily, this example has been very well looked-after throughout its long life and its history and provenance have been diligently captured and recorded for posterity.

It really is a very impressive machine.

We’re confident to offer this fine car for auction with an estimate of £35,000 - £40,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at THE MARKET HQ in South Oxfordshire. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays (apart from Bank Holidays) between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.