TWIN PEAKS

Every era of Porsche production has included a rarefied top-line model, usually with competition aspirations or descended from a race car and, sometimes, badged as an RS. For the first couple years of its life, the brave new water-cooled 996 lacked such a standard bearer, but this was addressed in 1999 with the introduction of the GT3, named after the FIA race category it was eligible for. The 996 GT3 blended a higher performance, normally aspirated engine with a lighter body and sports-tuned suspension, resulting in track-focused demeanour. Hey presto! We had an RS in disguise. Soon enough, predictably, the GT3 was massaged into an RS in its own right.

The GT3 is the most sublime evolution of the basic 996 model, created using the narrow-body Carrera 4 chassis – in rear-drive only format – and powered by an unburstable version of the 3.6-litre water-cooled flat-six. There’s no artificial boost and no extraneous ducting about the bodywork, just pure aerodynamic functionality to the splitter, side skirts and biplane rear wing, hence the sublime aesthetic, which has aged well.

As much as any other model, the 996 GT3 epitomises Porsche’s design and manufacturing philosophy. A perfect blend of road-going sportscar and track-oriented elaborations, it’s a direct manifestation of a philosophy going back way beyond the much-vaunted 1973 Carrera RS 2.7 to evolutions of the 356, such as the 356 Carrera of 1955. The company has always sought to implant its roadgoing models with lessons learned at the track and, at the Geneva Motor Show in April 1999, the 996 GT3 was announced. It certainly looks the part, with its deep front spoiler and airdam, aerodynamically configured sills and fixed double-decker swan neck wing on the engine lid (in first-gen guise) instead of the retractable wing of