There was a time, not so long ago, when the 996 was considered the ‘great unloved’ of the 911 world. Sure, every generation of Porsche’s flagship has its fans, but the 996 seemed to attract just as many detractors as admirers. The model’s ‘fried egg’ headlights were a bone of contention, as were the mechanical maladies some owners were unlucky enough to be subjected to. And, of course, there were the self-proclaimed Porsche purists, who argued a ‘proper’ Porsche shouldn’t be as big as a 996 and should only be powered by an air-cooled engine. As the great Bob Dylan once sang, however, the times they are a-changin’.
Okay, they’ve been a-changin’ for a while. Indeed, the din of naysayers has largely been drowned out by a chorus of enthusiasts, marque specialists and automotive hacks who have openly shared their overwhelmingly positive experience of 996 ownership. Even those controversial headlights now have a fanbase. The loud noises made by frustrated owners of early 996s suffering intermediate shaft bearing (IMS) failure have also been brought into perspective — the number of affected engines is a tiny percentage of the total number of cars built, and many remaining flat-sixes in the firing line will have had preventative work to ensure a long and
