Lee Sibley
Poole, UK
Model 996.1 CARRERAYear 1998Acquired JANUARY 2019
I’ve just got back from an awesome road trip through Europe to Zuffenhausen with two friends, travelling some 1,600 miles in four days! I took my 996 while my friends, Nigel and Paul, drove their 964 Turbo 3.6 and 993 Turbo S, respectively. It meant my water-cooled and naturally aspirated Carrera was the odd one out from our Porsche trilogy, but I loved the opportunity to explore Europe in my 996 and pit it against what was, let’s face it, rather superior metal!
The purpose of the trip was to recce a route I’ve devised to take a load of Porsche 996s back ‘home’ to Zuffenhausen to celebrate 25 years of the fifth-generation 911. I won’t reveal the route here, but if you’re interested in joining us on this trip or any 9WERKS road trip in future, make sure you’re signed up to email comms via 9werks.co.uk, as we’ve got lots planned.
Our trip took in everything from mountain passes to the Autobahn, and the Carrera more than held its own against the Turbo heavyweights in convoy. Its comparatively lightweight and nimble nature meant it was the perfect tool for twisty mountain roads and again on the Autobahn, it didn’t disappoint, comfortably powering up to 150mph. In fact, when studying the power-to-weight ratio of the three cars in attendance, only the 993 Turbo S showed vastly superior figures with a figure of 288bhp per tonne, compared to the 964 Turbo 3.6’s 244bhp per tonne and 996’s 224bhp per tonne.
Either way, it was great to study the silhouettes of those classic Turbos over the four days. Their low, wide profiles served up a menacing look, even though the cars themselves are small in terms of footprint compared to today’s cars.
The trip was excellent in enabling all three of us to bond further with our 911s, these fine sports cars giving us memories to last us a lifetime. On top of that, the trip helped fortify our own friendships, and so this really was the most enjoyable experience and the sort of thing I absolutely relish.
On the third day we reached Porscheplatz and, after popping inside for a meeting with staff (held in the workshop next to a super-rare GT1 Strassenversion!), we were given permission to park our Porsches on the concourse right outside the Porsche Museum. This gave us some stunning pictures, but the cars became a real point of interest for those going in or coming out of the Museum. It was most amusing watching a group get a selfie with my car, ignoring the two Turbos worth quite literally ten times as much as my 996! A proud moment for me, without doubt.
In the evening, we were joined by Tony Hatter, who turned up in his stunning 993 Cabriolet.
