996 anniversary road trip
It’s mid-afternoon on a Sunday, late in September. I’m in the passenger seat of Editor Lee’s Irish green 996 Carrera as we motor through northern France. To the left and right, wide open vistas of rolling farmland relentlessly creep past, stretching as far as the eye can see. In the door mirror there’s the entertaining sight of a line of 996s behind us, weaving and bobbing in unison to our lead. But it’s ahead that really matters, and what we’ve come to savour for the next three days: the roads.
We’re one group of 911 enthusiasts all sharing the same intention. Heading to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart for a one-off pilgrimage to return the water-cooled cars to the place they each left all those years ago: Werk 2 at Zuffenhausen. We’re returning 25 years later almost to the very day that the first 996 was manufactured, in celebration and recognition of the following the car has built up over time.
We all know the 996’s history with enthusiasts. As the air-cooled cars found their ascendency and values rocketed, the 996 got somewhat left behind. The first all-new 911, not merely the fifth generation of a previous model, was a step change for the 911 in both
