Revealed: greatest water-cooled 911s of all time

This is NineWorks Radio, brought to you by the NineWorks marketplace and powered by the

driven, not hidden, collective. Sign up now at NineWorks.co.uk Welcome everybody to NineWorks

Radio. It's Lee Sibley and Andy B here. Good day. Good day. How are you? I'm very well, Andy.

Thanks. Yeah, you're doing okay. Yeah. All cool. All cool. Excellent. Excellent. So

you are listening to NineWorks Radio, the home of Porsche on the podcast Air Waves.

It's brought to you in association with our friends at Heritage Park Centre. Go to

HeritageParkCentre.com, put in the code NineWorks10 and get up to 10% off your basket. We're also

delighted to say that Roadtrip Tribes is back as well as a sponsored partner for this episode

and a couple of episodes going forward as well. We've been evangelical about the app since its

launch at the start of this year. We're delighted to say that Johan has informed us

that the app is coming to Apple CarPlay at last, which is really going to elevate the

user experience for those of us, either with modern Porsches or rocking PCCM Plus.

What is Roadtrip Tribes, Andy B? It is the app to help you and your group of friends

actually go where you want to go rather than Google Maps telling you to go here, there

and everywhere because it knows best. Yeah. A handy Roadtrip companion. It kind of wraps

everything that we use from our other navigation apps all up into one. You can plot an extensive route,

you can then share it with your friends, you can then hit go and it's not going to

come up with its own route in between the different waypoints like Google Maps, for example.

There's a walkie-talkie function, so you can talk to your comrades while on your journey.

There's a live update as well, so you can see where your friends are, so you don't have to

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Everything you need for your Roadtrip is all wrapped up in one handy app. It's available on the App Store,

it's available on Google Play, it's called Roadtrip Tribes and it's waiting for you to download.

We've been out and about a little bit lately. We have, we have. I was up, well mid-country,

I was up at Bista Heritage or as it's called now, Bista Motion. We had a little get-together

with DNHC and Cam Manufacture, the 912 RestoMod company, I'd guess you'd call them.

It's very good to see Mickey. Well known to us here at Nine Works Radio and Nine Works TV.

Indeed, yeah, there's been a past at least one podcast episode, hasn't there? I think a couple

of videos as well we've done in the past. I think we first featured that Cam 912C

C standing for Carbon 2023 and then you and I took that car again for a bit of an extended drive in 24.

Yes. Do you know that? I think no, I think that extended drive, that was in 23.

Was it really? Yeah, so I think it was 22 when you drove it at Goodwood.

Okay, yeah, wow. Time moves. Yeah, it does, it does. So Mickey has kind of, yeah,

helped shaken up the RestoMod sphere, I think it's fair to say in that time because

A, it's a 912 as the base car rather than a 911, which is so refreshing, but also that car is a

little bit more, whereas it's hot on its sleeve, I think is fair to say in comparison to other

cars and brands within the RestoMod sphere, very unapologetic in what they're trying to achieve

with the 912C and I think that the entire industry is all the better for it.

Yeah, yeah, it was great to go through the current car, see what differences there were

from when we saw it last, which are a significant amount, many, many improvements.

We talked about that, we've recorded that, so we'll put that out as a DNHC podcast that everybody

can catch up for those that weren't there on Monday night or Tuesday night, I can't remember

which night it was. Tuesday night, yeah. It was Tuesday night, it's been a blur this week,

and yeah, we'll put that out for all the DNHC is listening, maybe we might put that out in

the future as well as a main podcast for now, yeah. Works and Hero Drivers can enjoy it as

per the perks of the membership. Absolutely, yeah, we'll do that. So yeah, great evening,

I think about 50 of us there and all, good bit of scram, good bit of zero alcohol beer,

and good chat, it's great, really good. I unfortunately missed it, however,

it was really nice to catch up via the pictures and it looked like a good gig,

it was almost like a bit of a mini meet beforehand, which as we've said before on this podcast,

you know, like quite a fan of like a midweek meetup, almost feels a bit cheeky.

It does, it did, yeah. Seeing all the cars parked outside at Bista, just against great

variety in the collective of pork that turned up. There was, yeah, it was all sorts,

air-cooled and water-cooled, yeah, it was really good. And we should also say a big thank you to

Haggerty, so it was held at the Haggerty Clubhouse, thanks to those guys for opening the doors for

us and organising the food truck and stuff, so yeah, it was great. Looked cool in there,

couple, and I saw Paul van der Lau, low and lounging on a nice chest afield.

He was, he was. There was some interesting other metal in the, in the place actually,

there was the XJ220, is it, Jag? Okay, yeah, the slab basically. Yeah, the big old R-soap,

one of those with a 6R4 engine in the back, and the Jaguar that's got a V12 in it, R.

It was a Le Mans car, sorry, I've forgotten the nomenclature of what it was, an XJKR,

or something or other, 15 or, yeah. No, no one knows, just make it up. Yeah, it was one of them.

Yeah, great night, great night. Excellent. What was with that phaser that was kicking around by

the door? Black one. Oh, I think they had broken down, they couldn't get it out for the night.

Love that, love that. We had a lovely white 78 turbo there that was crisp with a red tartan

interior. Oh, beautiful, yeah. I was trying to find the keys, but I was unsuccessful. Really?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very nice. Have you seen as well, very quick aside, have you seen that

Casice red 930 pop up on the Porsche or on the 911's marketplace? You know I have.

It's a cab, but still spikes interest, isn't it? With that colour combo.

Beautiful thing, beautiful thing. I can't lie, because Phil teased a picture of the

Weelarch, put it on Instagram, and you just immediately think Coupe, don't you? I can't lie.

Yeah, I did. I was slightly gutted when the full image was released, a bit like catchphrase,

you know, when the full picture's revealed and there was the soft top slightly gutted,

but still water thing that looks. Yeah, yeah. It's a cool machine, lovely colour.

Yeah, yeah, very good, very good. Well, yeah, look, I'm really pleased at that evening at

Hackety, went well, thanks again to Cam, thanks to all the collective that turned up.

Strong support with all of the new 2025 clothing as well, by the way.

There was, yes, yeah, yeah. And some old stuff as well was out as well, being aired.

So, yeah, there was a good few Pasha hound's tooth Pasha sweatshirts were about as well.

So, yeah, it's amazing. That's really cool, really, really cool. Well, look, aside from that,

you and I were up a sort of similar way of the world really last week, wasn't it,

down at or up at RPM Technic? Yes, indeed. Good day that was. Good bit of filming,

good bit of chat. Yeah, good bit of chat. Yeah, we did a video as well thereafter,

which we'll drop on the channel very soon. But the interview was particularly interesting

with Darren and Greg to the directors from RPM Technic. And I have to say, Andy,

it's possibly that interview or that chat is one of my favourite episodes of this year

on this podcast. Agreed, yeah, it was good. Loved it. Our mission was to dive into

water called 9-Elevens and come up with our top three each greatest 9-Elevens of all time.

So difficult. I think we all found it so difficult. Yeah, right up my strata. I have to say,

the difficulty was there are so many, you know, with the air, because we've done this

previously down at Paragon with the air called cars at the back end of last year.

But there are just so many more water called, you know, which just only had to the fun of it

for me. Personally, I absolutely love air called cars, but I'm completely fanatical about water

called Porsches. Really, really am. So it was good fun. It was a brilliant conversation,

actually. I felt like we were all really having it, to be honest. Yeah, yeah, that was great.

Really good. Last episode of the series though, isn't it? So yeah, we'll let this play,

and we'll look forward to seeing you all for the next series. A couple of weeks. Yeah,

for those that have joined us recently, or if you just need reminding of the format,

we kind of switched things up at the start of 2025, whereby instead of doing a really long

series and then a long break, we're doing a quick fire nine episodes, nine weeks on,

and then about three weeks off, basically. It just gives us a little bit of time to recharge

and lets you listen to other things. And then yeah, a couple of weeks time we go again. We've

already got some really awesome content, as always, like on the horizon for this podcast,

but a break is always worthwhile for the listening experience of everyone, to be honest

with you. Yeah, great stuff. Amazing. Okay, with that in mind, let's cross over to RPM

Technic and get stuck into our greatest WaterCord 911s of all time. I'm hitting play now.

Andy and I are at RPM Technic HQ, and we're joined by Greg first of all. Welcome, sir.

Thank you very much. And thanks for coming over. Welcome to Trink.

It's absolutely our pleasure. And Greg's Amigo fellow director here at RPM Technic,

Darren, how are you doing? Good, sir. Very well. Thank you. And yeah,

great to have you guys with us again. Always good to see you.

It's always a pleasure to visit here, to see you guys, of course, but also to pour over the

lovely stock. And we haven't even got into the workshop yet to spy on those Carrera GTs that we

can hear. It's forever colourful here, isn't it? Forever. Lots of bright blues, a bit of orange,

bit of green, bit of everything going on. Fantastic. Yeah, yeah. So how's the

year been for you guys at RPM Technic? Yeah, it's been busy on all fronts,

which I'm sure everyone says all the time. But yeah, it doesn't seem to be any let up,

which is good, because if there is, we're in a pickle. But yeah, sales have been good,

touch wood. And fingers crossed it stays that way. And the same with the workshop we've taken

on a couple more texts this year. So a bit more to manage there. And some different idiosyncrasies

we're seeing from some models, which we're sort of working on changes for. So yeah, it's

been good. And then obviously Darren heads up amongst many other things, the track day side

of things, which... Yeah, it's been a busy, busy year. We step on every year. We don't try and

kind of push it. Organic growth for, you know, generally, I always favour over

forced growth. But we've had a really good year actually, we kind of learned a lot on the

previous years of the events we've done. So we fine tuned how we go about doing the

events and which events we do, how we approach them. And so we've got quite a nice setup now,

certainly for the fact I've actually just got back today from a track day we were yesterday

at Silverstone on the GP circuit. So we had nine clients out and a smorgasbord of

very nice GT cars, a real kind of good colour palette in the garage yesterday.

Good word, smorgasbord.

Yeah, yeah.

I've got plenty more of those. If you want words, that's it. I can help you out.

Key word, bingo.

Yeah, yeah.

But no, it was a great day actually. We had, I mean, they're always good days when our

techs are covering them are quiet. You know, we won a quiet day and not because, you know,

they don't want to work, but it's because it means all our guys have had maximum track time.

And it was, sometimes we find on Silverstone days that you can get a few red flags

and it was actually relatively few on this day. So we got quite a lot of good track time or

open track time.

That's with Rush Drivers Club, which is part of what you guys do at RPM Technics.

For those that don't know, I know we've covered it previously, but it's mainly track days.

You've done the odd road trip before, haven't you, from memory?

Yeah, so we, yeah, some of the, I mean, it is fundamentally a track day members club.

And we will support the guys that come on the track days with technical support.

So we've got to take a driver's lounge there. So you've got, you know, a comfortable location.

You've got a driver coach in the game. We help people with providing coaches for the day.

And you can sit down, analyze your data, chat through your stuff, have tea, coffee, biscuits,

and then get out and do your time on track. And we'll make sure that we keep an eye on

your cars during the day, sort the tire pressures out, make sure you pump back up at lunch

because inevitably they've gone drop down to a little bit too low during the lull over the lunch

break. So, you know, we just make sure that, you know, we've got an eye on your cars,

make sure your cars are in good form, make sure, you know, you're in good form and help you out,

you know, where we can. So it's a really good format, works well. And, you know,

we're getting new members to the club every month. So, you know, the problem we'll

inevitably come across is we might get to a point where we can't accommodate,

you know, the number of people that want to want to do it, but we haven't reached that

ceiling yet. So we'll keep going. Yeah, it's a great place to be. I've seen

Rush Drivers Club in action at Donnington. And it takes a lot of pain away, I think,

for the owner because there's a lot to think about at a track day. And that's whether you're

seasoned or novice, but particularly having that almost like safety net there for when things

perhaps might go mechanically awry or something. Having someone there, certainly from my point

of view, that knows what they're doing is a great help. But the ability to just find someone

relax and chill out in a modicum of comfort is quite nice. Because we don't do that very well,

I think, in the UK, the tracks are purposeful. And that's great.

It's a similar sort of ethos to what you guys have done where there's a really good

community about it. Because the cars are all pretty tough and reliable, but you do get the

odd little gremlin as Darren knows. But from what I see from when I sell the cars, often

guys ask, can I join the Rush Members Club? Because you're taking a day out of your busy

diary, using up some brownie points at home. And it's a big thing to go on the track day.

There's nothing worse than going there. And you're in the middle of nowhere,

like most tracks are, with no one you don't hang out with normally. You can drive around a little

bit and then you come back and twiddle your thumbs and then go out again. Whereas when you go to this,

you see the same 15, 20 guys and say, hey, how are you doing? And it's actually quite a big

part of it, I think. And I think that's why guys, it grows each time. Because once you've

done it once, you're like, I think I want to do more of that. So it's a good excuse to use

your car, but you can see some new mates as well, I think. Yeah, yeah. Particularly, so

Darren, you mentioned just off the mic about doing spa. It'll be later this month, but on the podcast

goes out. But again, that would be nice to, as an extension of what Greg's saying, if you're

going away with people that, yeah, I've seen you a few times this year, got to know you.

It's a long way to go as well if something goes wrong, but that's all kind of covered.

I think that's where it really kind of, yeah, it really works because we've had it

before where we've helped people out. You know, there weren't actually even with us on

as part of our members trip that potentially would have been event-ending problems that we

managed to sort of help them out with and point them in the right direction,

get them sort of back onto track. So yeah, it is a key, it's a key part. I think when

you're doing the European events particularly, I mean, that's a big event for us. We've got

I think from memory 16 cars on that event. So 20 plus clients are going to be out

having a lot of fun spanking their cars around that fabulous circuit.

It was the first one, all three of us around for the whole year. I've been chained to my

desk all year while he's sort of floating in between. But it'd be quite nice for us as

well. You know, it's a cool place to pass your favorite track.

It's a spiritual home.

It's a real twinkle in your eye when you say that as well. I love that.

Do you transport the cars out there as well?

Yeah, we have helped again help people. It's not a service that we run in-house,

but we can help. We've got people that can do that. So it's become,

since Brexit, it's become quite a pain in the arse to move cars and anything commercially

across the border. So you've got specialists that tend to operate in that field now.

It's not too bad a drive to Sparta, to be fair, is it? You can do it pretty quick.

So it's not one you really need transport for. I'm super precious.

Yeah, we tend to come back. I mean, it's a fairly hardcore day, but we

we'll tend to take the Sunday drive out and that's very leisurely day with a few beers at the end of

it and a bit of steak. But then Monday's on track, Monday night, maybe a dinner, Tuesday's on track

again, but we'll drive back from the circuit. So, you know, you rock off the circuit 5530

and then you're sort of you drive home. So you've got a full day on track and then a,

you know, a reasonable drive home. But it's, it's still a bullet.

In bed by one o'clock because obviously you gain a bit of time coming back.

So you're back to work next day. So it doesn't eat like too much of the week, does it?

It's really, it's a good, we're working with Darren.

A gallon effort. You mentioned spiritual home. I kind of feel like that's a great

description for like Carrera GTs in the specialist sphere. It's this RPM Technic

workshop seems to be the spiritual home of Carrera GTs. That must be really nice.

Absolutely. Correctly. Yeah. No, well, I mean, Ollie, who couldn't be with us at the moment,

he's with with some clients, but he's sort of spearheaded that to be fair to him.

He is like a dog with a bone sometimes about something. And he, I mean, we all love

Carrera GTs. Yeah, come on, let's be real. But it's something that he really sort of

got his teeth into probably about five years ago, I think. And, you know, we've,

what's really nice about that is we didn't just go, Hey guys, we're Carrera GT specialists.

We started doing some inspections. You do one, you do three, you do five,

and you learn the cars rather than just reading a book and just saying, you know, about them.

And that obviously they're morphed into servicing them. So we do the engine out services.

And then as you've probably seen on our socials, we do a lot of the suspension

kits, the KW four way lift kits, which are like, you know, very logical because if you're

going to use the thing, the undertrees are savagely expensive, it makes the car more usable.

And the kits have been around for a while, but it's only weirdly recently, it's something that's

picked back up. I think we've fitted 16 of those kits. I think we had five

Carrera GTs at one time at one point. We've got a few in at the moment. I don't know how

few is, but yeah, in line with whatever our insurance company.

But yeah, I mean, there are amazing things to have round. And it's like we were talking

off before we started recording that we're all around these cars all the time. They're lovely

to be around, but still when I walk past one of them with a cup of tea in the morning, I'm like,

yeah, we dreamt of these days. So good as artwork, isn't it? Again, I've seen on your

social media, when the Carrera GT comes in and you'll post a picture or a video, and I've noticed

a lot of these KW Lift kits being fitted, which has made me think, well, that must be a car that's

being used, which is phenomenal to see. And particularly, it was it last year or

back end of the year before, certainly recently with the stop drive notice. And I know we're

kind of a bit beyond that now, but people are using the cars and haven't been deterred,

even with the rising values. It's just so lovely to see, you know,

it's almost like there's been a thing that's gone. Oh, it's been taken away for a year and a half.

Let's do it. Yeah, yeah, definitely. It's been it's been really nice, really nice.

Yeah, much going on in the workshop besides besides Carrera GTs.

Yeah, loads. Yeah, I mean, obviously our workshop, we do everything from

in the main workshop, what we've got, we actually split it. So we have air chords,

which does obviously anything pre-996. And then the main workshop for water cooled cars, and obviously

there's always a little bit of crossover. But this time of the year, it's full on, because

obviously everyone wants something instantly and ready for their next track day or road trip.

So that's always a bit of a juggle. And holiday season as well, I guess.

Yeah, why do we allow holiday? But yeah, that adds another dynamic to managing things.

But we tend to find that then as as the summer goes through, we then start booking clients in

for the winter time. So who's kind of encouraged people? That's quite a good time to do it. If

you're thinking, everyone, you get your advisory sheet from a service, and you're like, I know

I need to do that. And I'm going to get it done. It's really good time to do it in the last

quarter of the year, because then the car's fresh and ready for March, or whenever you

start driving it again, or for those guys who are not hidden that drive all year round.

It's a good time of year to do it, because it's ready to rock and there's nothing worse than

having a delay. But again, we were talking off camera at the moment, the Porsche parts prices

are going up. They're sort of getting a bit more expensive and they usually do a price

hike of parts in, I think it's the end of January usually, isn't it? So whilst that's like,

oh, I'll get your car in now, but it happens. People can quote for a service or bits and

bobs and then it comes through and they do it in February, March, and I'm like, oh crap,

we don't have any control over that, which is frustrating.

It's always better as you guys well know, you know, by the time you get a Porsche in the air,

if there's one or two bits, if you're being reactionary rather than preventative,

and then it always falls into all that while it's here, it makes sense as an owner that we

tackle XYZ, it's always the case. And it's better to have a run up to that if that's

going to be the case. And, you know, our NineWorks road trips, for example, Andy, they kick off from

March. There's no point dragging a car out in March, having a quick once over and realises it

needs this and this and this and this. And then before you know it, you're off the road trip

that you've been looking forward to all winter. And then the parts are in back order and you're

like, I was listening to that podcast back in September and that guy was right.

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, you've also got the track season as well. So that

tests that start March as well. So you've got lots of things all aligned. And again, we do a lot of

track day prep and geometry setups and, you know, and actually we're doing more and more road setups

now for cars which are, you know, GT cars or non GT cars that they just want to get,

you know, the setup, right? You know, particularly on the GT where they want to just soften it a

little bit and, you know, kind of get it a little bit less pointy and tram liney on the road.

Because there are as many people that don't track their GTs or probably more people that don't

track their GTs regularly than those that do. So our Mantai equipment we use for

geo setups is busy, busy, busy all year round. But, you know, there's always a spike when

you just get into the track season and everyone goes, oh, yeah, can I get my car or tires on

geo on this one? Got a track day in two weeks. That's exactly what happens. It's not two weeks,

it's usually two days. And you're like, oh, how are we going to squeeze that in?

So, you know, we do try and encourage people to sort of plan ahead a little bit and just kind

of get it into that sort of winter period because it's a great time to kind of get

all of that prep done. So it is box fresh ready to go when you do do a track day. And also what we

sometimes find is you might do like the RS day, for example, in February.

You know, it's early on in the year that an Alton Park is pretty, I think in the middle

of summer druids is slippery, you know, it seems to always be constantly a little bit damp.

But, you know, if you have a brilliant, you know, blue sunny forecast for a track day in

February, and your car's already prepped, it's like, great, get out of the garage and go.

So, yeah, there's a lot of logic, you know, it's like everything in life. If you kind of think

about it plan ahead, you're generally winning. Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. There's sound advice,

sound advice. And yeah, for a bodiest and at home, you obviously know where RPM Technic is

to get that, to get that booked in for winter. So shall we talk about water called 9 11's

teams? Yes, let's do that. And specifically the greatest water called 9 11's of all time.

So, regular listeners will know that we've previously had an episode dedicated to Luft 9 11's.

And Andy, that was very much your forte, I'm sure. So, yeah, we're going to go on to the

other foot now and talk about the water pumpers. I might be able to contribute a little bit.

So, it's similar rules really to the air called scenario whereby your top three,

the parameters are entirely up to you, entirely subjective. So, I, for example, have gone for

cars I've driven, but it's, yeah, I think so as long as we explain to people listening at home

the reasons we've chosen, it's just our own choice and it goes without saying we'd love to hear

what you at home think as well and what your top three 9 11's of all time are.

Please email us and let us know it's hello at 9works.co.uk. And just like the air called

stuff, I'll form a bit of a table so we can work out what the people's choice is because, yeah,

that would always be interesting to help pump up the tires on those particular models,

if nothing else. So, how would we like to do this? Would we like to just take it in turns going

around the table going three, two, one or all do our thirds and then seconds and then gold

medals? You think that's fair? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And nobody's, for those listeners,

nobody's shared these yet. So it's, it's, yeah, it's fresh news. Yeah. If it's news at all. But

yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, do you want to kick off Andy with your, with your bronzy? Get him out

of the way for you. It's how it feels really. A bronzy. Okay. All right.

What's your parameter as well? First of all, you know, how are you deciding these?

It's a bit of what I've driven. Okay. So what experiences I've had in them,

which I feel very lucky to have, have driven some great autocorps cars. What's my,

but also, I guess I'm a bit more of the every man as far as I haven't driven a huge amount of

stuff. So, and I'm a bit of a simpler man, I guess, in that I'm not really a trackhound. So.

But what I will say is, you do have a Mac, if there's like one car of a generation you've

driven, it tends to be like the blue chip car. I distinctly remember walking past you at cars and

coffee thing was a PC Sheffield. You were standing next to a 911 and as I walked past you, you were

going, Oh, I don't know. I've only driven the R. That is a true story. Back yourself for sure.

So yeah, I was thinking that I'd go simple, which I might do further up. I'm still undecided,

but I've got I've got a three a number three. And it was a car that

our good friend Nigel, let me have a little drive of his 997 GT2 RS. What machine that is

immediately getting in it, you can feel that there's something special about it and there's

something very racy about it. Just putting your foot down on the brakes. It's like

this is this means business. I mean, I'm sure you guys have driven plenty of them. But yeah,

and it wasn't a particularly long drive, but the momentum that thing can thrust forward just

yeah, nutty machine. I think isn't it still the fastest manual 911 trying to think if anything's

overtaken it while they set them 50 horsepower? Six 20. Yeah, I'm trying to think it was 205

mile an hour top speed. I'm trying to think if anything's usurped that laterally,

surely must have, but it's still I think that on a career GT would probably run pretty close.

Yeah, yeah, manual, but 9 11s. Yeah, yeah, probably in the straight line manual fastest.

Yeah, the ST for example, that is nowhere near it because of the gearing. But

yeah, that's a phenomenal thing. Yeah, absolutely phenomenal. In every way,

in the bucket that seat that you sit into all of the details of the car, it's

it's kind of under the radar, isn't it? Not a lot of people think about them.

Because it's not a GT three. It's not the normally aspirated car. But it does. I think

you've said before it's not like a turbo car. It's a GT three with a turbo put on it.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I know that that could sound really obvious to people listening at home.

But but it really is it's not like a punked up GT two is my take on that car. It's a it's a rent

sport with a turbocharged or with two turbochargers, but like it feels very much like a rent sport.

And it's got that kind of almost scalpel knife DNA, obviously never anything to the degree of

the naturally aspirated cars. But I think that is a really clever amalgamation of those two technologies

actually really clever. It's a fabulous car. But it goes against the grain of what I was saying

on the Simple Man and that I'm going to pick something. But yeah, that's number three for me.

Yeah, yeah, it's a cool car. That particular car's Eric Clapton owned. Is it? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And it was I think originally delivered with comfort seats. It's yeah, it's quite

a quirky thing. Yeah. Anyway, yeah, I said it's a good it's a strong start. Okay, strong starts.

Yeah. Yeah, Darren, what do you reckon? Okay, well, in terms of logic, I also went for cars that I

had personal experience with. Because I think it's it's quite it's quite important to have that

that point of reference. Because otherwise, you're really just regurgitating other people's

opinion. I also didn't I mean, there's so many cars that arguably could should be top three that I

that I didn't include in my top three. But partly for that reason and partly because

I'm sure you guys are going to say that anyway. So yeah, I mean, and I have a

I've also tried to kind of there's a different theme to sort of the cars that

that I put into my top three. And again, it kind of aligns with what I particularly enjoy about

Porsche, Porsche ownership. So my number three, again, controversially for me is turbocharged.

But I wanted to get a 996 in the mix. Yes.

I knew you would.

I had to have a 996 in my top three. So I went 996 GT2.

And it's a car that I I keep looking at and keep going. I really want to own one of those.

But I know from what we do here how expensive they can be to maintain. And my pockets just

aren't deep enough to kind of make that commitment. And it would because if I

went down that route, it would be at the, you know, I'd have to, you know, there wouldn't be any

other cars in the stable. And it doesn't quite fit what I need out of a car. But I would

absolutely love to own one. And I think one of my probably best ever most exhilarating drives

I've ever had was in a modified 996 GT2. And Greg will know there's actually a car talking

about it. It was it was absolutely insane. I was I literally laughed out loud when I drove it

because it was the wildest ride I've ever I've ever taken in a car. It was absolutely

insanely powerful. And I mean, again, you know, you got a higher level of of attentiveness when

you know there's no traction control or other aids to save you. If you if you get it wrong,

you've got to you've got to mop it up yourself. Yeah, it was it was wonderful. It was a wonderful

thing. And I just they're massively underappreciated. I think they're they're hard cars to get

hold of. But they're also cars that, you know, they they're not what Greg will talk can can

give you more detail on the on the GT2 in terms of sales from the sales point of view.

But, you know, they're they're not a car which you can kind of put into stock and

immediately know that the phone's going to kind of melt down. It's got to be it's good. I

just think because of what it is and because of where it kind of sits in the pantheon of

cars that have kind of followed it. It's kind of like it's just out there as a

such an extreme car and a great thing to have. They've always just been under the bubble

really relative to the GT3 variants if not in price but just like popularity and wider

appreciation. But yeah, what are your thoughts on it, Greg, really from your side?

I think it's twofold because they've always been so, you know, 996 GT3 at the moment,

good ones, I don't know, let's say 70, 80,000 pounds and a GT2 starts from 100k upwards really.

And if you're on a club sport, you can be up to 130, 40, 50k depending on the mileage.

So I think part of the problem with that is that when you're going to spend

over six figures, then your buyer's head sometimes is turned to other cars because like,

oh, what else can I get for that sort of cash? And that particular car is quite a niche car in as

much that it's a handful. And so people read a lot of reports about them and sort of go,

maybe, maybe a 991 GT3 is a safer bet for me because also they're old, they're not out in

any type of warranty anymore, as Darren was saying. So they are a car that, number one,

you've got to, and it sounds an obvious thing to say, but you've got to want to own that particular

car and then therefore ignore the other cars that you could buy for the same cash.

And also they have a smaller operating window of use, you know, the modern stuff you can

hear. It's a slimmer of a window. You can use them more regularly and all the rest of it,

you know, a 996 GT2, it nearly came in my top three as well to be fair because I mean, I used to

ride bikes and super bikes and stuff like that. And it's probably, I think it's probably up there

with the Carrera GT. It's probably one of the only Porsches I get in. And when I get in, I just

take a sec because I haven't got any traction control. And old school BHP is different to

modern. I don't know whether it's something to do with the throttle mapping, the engine

mapping, but when you ask for it, she can deliver us. Yeah. There's no, there's no cutting back of

anything. And that's why so many of them have been crashed because they are spiky on the limit.

You know, there's a guy and I forget his name. He's really nice chap. We look after,

he's got a yellow 996 GT2 club support, I think it's a club support. And he tracks it at the

ring. He's at Alton Park for the RS day every year in February. And every year I literally

salute that man. He's out in the wet in it. And no one looks at it twice. And I'm like,

this man's got some skill. So keep that thing on the track. He's got the hood.

So it's got that kind of like scary factor, which not, there's not many cars that I like that

these days. Anyway, you know, you've got all the TCs and the ESCs. And also,

the way they end, modern stuff's been engineered is that it's easier to drive

because Porsche didn't want people to hurt themselves. Whereas, you know, that car, it was

like, pull on your big pants. Let's go. It's not for messing about with. So that's a long-winded

answer to your question. That's great. It's really good to hear. And I think for me anyway,

the 996 is so much more animalistic over the 997 GT2 relative to the fact that they are

GT2s. The 997 has been tweeting in the right ways and its breadth of usability is slightly wider.

But I think we've got three 996 GT2s in the collective that I can think of off the bat.

And what I will say is put in like a PS4s on is a bit of a game changer. Modern tyre technology

and, you know, rather than like a cup scenario. Yeah. Modern tyres have tamed them to a

certain degree. Yeah. I remember going for a drive with Andy when he bought his. And Andy

is a very good peddler but hadn't driven a GT2 before. And the message was it will move around,

but let it. Let it. It will come back. They're brilliant. And again, manual, just shy of 200

mile an hour, incredibly capable thing. And yet isn't as kind of rattly and wears its heart

on its sleeve as much as a GT3. So actually in terms of that engineering and the duality is

quite clever. It's great shout out there. Taking our two choices there. The 97 GT3 GT2 RS and the

996 GT2. What's the what's the thought? Because I've never driven the 996. What's the thought on

the animalistic side of things? What does the 997 tame it? Or is it got the same?

It's sort of, I would probably say it sort of softens off the little edges. So with the 996,

from the moment you GT2, when you engage gear, you like how it goes in, how you feel the clutch is

proper manly clutch in there, weight of the steering, the back of your mind that you've

got no TC. It just and it's slightly smaller, slightly lighter car. Yeah. Everything there's

one filter that's been removed. Whereas when you go to 997, there's just a little layer in there.

That's got, you know, PASM. So it's got soft and hard suspension. It's like,

what do you think that for? Yeah, just make me go fast. But then when you go into something like

the least probably driven more than me to be fair, but like a two RS club sport 997,

it's then another level of performance. But then you've got to be prepared to

put the effort in to do it. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's perfectly succinct.

Nothing to add to that. Nothing to add at all. That is such a good choice there in action. And

funny enough, we pulled into the car park here at RPM Technic today, and there's a 996 GT2 sitting

there, and you've got some lovely metal sitting there. And certainly my eye was drawn to it.

I mentioned it to Andy. It's up on the Nineworks marketplace currently.

Such a cool thing. And yeah, kind of, I share your ambition, if you like, to own one one one day

as soon as the pockets can stomach the maintenance really. But maybe we could go halves in another

life. That's a really great choice. Great choice. Greg, what about yourself?

So my third, my top three list, by the way, I could swing and chop and change around,

depending on how I feel. But one of the three is a 991.2 GT3. So the 2017, 2018 car. And the

reason I chose that is that we are so spoiled, and I'm very lucky to jump in some wild cars,

very expensive cars, very rare cars. But it's one of the cars that every time I get out of,

I said, we were talking about it in the office the other day, actually, that

you actually don't need more than that car. It will do everything. 500 horsepower engine,

my opinion is 500 brake is more than anyone needs. Well, interestingly, even the 992s,

they don't really have much more. And that car can pretty much do everything. If you wanted to do

a sub seven lap around the ring, she'll do it. If you want to drive to work every day,

she'll do it. If you want to put rear seat conversion in, we can do that for you.

And I subjectively think it's a stunning modern Porsche. And we were talking about sort of the

directness of cars, those cars, especially if it's a manual, I could, to be honest,

any configuration of that car, you know, auto comfort or club sport manual, whatever,

the that filter we were just talking about, it's so, you're so like one to one with the car.

And okay, they aren't an inconsiderable amount of money, you know, you're talking 120, 240 grand

give or take. But it can do stuff that cars that are valued at three or four times that

can't do. I remember the first time I think it was the first time I ever went around

spa in a car at least was in one of them with Tim Tim Harvey. I just could not believe how quick

that car was going. I mean, it was I think it's quicker than a of the time it was quicker than

a touring car. And you're like, how is this car doing it? And so I just and the other side

of it for me is that, you know, that's how I pay my mortgage. And those cars are so popular.

And that has never changed. Okay, they went to big premium in terms of pricing and stuff.

But even now, you know, a lot of people say to me, oh, you know, what would you buy if you had the

money? I mean, we have a 992 GT3, but we use that for track and stuff. But if it was mine,

I'd have a manual one of them with rear seats, just put 150,000 miles on it. You just

it's not really been okay, it's been approved upon, of course, it has with the 992, but

it's not wildly different car. And just shows that I think that was a high point in Porsche's

sort of modern evolution, in my humble opinion.

Oh, that's mega. That is mega. Surely going forward as well, I think in 10 years time,

we'll look back on those cars and be like, was Porsche really making those cars at the time,

you know, four liter naturally aspirated, high revving machines that can be driven on the road.

It's just incredible. And it's a sort of car that you when you get in and drive,

and to be frank, most of this stuff, if you're driving on the road, you're driving it

two or three tenths, you know, anyone tells me to do in 10 tenths on the road, I'm like, you're lying.

But you know, when you're bimbling around lovely thing, and it is fun at 30 miles an hour changing

gear, when people go, oh, they're not fun for the road, I'm like, go and put 500 miles, I want to

see what you think. But then equally for someone that's super, super talented, to get that

last 2% out of that car, I don't put myself in that box, you have got to be on your fucking game

to get that car to do what it's going to do. I mean, we've got a client who's got a blue one,

who we both know, and he will run rings around a guy in a 992 RS, because the car can do it,

but also he can do it. And that's you sort of, that's what I mean, you could have it forever,

because you, unless you're like, Tim, you're probably always going to be learning with

that car, and it will keep you interested. Yeah, yeah, Pete 911 design possibly?

I mean, again, it's subjective, isn't it? But I think of the modern stuff, it's just lovely lines

to it. Yeah. And obviously the touring version has obviously spawned all the 992 tourings and

stuff. So yeah, I think it's got to be up there. Yeah, yeah, they are ever so slight,

again, within the context of being GT3s, they are slightly more mechanical than the 992s.

They're later cars are just ever so slightly more sanitized. Yeah, the engine, no.

Yeah, noise coming into the cabin shift as well. Pre-OPF, yeah. And again, you know, you sit there

with the idling of its, for example, is a manual and you know, it's tuntering away and, you

know, you feel like it's, it's a driving machine, which all, yeah, all these cars are

with you, but a 986 Boxster, they all are driving machines. But yeah, it's just something. And

again, like you were saying, I've had a few drives and then when you just get out and you just go,

yeah, that's it, man. Yeah, that is the one. It's ultimate all-rounder, as you said. It's

whatever you want it to do, it will be able to do. Yeah, yeah. You might need a little tweak,

you might need to do, you know, some little tweaks of geo or do some arms or do bits and

parts, but, you know, you can make that car do whatever you want it to, you would never

need to change it. And they're quite approachable as well. Again, I don't, I don't do an

awful lot of track days, contrary to everything, whereas Darren does. So I get my kicks more on

the road and it's, it's an easier car to drive than some of the cars we'll probably be talking

about. So therefore it's less stressful and therefore I get more enjoyment from it as a,

as a, I don't know, a normal driver. But I did a trip last year where we did a little film

and one of my good friends, Richard, thanks, Rich, lent me his 2018 GT3 manual that we'd

done a touring conversion on. And fair play to him. It was December, it was snowing,

the thing was on four Ss, it would take, mentioned four Ss, it would take everything

in second gear upwards. And I said to Rich, it might be some footage of that car moving

around slightly. And, you know, when it, when it broke side, you just ride it out and you're just

like, again, we got to the end of that day. And it was, it was literally like sub three degrees.

It's probably no one's ever seen that video on YouTube, but if you want to check it out,

it was just so much fun. And the thing just did everything. And when I got back

here after we did out for the many miles, it was absolutely cage, you can even see the

number plate. And I said to Sam, our film guy, that car, that was special. And I guess

that's the thing, sometimes you have a particular emotional sort of tie with some of these cars,

which we, you know, we favor though over some other particular models. But yeah, that's my number

three. I remember that video. It's absolutely worth checking out. So it's a really good video.

What happened to 14 seconds?

I just, I thought, well, you've played that well with like choosing like deepest, darkest

whales or wherever you went to. Yeah, that's fabulous. I can't wait to hear your two and one

as well after being so evangelical about GT3. So I guess for me, and my top three is probably

going to be obvious. I do want to say I found this infinitely harder than picking air called

top three. And that's not to be disparaging to the the lift cars at all. I just think there's

more to choose from proliferation of the model line up. It's really, really difficult. But yeah,

my third is the 911 ST, which again, I think possibly could be quite obvious. But as a brief

explanation before we get on to the silver medals, I think if there's one word to describe

that car for me, it's fluidity. Just looking on some notes here, we were talking earlier about

like the 996 GT2, for example, and I would describe like the power delivery and that

to be sledgehammer. Whereas with this, with the ST, it's scalpel. It's so much more precise.

And again, I think that marries in really nicely with the touch points,

sensational gearbox, not quite rifle bolt. I really reserve that term. I think it's

banded about a bit too much in the automotive world. So it's not quite that, but it's so good.

And the way an ST goes down a UK road, it almost has no right to do it for a car that is,

it's an RS, isn't it? Without the wings, all intents and purposes, I think it's incredible.

And yet there's like a lightness and a delicacy to some of these touch points

like the steering, the throttle response, the clutch as well. And again, I've said here,

just outrageously well damped. It's the benchmark and a lot of 992 owners are looking to have that

calibration on their GT3, aren't they? So yeah, fantastic noise to it as well. And I think what's

great about that car is it's all shoehorned into that kind of quintessential 911 silhouette.

It does it all without the big wing and everything else. Yeah. Yeah. And I just think as a zenith

modern day Porsche engineering, it's a very good expression of it. Yeah, for sure. Very much so.

So yeah, it's a it's a it's a the bronze for me. So I'm glad you chose that because it was it was

one of the ones floating around in my collection. But I thought I know someone's going to pick

that. And do you know what as well, like because where you're saying Darren 996 GT2,

you said as well, Greg, I was floating around your kind of top three that that is

really close for me, really close. But like, I can't ignore just how from an engineering

point of view, just how perfected that ST is. And it's possibly a little bit too perfected as

to why it's it doesn't go any higher for me. And this is within it being in the echelons of

some really like great company. But yeah, that is the ST for me. So that's a good choice.

Yeah, silver medals then. Silver medals. Yeah. It's still first up, am I?

Okay. Silver medals, I'm going to stick with 997 GT3. I've been very lucky again to drive the

what I guess is, you know, turned us the best 993, sorry, 997 GT3, and that's the four liter.

But I'm not going to choose that. Okay. Why am I not going to choose it? Because I don't

find it visually. The nicest 997 GT3 are just like a standard 997 GT3 without all the bits and

bobs, we added bits and bobs on the graphics. I particularly remember our guards read GT3 that

somebody I've met had and it was just achingly beautiful. Yeah, gen one or two. Gen two. Yeah,

okay. Yeah, gen two, just simple, yeah, simple lines. And that really appeals to me. So yeah,

probably because of the visuals side of things. Did I feel like the four liter is much more than

3.8 in my terms in what I look for? I don't think it's, I'd be quite happy with my simple,

simple man's GT3. Well, it's like great value next to an RS four liter.

Something that might be achievable in my top three. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Decent. Yeah.

It's a machine. Yeah. Did you used to own one, Darren, from memory or? Yeah. Left hand drive

club sport. Beautiful. Beautiful. Yeah. Very, very good machines. Yeah. Very good. I guess

they appeal to me as well because they're a bit more old school than the 991, aren't they?

You know, you've got a bit more of that feel of a air-cool car about it, the size and the way it

moves down the road. Yeah. So yeah. It's a good shout at that. I once had a drive, it wasn't in

Darren's, just thought Darren freaked out. Although he's very chilled with living his car

to me. And so I once went out, we had one in stock and I used to live in Bista. So my

journey to work, which I loved actually was about sort of 45 minutes. And when I used to

work at the weekends, I'd just get up really early. And it was a day like today, you know,

beautiful, nice and warm. And I remember driving one from Bista to here, not like,

you know, stupidly fast, but just absolutely loved it. And just thought, and again,

sort of thing when I got out, I was like, that car was awesome. And I like the looks of them

as well. I know what you're talking about. The narrow body cars are pretty. Yeah. And

it's clean. There's not too many bits and bobs going on. It's no graphics. It's just

quite a great fall. Yeah. Interesting point in GT3 history, because it's the last in so many ways

with like mechanical steering, Metzger engine, no rear axle steering, just looking at some notes

here. But but so it's the last of the line. But then it was kind of first like first GT3

with the centre locks, which is now kind of ubiquitous kind of path for the course.

A few other bits in there, active dynamic engine mounts as well.

So bloody things. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So front axle lift as well, which again is is is everywhere.

It's a much needed thing on on GT product these days. So it's a it's a really cool thing that to

be honest. Yeah. Yeah. I'll keep it simple. Excellent. Excellent. Darren. Right.

Well, they probably won't be much surprised with the with my silver medal. I would like to put forward

the 991 generation two RS Manti MR. 991.2 991.2. Now I know I own the 991.1

RS MR, which I love dearly. But I think if I if I'm being truthful, if I had the money,

I would probably go with the Gen two. And again, I deliberated on this for quite some time because

I there's there's qualities of the one point one that I really like. But I think if I'm allowed

to do the this is assuming I'm allowed to actually have a Manti model in my in my selection.

But I think the the bits that are the sum of the parts that go into the Manti conversion on the

one point two, it's a more expensive quite a significantly more expensive car to convert

because it has more aero and a whole new wing. And it's mechanically fixed into the

the factory, the chassis of the car. So, you know, there's a lot, you know,

different engine, a different wing is a lot of extra cost associated with it. But, you know,

I think the the the experience that you get in the one point one is just that little bit

about, you know, the transmissions are that little bit nicer to live with the the Manti

conversion gives you that little bit more aero and a little everything's just a little bit more

than the one point one. But that being said, the one point one is awesome value for money,

because as a as an RS, it's one of the cheapest RSS that you can. Yeah, you can

you can get the cheapest. Yeah, it's certainly in and around. It's kind of at the

right at the bottom of the curve. And to Manti, it isn't actually horrendously expensive in terms of,

you know, if you compare it to a 992 RS, for example, that's a lot, lot, lot, lot more money to do.

So, so I think the one point one from a it is right and only decision for me to to go down.

But I think if I was putting a car forward, it would be the one point two, you know,

beautiful car. And again, where it wins and why I didn't look into the 992 stable for an alternative

to the one point two RS is, I think it offers the better all round proposition and as much as

it's a car that is lovely to drive on the road, even if you run a I run a really extreme

geometry setup on my one point one, yet allowing for the fact that it moves a lot.

You can still have a lot of fun on the road with it and you can do road trips and it does

it's not overly tiring is and it's not overly hard. I mean, with the Manti suspension,

they quite often I think ride better on the road with a Manti suspension, even in track,

like level of damping. So, yeah, I think the with the fact that they've got a proper

frunk, you know, you can, you know, the practical car, you can run them just as easily

on a road trip as most other things. So I think it kind of wins from that point of view.

And the other area where it wins for me is I like the fact that they're quite

they're a bit more work, a bit more of a challenge to get extract the speed out of.

So when you're on track, particularly, you have to they behave more like the nine, if

anything, although the architecture is very much more akin to a 992, they feel

and need to be driven a little bit more like a 997, you know, broadly speaking.

So and I quite like that because I like the old school, I like old school 9-11s anyway.

And I quite like the fact that you have to kind of work with the car and the traction

systems in it are good, you know, you take the stability control off because that that does interfere,

but the but the, you know, the traction system works. But it's nothing like as intelligent as

the system that the 992 has run, where they they just mop everything up for you. Not

not they don't do it for you, but that they allow a really good like level of slit before

they cut in, they kind of they just they kind of let you do what you'd want to do, but with all

the systems still active. So you kind of got the ultimate safety net, whereas in the 1.1,

you are taking stuff off and you are having to work a little bit harder yourself to get the

speed out of them. So from that point of view, I just think the 1.1s, I'm sorry, the 991 is the

for me is the car that I just kind of just really kind of bonded with.

Sounds like it's one of these in your future, Darren.

Yeah, if the one came along, that would be a logical upgrade from the 1.1.

Although it is possible to do the 1.2 aero conversion to a 1.1 now.

So you have to update.

You spend a bit of time thinking about that.

You have to upgrade the rear dampers because of the extra aero effect.

So it's a big cost investment. But no, I think the 1.2 Manty RS is just the most resolved track

road car. Yeah. Well, with their in terms of like factory cars, the dot two over the dot one

is like, you know, to every man and woman, it's looks like the the looks have been chiseled and

refined. But there's obviously there's improvements to the aerodynamic package.

But the big thing is the suspension on the dot two, isn't it? It's a big evolution over the dot one.

Then with the Manty stuff, I remember you had an absolutely beautiful Manty lizard green car

in the showroom. It's maybe 18 months ago. And I remember chatting with you about it,

Darren, and you said you'd be so surprised how well that goes down the road.

And I think we were even talking at one stage about doing a video with it on like a February

or something. And you were like, honestly, you'll be really surprised. That's always stuck with me.

Yeah. And I think it's the same, not just on the the 991s.

You know, the GT4, when we did the Manty conversion on that,

it was actually on the road that if you got the, I felt it actually made the biggest

difference because it rode so much better on the road. And I did a feature with Evo where we took

the frozen buried kind of press car from Porsche and ran that against the GT4 MR.

And it was a brilliant drive with very little traffic from

Shosebury to Barla and then Barla to Anglesey for the track part of the test.

And John Barker and I swapped cars halfway at Barla. And I started in the MR and finished in

the press car, the factory car. And I couldn't believe the difference that the suspension made

when you do it like that sort of drive back to back because they're very similar roads,

both sides of Barla. And it was, it was insane. It really was. Whereas I had no

trouble keeping on the, on the coattails of John when I was in the MR, when I was in the

press car, it obviously kind of like worked out, oh, this is quite good. And, you know,

got on, got on with it. And, and the, the lack of relatively speaking, the lack of support

when you were going through the sort of more technical twisty stuff off camber corners, you

know, with a, you know, reasonably tight off camber corners, you go into that and it feel

comparatively like there was a body being strapped on the roof of your GT4 compared to

the one, the MR car that we were using. So you couldn't like get the car set into the corner

comfortably and then get on the gas nice and early. So you kind of, you drew the corner and out the

corner, you would just be kind of waiting for the car to kind of set. And then you could go

again by that time, the MR had already kind of disappeared. And I didn't want to be the guy

who crashed the press car. So I did, I kind of accepted that John started to sort of

move down the road away from me on that second leg through the twisty Welsh hills. But it was,

it was remarkably remarkable how much difference that mantis suspension made on the road. And I

think that's a common theme from all the cars we fitted these two, that although they provide

the support, you know, the extra load support on track that you still get a very good ride on the road.

Excellent, excellent. Yeah, yeah, strong, strong, very strong. I hear your progress in the, in the

Cayman was rapid, swift. Well, on that particular trip, yeah, it was, it was a reasonable run,

obviously sticking to the speed limits. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, had all times,

had all times. Excellent choice, Greg. So my first, my bronze choice was all about precision

and approachability and, you know, the one for everyone. My second one is the opposite to that,

but made at the same time, which is a 991.2 GT2 RS. In either, you know, the standard form or to

be fair, like Darren was just saying, the manti form, and I guess, you know, some

cynics might roll their eyes when they hear us say, oh, with the manti stuff that you've

got to drive these cars back to back and you, and that's really hard, you know, that's not,

not for everyone that you can do that. But when you do that, you understand where the money has gone

and why these cars are so revered. But the GT2 RS for me, that car is a thug. That thing still

is the quickest Porsche around the Nurburgring as far as I'm aware, apart from the 911 Evo,

which you think that came out seven years ago, like fair play. And it's just power. It is power.

That thing sounds different when you're inside the car. Certain frequencies are in the car,

actually sort of vibrates you a little bit and you kind of can actually feel a bit queasy. You

know what I mean? If it's the wrong frequency. Even outside the car, when you're on the

devil's dyna on the Nurburgring, on the dottinger, oh, noise they make when they come past,

you can, you can just look another way. You know what's just come past.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They sound like a, like a World War II fighter.

Yeah, they do. Yeah. Very unique sound. And they're kind of, they've got that scary factor

that we were talking about with your choice of the 996 GT2. And it's, it's nowhere near as sharp

as a 996 GT2, but it feels weirdly more nimble. So it's not that much heavier,

contrary to what everybody always says with modern cars, oh, they're big and heavy.

They're not. There's like 50 kilos or something in between those two cars,

which is baffling how they manage to do that. But also how that thing gets its grunt down is

unbelievable, you know, 700 horsepower is probably more, I reckon, if you put one on a dyno.

But they will pretty much take in the dry first gear upwards. You can just drill the thing and

it goes. One of our good clients, Tim, he very kindly let me use his car a reasonable amount.

And, you know, it's always fun when you've got a passenger and they've never, they've never been

in one. And they look at you when you first drill the thing. Or if you're following one,

and you can see the turbos glowing at nighttime, I've got a photo on my phone of when we came

back from an event at Caffeine and Machine. We were just cruising down the motorway, but

one of my mates took a photo and sent me as like, you can see the underside of the car

glowing. But actually, it's a specific car that I like. It's an actual car.

Manta, I've got a black one, which they used to do the experience stuff at the ring.

I don't know how many miles it's done. It might be high, might be like, I don't know,

it doesn't really matter. But when you see that thing coming up in your rear-view mirror,

it takes your breath away how fast they're pedaling that thing. And you do speak to people

like Lars and they're like, yeah, that thing's the matter. That's the daddy. That thing is the

daddy. Last, I think it was last year when we were at the ring with one of our clients

had a red MR and that was going through turn one at 199 miles per hour. Oh my God. Flat through turn

one. Wow. And you can, it's not even, you can, yeah, I mean a 992 RS is because of the aero.

That hits a brick wall at about 175, 177 miles an hour. And so you can be stood in the

devil's diner, like Darren said, having a coffee, sort of trying to chill yourself out.

And you can see them going past visibly quicker than everything else.

And just all the engineering and everything that went into that, you know, all the GT3s

have been honed and evolved and developed and honed. That wasn't, it was just like, we need to

be the fastest car around the Nurburgring. This is how we're going to do it. And the fact that

they might bring out a non-2 GT2 RS, I'm not sure. But, you know, how can they go

meaningfully quicker? They'll work out way because they're really great engineers. But just about that,

seven years down the line, it looks awesome. It's so, so, so, so fast. It's held his money pretty

well as well to be fair. I mean, obviously they're bobbed around a little bit. But it just,

whenever I see one, it like, yeah, it gets your heart beating. But that particular,

that black one, that man's high own, I want that one. Black with red, I don't know if

it's called what interior it's got, but with red leather, full red interior for me.

I love that specific, that specific car as well. They're an incredible piece of engineering.

Surely like going forward, that'll be a car that will be seen as like high watermark for the 911,

like in terms of like historical context, surely. Yeah, I mean, and weirdly, I was talking to

someone else about this the other day, imperfection actually adds character and makes you more

interested because dynamically, there are better cars. I'm not arguing that. But

it just does one, it does its job to nth degree. And it's what I was in at 638 or something,

something, something absolutely incredible. That car did. And if anyone's ever been, you know,

it's a bit boring when people haven't been to the ring and they people hear people

like myself talking about it and it's a bit, you know, if you're on jog on buddy. But

if you've been there and you've been around with a fast driver and you go anywhere near

seven minutes or sub seven minutes on bridge to gantry, not not even full lap,

it is mind boggling. I mean, the fact that, you know, the engineers have the imagination to

get that car to do that is frightening. It's terrifying. So yeah, just for the sheer thug

ability that one. I'm so buzzing for your number one by the way, because this is such a nice build

up to it as well. I think my number two is just pulled up outside. That is a

Yes, just sold only sold. I chose well.

Great choice. Okay, my silver medal very quickly is again, possibly an obvious one

is the 2016 911 R, which is funny. The last three of all, yeah, been 991 generation,

and I know mine's a dot one, your two were dot two. But yeah, it is. It's a surprise,

surprise scenario. I know because it's not number one to be honest. I know. So it was number one.

It was number one all week. And then it changed. It changed yesterday after having a real good

thing. And I've not the number one not driven for a little while, but I hope to change that

shortly. But the reasons that we'll explain, but they are, I will say has a rifle bolt gear

change that for me is the reference for a six speed manual gearbox in a 911 ever. It really is.

There's such precision and little movement. That is your definition, ladies and gentlemen,

of a rifle. And again, delicacy of touch points is is on par with the ST the ST slightly

more refined, which I think is it is a hindrance because whilst I think a 911 ST is such a damn

brilliant 911 as my bronze choice. It's so good is that it robs it of its 911-ness, if that makes

sense. Yeah, where was it? Yeah, where was it? The R to me behaves like a 911. It's got the

nose bob at the front, whereas the T nose is a lot more flat. And I will catch you out.

A T will make you look good. And as a evangelist of the 911, which I wrote about for 10 years in

T 911, been moaning purist, but I realized I've kind of become that latterly. And that's the

charm of the R for me is to trump the ST. So it will slot in at number two for me.

What a choice, but I still can't believe that's not number one. But again, like the ST,

it's such a fantastic car, but you could park that in Sainsbury's and

interestingly, they're the same sort of money as well.

Yeah, I guess, yeah. Yeah. So it'd be interesting to see how that plays out in time.

Numbers must help surely with the R being so... The R's quite a lot more rare, isn't it?

Yeah. Yeah. Smaller, slight, I mean, again, it's not that much smaller. It's infinitesimal, but

yeah, good car, very good car. infinitesimal alongside smallers, but definitely, they're

not some words today. Yeah, the other thing as well, I'd love the touring owners

saying, you know, it's so similar. It's so similar, you know, a 911 touring versus an R and

it's just a lightweight flywheel away from being the same and whatnot. There are so many changes,

so many small changes that add up to a bigger picture. There is definitely a gap.

What is the big picture difference then? What's the...

Changes all over by one and two percents that add up to a bigger picture. You can't go down

to one thing and go, well, the R is this and the touring's that. For a start in terms of

value, there's collectability and the touring is highly collectible, right? 45 in the UK or whatever

it is. But you know, so there is that numbered production run, which does add value, whether

we like it or not. But there isn't one single factor that makes the R superior over a touring.

Is it more of a gut feel? No, no, it's small improvements in every single department that

add up to that bigger picture. But very difficult to put your finger on what it is.

Yeah, you can't hang your hat on one thing, I believe. I don't know if you guys think...

Think differently. I think when the R's that I've driven, the first thing I was,

you know, when you've got a couple of seconds to reflect on when you hop out of the car is

it's light. You just feel it's lightness. I think it's the lightest modern 911 you can buy.

And yeah, it's got that sort of steering feel on the front end. It's going to sound mental,

but it's a bit like the Spyder 987s, which are such a light car. And that is the first thing

that I sort of, that sensation. And things like the lightweight clutch and flywheel add to it all,

and it makes it, it's funny because it just makes it feel older than it is. That's a good thing.

But then also, I sort of rain myself in and go, this thing's 350 biggies, be careful.

And yeah, you don't see, don't see many of them, do you? You don't see people

smoking around in them very often. So again, hats off to any boys or girls that do.

Definitely. I'm certain going forward, they will really have their day. I think where they sit

currently, I think it is undervalued, personally. But right, we'll get on to our gold medal, shall we?

Back to Bruxy. Oh, it's been so hard for me. I'm going back to my simple,

simple man. And these are going to be going to sound a bit weird, but

you know, it's very much a personal choice. Yeah.

And there's one car that we've driven recently. And I'd never thought there would be

such a modern 911 in my top three. I thought 992s were like, I know where this is going.

Yeah, yeah. 992s now, not interested whatsoever. But that Carrera T that we drove just a couple

of weeks ago is in my consideration. Yeah, yeah. It's not, I'm still still deciding.

I've actually got three, three possibles. The number one is top six.

Well prepared. Yeah. That's unbelievable that a 992s in that. Yeah. For me. Yeah.

You know, I really did enjoy it that much. I don't need if you guys have driven a lot too.

Yeah. But yeah, I was absolutely blew me away. I loved it. Just the overall balance of it.

And something else that gets, I talked about a lot and I really like the idea of it in the

DNHC. A lot of people have been talking about the 50th, 991 50th. Good shout. Good shout.

Which just sorts, you know, suits my use case and manual, the, if you could find one. If you

can find one. Yeah. With the, with the X, it's the X 51. Do you know, I've never come

across one. We just sold a manual one. And that's the first manual I've ever seen.

I've never come across and someone will now correct me that, you know, there's lads of them.

But, um, yeah. A manual with the X 51 kit talking to rare cars that's got to be up there.

Yeah. And they, do you know how those cars feel different? I don't know what it is about them

because they're not hand built or anything like that. But every single one I've driven,

considering it's sort of very similar to a, you know, as Crearess or a GTS,

I just don't feel the same. And maybe it's the wide-bodied chassis or something. I don't

know, but they are lovely. Yeah. I'm not driven one yet. So it's a bit of a theory

thing. No, good machine. But yeah. Um, and, but then, but then

so it's, yeah, considering all that then, but something that really. So this is one C currently.

Yeah. Yeah. It's Halloween soon. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, my, my two and three have been

winged and things thing. And I think my ideal car is not wings and things. So a 991 GT3 touring

is in that group of three. Oh shit. Which one am I going to pick? And what? Yeah.

Because I want to experience that, the howl of that GT3 engine. And I think the 991 is the

perfect looking 911 out in the watercourt era without any things on it. It's just got that flat back.

So you're going with that? Are you?

I think I'm going to go with the 50s. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Because yeah. Next one we get in,

come drive it. All right. They don't last very long. So you have to act quick.

They don't do that. Yeah.

Lovely things. It's also the, I think I did a little video, the interior of those cars,

because I always say to people, you know, you spend, well, we all like looking at our cars,

obviously, but you spend 90% of your time sat in it and they have a different interior. It's

a bit like, you know, the sport classics and all those kinds of cars. I was really,

really cool factory interior, which just it makes that car feel, I was about to say

more special than it is, but that's, that's not the wrong thing to say. There are

specials, only 180 of them in the UK or something, but yeah, the interior of that car is.

And that was before like the proliferation of Porsche exclusive putting Houndstooth into

like every other car. So this is the marketing department, bought that car out and laid people's

brain of all kinds of fun. And do you know what? So a great friend of NineWorks, Tony Hatter,

helped design that car and a little snippet that he divulged to us was the green dials

that you rightly point out, Greg, it being different. He said, that was so difficult to get that type

approved. He said, it's not just a case of printing out green numbering and lettering

and on the taco and whatnot and putting it through. He said, we had to really work with

that to ensure that the lighting came through just to satisfy that for type approval,

just a really small detail that is possibly overlooked perennially on that car. Beautiful

thing. I think what I like about the 50th as well is it is available in different colors

and different options. The sport classic for me is, oh, there's another sport classic where if you

see a 50th, they're they're different. And they're like, oh, what's it got? How's it fitted out?

Okay, yeah. Is it got a bit of interest? Yeah. Where the sport classic is a

one one color fits all. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's still an access that in the UK,

the power kit was optional on the 50th. But there we go. Yeah. Yeah, standard everywhere

else. But yeah, okay, that's it. That's a admirable gold medal. Simple man's choice.

No, no, love it. Love it. Absolutely love that. That's her choice. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think

Rory and the DNHC will be delighted with that. Yeah. Certainly. Yeah. Darren, your your gold medal.

Okay, so for my gold medal, I went with a car that I've only very recently driven.

And I was fortunate enough to have a good two or three hours behind the wheel,

cross country, good time of the day, reasonably clear roads. And

it's a car that's already been mentioned today. And it's a car that I think

merits its position based on all the reasons previously discussed. But

for me, it was quite eye opening. And I wasn't sure whether to put it into my gold medal place

or not. But I think because it's because of the of what that car is in the in the in the

lineage of an evolution of 911s, I think that for me kind of meant it had to sit as a gold medal.

And that's the 997.2 GT3 4L. 997 GT3 4L. Yeah, 4L RS. So I've had lots of time in the 3.8

in a club sport. So in many ways, I thought when I drove the 4L thought well, it would be pretty

similar to my 3.8 club sport, you know, and that was also a left hand drive. So it was,

you know, in many ways, it was kind of, I thought this is going to be the same, but a little bit

better, maybe. And I think in probably in many ways, it was that assumption was right, it was a

little bit better in in every way. But again, a bit like you were talking about earlier, Lee,

it's amazing how just small incremental differences add up to something significant,

but but it was the the end, the engine in that is a absolute masterpiece. And it was mated to

and a crap of it's exhaust. So you just would never, ever, ever get bored of poking the throttle

on that car. It was just it was a wonderful, wonderful thing to drive. And I think

if you know, if you were going with a car, I wouldn't it wouldn't be for me a track car.

It would be a, you know, that would be a full on road road trip car,

special occasion. So, you know, something that you kind of you, you know, you look

forward to and open the garage up and get it out and go, right, it's today's 4L RS day.

It's that sort of car. But, you know, the engine is, you know, it is the cars kind of almost

evolves around the engine because that engine, it is different. And it is notably different

having so much time in the 3.8 going in that, you know, driving 4L, it did, it was that really

did blow my mind how, you know, how different that was. So I think the summary was everything

was better, a little bit better, but the engine was wildly amazing. So, so, and you've got, I think,

you've got to have the that last of the lineage in there. And it and personally,

although it's for me, it's a real toss up to 997, 991 as to what's peak 911.

You know, I think that 4L RS just it just sits out on its own for something that's just

special and, you know, the daddy. Yeah, it's the flag bearer for the 997 generation in that argument,

isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is that is such an exquisite choice. I need to

ask Greg is, is, do you have a different gold? I do. Okay, well, I'll just because mine's the

same as Darren's. Just to echo your sentiment for me that car. And I think what I really love

about that car, aside from how it drives, is the historical significance for one.

But but also that that car is almost the epitome of Porsche as a company. It did things with

that car that other companies just don't do like reference the RSR crank goes like it's a

genuine race car crank that has gone in there. And I've got here was, you know, intake system

taken from the 997 GT3R hybrid. So it's, you know, N24 car, again, going in a road car,

GT2S lightweight parts, which you alluded to, I think that, you know, Rose jointed suspension

shared with the turbocharged Rensport. And again, you know, 500 horsepower from a 4L naturally

aspirated engine is par for the course today in kind of Porsche parlance. But that was the

trailblazer that started that in a, you know, with a complicated Mexican engine,

because the Mexican is infinitely more complicated than the DFI.

So it, but it's just meaty, isn't it? I think they're kind of the word for it, because the

500 horsepower 991 RS delivers is it's a bit of a screamer. And it's all kind of it's sharp.

It's scalpel, isn't it? It's been said already. Whereas the Mezga is just like solid meaty

kind of real sort of raw. Well, I think it's like just like, yeah, pure unadulterated motorsport.

And I would have to have one in white, which is like the motorsport body in white, if you like.

And similar to what you were saying that, yeah, there are many uses for that. It could be a track

car. It could be a road trip car. I also feel like I could build a house around that car and

just admire it. Because again, you know, 997 styling wonderful with like those added

intricacies like the dive planes, which are unique to that car. I just think it's so

beautiful to look at. Some other notes I made is with only 600 made, that is nothing compared to

modern day build numbers, you know, an unlimited, well, I'll kind of come back to that.

The big point I want to make is with that RS four liter that still resonates and chime so

loudly among enthusiasts, you know, that car is 13 years old. And I think context is

important. If you go 13 years before that, the company was on its knees and literally days away

from going out of business. And I think that shows in just a short time what Porsche did with

that car is like the real quintessence of what it stands for as an engineering company that

builds sports cars. I'm trying to keep up. So yeah, the other thing I think is worth noting

that again, with reference to the production numbers and how special that car is with genuine

race parts on it, I do a limited numbered production run RS as well. I do think that in

the future will be a million pound 9 11. I mean, there are million dollars on the

stage. Yeah, yeah. So sterling, I honestly, you know, and those that because yeah, we're

seeing I mean, there's there's one for sale currently, which is I think it starts

with a two and it's got delivery miles on me to sample. Yeah, that's it. But like,

I believe they'll all be there. I really, you know, providing they've, yeah, not been

stuck in the boonies and whatnot, you know, but that I really, really do view that in 10,

20 years time as like the reference point for a classic collectible 9 11 in the way we kind

of look at some like classic Ferraris. Now, I really, really feel strongly about that.

So that's my gold shared. Yeah, great, great, great. Yeah, yeah, good choice. Yeah, mutual

back there. Yeah, Greg, what's your gold? So my gold is actually, I would counter a lot of

your arguments with this car. Oh, are we going to go in the car park? We can do what we want.

So this one, I'm going for gold with the 996 GT3 RS, because that is the car that all of these

other cars existed because of. So when Porsche built that car, the 996 GT3s were, as we all

know, amazing, great cars. And I suppose part of this, you know, a little bit of nostalgia,

because I think I was 18 when that car first came out. And I think it was probably the first car

I thought every fiber of my being, I need to own one of these at some point I've got to.

Luckily enough, had a 996 GT3 club sport with some cool mods on it, but it was just to try and

get it to an RS. And that particular car is 22 years old 2025. Yes, a 22 years old car.

That car was built and had stuff on it, because they wanted to make it the best it is, rather than

the marketing department wanted to tell people that it had low numbers, or it had parts from a race

car. They just did it with that car. You know, carbon, Kevlar bonnets, different cylinder head,

the suspension uprights all homologated for racing. And when you look at the race car and the road

car of the time is the closest that it's ever been. And it'll never be that close ever again,

because it can't be, you know, racing is different road car rules, you know, legislation

is totally different as well. You then add in with it, yeah, 682 of them ever built,

not because it was a limited run 600 car, not there's anything wrong with that. It was just

that's how many they built, and then moved on to the next car. That was quite special.

And then to drive them as well, I talked earlier about like having filters between you and the car.

And so my first love before I got into cars in a bigger way was bikes. And anyone who's ridden a

bike will, you know, a test, it's there is no filter. It's throttle to performances like

straight, you know, there's there's nothing in there. And that is probably the most aggressive

modern road 911 you can get in, you know, they're everything there's no assistance,

they're heavy clutches, no traction control, okay, had ABS. But it's so direct as a driver's tool

and it's so sharp. And then when you see one that's like got gnarly setup on it, and it's

been spanked around a track, you're like, fair play. The guy who's bought that hasn't bought

it to turn someone's head. He's bought it because he wants that car and he wants to go really fast.

And they're still fast in 2025. I mean, my 996, me and Darren on the Autobahn's, you know,

drag racing is quite high speed. There's not much in it, not much in it at all. And a 996 RS

would be a bit quicker. And then also for me personally, weirdly, that was the first GT Porsche

I ever sold when I worked at Porsche. That was about 2009 2010, I can't remember the exact

year. And I, whoever I sold that to, please get back in touch. I can't remember your name,

but it was a white and blue one. And I remember it done 6,000 miles. And we talked about it for ages

about whether it was a great idea, because obviously the 997.2 had just come out and he's

like, why I think of 65 grand he paid for it at the time. He's like, why am I paying 65

grand for a car that it's pretty, the one that's the new car at the time, I think there

were only 80, 90 grand for a 997.2 at the time. And he was like, I can't, am I making the biggest

mistake here? And I was like, no, I think, I think you didn't, and anyway, the deal and he bought

it. And I remember taking it, they didn't at the time do MOTs on site, but to, unfortunately,

take them up the road. I remember driving it. And the front end on that car, I was just like,

what on earth? This is the best thing I've ever sat in and ever driven.

And yeah, they're not the best looking one. But I kind of like that. Because I'm buying that or

it's my top car because of what it does in terms of drivers, you know, feel and experience and

all the rest of it. I personally think they look really cool. Because I grew up with, you know,

with Simmons's age, that was that was the car when I was growing up that I really,

really wanted. And also, it's probably slightly attainable issue. Yeah, I'm sure I should

be able to afford one at some point in my life. And it's that kind of I saw it racing at the weekend,

and I could buy it on Monday type car. And you can still do that now. But obviously, it's,

they're quite a way off what a road car is these days. So yeah, there's a lot of reasons I've chosen

that. But it, it created a lot of the other cars that we're talking about. And if that car

didn't exist, they probably wouldn't either. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And that's like

the ultimate full stop, really, because yeah, kind of exactly as you said, without those,

it isn't well, I guess on behalf of the listenership, there's a really important question I need to ask.

And it's blue or red. See, again, people, it's like that kind of opposite mentality. Everyone

wants white and white and blue. So I'll go white and red. Actually, I'll really annoy everyone,

take the stickers off. But yeah, I mean, white and blue is slightly, yeah, slightly more rare.

But I just, I just love it when I see one, there's one we sold to a guy and someone sent me a photo

of it. It was like, this one's got your plates on it. The thing had braked us down the side of

there. We'd put a good geo setup on it. And I was like, that's the one.

Proper job. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like whether it's the, the, the, all the rent sports that

followed, like a brilliantly concocted package, the 996 RS is almost like a skunk works

bicep car, isn't it really? They just, they just did it. It was like, it was engineers built

kindness. And it's a simple thing. You know, that, that almost feels like an air cooled car

in terms of how it, you know, drives is, okay, you could have them with or without

air conditioning. But really, you've got an engine and a transmission, which time has proven

that they are probably the most durable engine Porsche have ever built. You know,

obviously the four liter RS exquisite, but that was a DFI engine. These are three six

because she had a lineage all the way back to nine six fours, you know, the crankshafts are

interchangeable between those two cars. And of course, then cool things like with the

different cylinder head and stuff like that. But it's simplicity is nice. You know,

you could, you could take that to any track, pump it, pump the thing around all day, just

put fuel in it. Yeah. Yeah. New brakes and tires every now and then that's it. Yeah.

So simple. You, you don't need a computer. You just put clean and drive the thing.

I've seen a good view here in the show in my RPM Technic over the years.

Are people hunting them out more or less than they used to be? How do they sit? Do you feel?

They've always, and again, I think it's that same thing that I spoke about earlier about the nine

nine six GT two that the price point they're at, it turns a lot of people's heads. And that's

fine. You know, we're all different guys. We haven't all got to agree on the same thing.

But you know, for 150 biggies, there's a lot of choice. So again, you've got to want

that particular car. I cannot understand why that car is on aggregate 150 to 180 k and a four

liter RS is double triple quadruple in America. The figure of that car is like, why? Yeah,

why is that so much more? I mean, it may be just the looks of it, but that's cool. Let's

keep it at this price. I don't want these to be 300 cars wouldn't surprise me if at some

point they got up to that sort of level as well, which kind of would be a shame. Yeah.

But yeah, super, absolutely super. I just love doing this. I could talk about it all day,

but I guess we must crack on, but we should do it in the pub next time.

The real beauty of this game is if we did it tomorrow, we'd have 12 different cars.

So someone would be bringing up the nine five nine for its water called heads, no doubt.

Yeah. Look, guys, thank you so much for sharing that, particularly as you know,

the water called stuff I feel is really what you guys are known for on Excel. I know you've got

your specialist division with the air called cars and have sold plenty of air called cars. But

every single time I walk in the RPM Technic showroom, it's just such a glittering array of like

the finest water called Porsche. So we felt like we couldn't go anywhere else. We had to come

here and I personally feel like this conversation has been so worth it. It's been a fantastic

deep dive. So thank you very much. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks guys.

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About this episode

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