The last racing cars for the road? Porsche 996.2 GT3 MR and 997.2 GT3 RS

When we think of GT racing cars today, we think of highly complex machines with lots of carbon fiber, which don’t have a lot in common with the cars they’re based on. And thanks to a really complicated balance of performance, they are held back artificially. But it wasn’t so long ago that motorsport was a lot closer to series production – even in endurance racing. Two Porsche models that were closer to racing than probably any road-legal 911 since haven been brought together by Moritz Werner. Both white, both manual, both 450 hp – a Porsche 996.2 GT3 MR (Manthey Racing) and a 997.2 GT3 RS. Are these extreme 911s the last two proper race cars for the road?

White like the factory cars – but not a bit innocent

In the vast majority of cases, racing cars are painted white before they are given their own design. In stark contrast to their capabilities, this makes them look a little innocent. This is also the case with this special duo from Porsche’s GT department. But both have a lot going for them. Under their rear lids with huge rear wings are high-revving six-cylinder boxer engines based on the legendary Mezger design. In the case of the 996.2 GT3, the specification even corresponds to a real race winner. The 997.2 GT3 RS’ engine on the other hand has proven itself as a real racing engine right from the start in a pretty unusual experiment.

These two contemporary motorsport witnesses were brought together by Moritz Werner from Düsseldorf. He himself is a motorsport enthusiast through and through. Werner therefore knows about their historic significance. In a way, they are the last production cars with which good results could still be achieved on the international motorsport stage. “They represent a time when the boundary between road cars and real racing cars was much narrower and more permeable than it is today,” says the ardent fan of historic racing cars.

The Porsche 996 GT3 as the “initial spark for the worldwide triumph of Porsche customer racing”

With the Porsche 996, Zuffenhausen’s engineers broke new ground in many respects. Water cooling, radically changed design and, for the first time, a 911 GT3. Porsche relaunched its own one-make cup, the Carrera Cup, on this basis. Today, they describe the first GT3 as the “initial spark for the worldwide triumph of Porsche customer racing”. Anyone working their way through the entry lists for the 24-hour races at the Nürburgring in the early to mid-2000s will notice that all variants of the 996 GT3 were represented, from the GT3 and GT3 Cup to the GT3 RSR and GT3 RS.

Manthey Racing was particularly successful with a 996 in 2006. Lucas Luhr, Timo Bernhard, Mike Rockenfeller and Marcel Tiemann raced to overall victory in an in-house built Porsche 996 GT3 with a 3.9 liter engine and aerodynamics developed under the direction of Olaf Manthey. They left super sports cars from Lamborghini, Maserati, Wiesmann and even RUF in their wake. The DNA of this GT3 lives on in the 996.2 GT3 offered by Moritz Werner. Its engine specification with 450 hp and 451 Nm of torque corresponds exactly to Manthey’s Nürburgring winner.

This Porsche 996.2 GT3 is to a certain extent the blueprint for the current 911 GT3 MR from Manthey.

But this car is not just about the engine. “Its aerodynamics, transmission, suspension and wheels are all original Manthey parts. Just like the extremely rare carbon front splitter and rear wing,” reports the 41-year-old. This 996 comes closer to the race winner than probably any other 996.2 GT3. “This car drives almost like a racing car with radio, air conditioning and carpets,” Werner sums it up.

The beauty of function, preserved in breathtaking condition

The fact that this Porsche 996.2 GT3 “MR” still has residual comfort and automatic air conditioning despite its extensive racing conversions should not be a hindrance from the perspective of a new owner. Instead of an uncomfortable racing car, it remains a 911 GT3, a sports car for every day – just with a little more spice.

Motorsport-derived, huge wings and splitters can make a car quite unattractive. The Manthey-996 is different, though. Its add-on parts, designed purely for functionality, are simple, almost elegant. Their simplicity gives the GT3 an impressive but not intimidating aesthetic. Racing cars of this era looked a lot less extreme than the modern GT3 aero monsters.

What fascinates me here is the consistency. It is not a randomly modified GT3, but a coherent overall package with parts that were state of the art at Manthey at the time and are practically no longer available today.

Moritz Werner

Being in such good overall condition despite its ambitions makes this rare GT3 MR a solitaire. “It was recently extensively serviced again by the same Manthey mechanic who has been looking after the car since 2005,” explains Moritz Werner. Its mileage of just under 36,000 kilometers has not done it much harm so far. Both inside and out, the 911 looks like it has been very well cared for and it’s ready for new adventures.

Porsche 996.2 GT3

2005

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Production cars have never been as close to racing cars as the Porsche 997.2 GT3 RS

Our second protagonist takes a different approach. The Porsche 997.2 GT3 RS is not a feasibility study of how close a production car can get to a racing car through tuning. Instead, it is probably the last road car that was so good on all levels that it could compete with thoroughbred racing cars on the Nürburgring. With its 450 hp 3.8 liter boxer engine, the GT3 RS reached the performance level of Manthey’s race winning car from 2006 – from the factory!

Just how serious Porsche was about the 997.2 GT3 RS was underlined by the use of an almost completely standard car, also in carrara white with red stickers, at the Nürburgring in 2010. A team led by Roland Asch, Patrick Simon, Chris Harris and Horst von Saurma drove to the Nürburgring in an RS from Porsche’s press department to take part in the 24-hour race and drove it back to the Porsche Museum afterwards.

The modifications were limited to the bare essentials. Even the license plate of the press department (S-GO 2400) remained on the car during the race. Over the course of the race, the team gained place after place. With eleven laps per tank of fuel and without any reliability problems, the team worked its way up to 13th place. Alongside a number of Cup Porsches, the standard 911 left numerous thoroughbred racing cars in its wake. An unprecedented success that is unlikely to be repeated. Today’s GT3 racing cars are simply too extreme and more reminiscent of silhouette sports cars.

Moritz Werner found a virtually new twin of the Porsche 997.2 GT3 RS used at the Nürburgring

While the Porsche 997.2 GT3 RS used at the Nürburgring in 2010 is now part of the Porsche Museum’s collection, the example offered by Moritz Werner could still be in the pipeline. With just 7,450 kilometers on the clock, only one previous owner, a clean DME report and an average paint thickness of less than 100 micrometers, it would definitely be a candidate for a top-class collection. Especially as it has the same basic colors as “S-GO 2400”.

In contrast to the Manthey-996, this GT3 RS is in absolutely original condition. It even has the same tires as when it was delivered. With a total of nine optional extras with X-Code, the Carrera GT-style carbon bucket seats and the lift system, it also has a fantastic configuration that leaves nothing to be desired.

There will certainly not be another Porsche 911 GT3 RS that comes so close to the racing models of its generation. What’s more, the 997.2 GT3 RS – alongside the sinfully expensive 4.0 – is the last 911 GT3 RS with a manual six-speed gearbox. All subsequent models were only available with a Porsche dual-clutch gearbox. This makes this model the last representative of a very special era of automotive engineering in two respects.

Porsche 997.2 GT3 RS

2010

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Both white, both manual, both 450 hp, but still fundamentally different

When two cars are so similar in their key data, it suggests that they are also very similar in character. To a certain extent, these two white 911 GT3s are, too. But their approach differs massively. While the Manthey Porsche pushes the boundaries of how close a production car can be brought to a real racing car through motorsport know-how, the 997.2 GT3 RS stands for something else. It shows how much close a production car can be to a racing car without having to make any technical changes.

To the layman, this may sound philosophical or even like splitting hairs, but for motorsport enthusiasts, these two cars are at very different ends of the same spectrum. The 996 GT3 MR tells of the wild Nordschleife school. Of private racing teams, tinkerers and technicians who approached perfection with courage, experience and mechanical understanding. The 997.2 GT3 RS, on the other hand, is the factory-formulated essence of this idea.

The last true underdog stories

Perhaps this is precisely their common fascination. These cars come from a transitional period. A time of excess, yes – but also a time when racing was not yet standardized down to the last detail. The balance of performance – i.e. the technical harmonization of the competing cars’ performance within a class – was still in its infancy.

Although the factories brought ever more extreme racing cars to the Ring, a Manthey Porsche, a Turbo Porsche converted by the Alzen brothers or an almost standard GT3 RS could also write success stories on the Nordschleife at that time. The underdog story of the 997.2 GT3 RS marks the end of this era to a certain extent, in which respectable successes were still possible even without huge development budgets.

For Moritz Werner, this makes them particularly valuable. Being a racer himself, he is technically enthusiastic about both, but is also aware of their significance. “Although these cars have a lot in common, they appeal to completely different collectors and drivers. In a way, one is the forefather of the modern GT3 MR, the other is something like the pure doctrine of the Porsche GT department,” summarizes Werner.