Porsche 911 GT1

The 911 GT1 at a glance

Why Porsche built a 911 for Le Mans

In the mid-1990s, the BPR series and Le Mans opened a GT1 class for sports cars derived from road models. Porsche first tried a modified 993 GT2, which was not competitive. So Norbert Singer's team built a new car that only looked like a 911. Under the 911-style front, the 993 structure was joined to a tube frame and a rear end taken from the Group C 962C racer. The brand's long Le Mans record is covered in the history of Porsche.

The rules required a minimum of 25 road-legal examples. That is why Porsche, after a few prototypes, offered a road version to selected customers. The old 1cars text called it both a road car and a "real racing monster", which sums up the idea well.

Race car, Evo, GT1-98 and Strassenversion

The race car first ran at the BPR Brands Hatch 4 Hours in 1996, where Hans-Joachim Stuck and Thierry Boutsen won as an invited entry without points. It went on to win at Spa and Zhuhai. The Evo of 1997 led at Le Mans but the works cars did not finish. For 1998 Porsche built the GT1-98 to face Mercedes and Toyota.

Twin-turbo flat-six: engine, gearbox and performance

Unlike the air-cooled 993 of the same years, the GT1 engine is water-cooled. Bosch Motronic 5.2 controls the injection. The road version was slightly detuned to meet European emission rules. It also reached 400 m from rest in 11.6 seconds and stopped from 200 km/h in 130.8 m. The old 1cars text quoted 545 hp, 3.5 seconds and 320 km/h; the figures above come from Porsche and German road tests.

With about 1,150 kg and 400 kW, the road car carries 2.9 kg per kW by our calculation. Compared with the Porsche 959 at 4.4 kg per kW (1,450 kg, 331 kW), it has a third less mass for every kilowatt. You can test other pairs in the power-to-weight calculator.

Size, cabin and luggage space of the road car

The GT1 is long and very low, but its cabin is closer to a road 911 than the shape suggests. The road car has a trimmed dashboard and switches from the 993, carpets, upholstered sports seats and a three-spoke wheel. A roof vent limits headroom for tall drivers. There is a small luggage compartment in the rear bodywork. The 1998 road car was more spartan, with a racing steering wheel.

Running a 911 GT1: fuel, service and storage

Porsche never published an official fuel figure for the road car, and owners use these cars too rarely for a meaningful average. Running costs are those of a race car: specialist servicing and careful storage matter more than fuel. The old 1cars text noted that the road cars used steel brake discs while race cars ran carbon discs.

Equipment and the 993 and 996 front ends

There were no trim levels in the usual sense. The two 1996 prototypes and early chassis numbers 001 to 003 have round 993-style headlights. Chassis 004 to 022 use the newer 996-style lights. Most cars were painted Arctic Silver or Fern White, with three special colours. Buyers received the original manuals and tool kit, according to auction listings.

Safety and crash-test status

The GT1 was never crash-tested by Euro NCAP or any similar body, because it was a low-volume homologation car. Its protection comes from the racing-derived structure. Racing showed the risks of the late-1990s GT1 cars: at the 1998 Petit Le Mans, Yannick Dalmas's GT1-98 lifted, flipped and hit the barriers.

The 911 GT1 compared with its GT1 rivals

The McLaren F1 was faster on the road, while the Mercedes CLK GTR beat the GT1-98 in every 1998 FIA GT race. Porsche had the last word at Le Mans: the faster Toyota GT-One and Mercedes cars broke down, and the two GT1-98s finished first and second. Allan McNish, Laurent Aïello and Stéphane Ortelli drove the winning car. After 1998 the GT1 class was cancelled and Porsche withdrew. The 1cars comparison tool sets the GT1 against these rivals figure by figure.