Porsche 911 GT3: a new breed of hero

By Neil Winn

| 8 Jan 2025

Classic & Sports Car – Porsche 911 GT3 at 25: a new breed of hero

If you have ever missed a deadline, forgotten an anniversary or had to send a belated birthday card to a best friend, then a career at Porsche might not be for you.

At the Stuttgart marque, the celebrations never seem to stop.

In 2023, Porsche honoured 60 years of the 911 while simultaneously marking its own 75th birthday.

In 2024, the focus shifted to 50 years of the turbo, with commemorative events across the globe.

Launched at the turn of the millennium, the GT3 badge has already earned a place in Porsche lore

Yet amid all the fanfare, another milestone has been quietly circled in our calendars for quite some time – one that, rather surprisingly, many enthusiasts might have overlooked.

We’re talking about the 25th anniversary of the 911 GT3 – a genre-defining machine that, since its 1999 debut, has set the benchmark for high-performance cars. Yes, that too fell in 2024.

To mark the occasion, the Porsche Museum team invited us to the Austrian Alps to drive its pristine 996 Gen 1 GT3, and to meet the man who led the project back in the late ’90s: Roland Kussmaul.

The Porsche 911 GT3 has a familiar dashboard, but the road-racer is a strict two-seater

For those unfamiliar with him, Roland is very much the enthusiast’s engineer.

Known for his boundless energy and versatility during his four decades at Porsche, his enviable CV includes overseeing its rallying operations, competing on the Paris-Dakar, leading the technical development of the Cup racing cars, developing the iconic 964 Carrera RS, and testing everything from the 908/03 to the 956.

It’s no surprise that Andreas Preuninger, Roland’s de facto successor, once claimed: “I learned everything I know about cars, and most of what I know about 911s, from him.”

The sensational 996-generation GT3 answered critics who accused the Porsche 911 of going soft

Despite his wealth of experience, however, Roland and his key Porsche Motorsport colleagues Hartmut Kristen (vice president of sales and marketing for special and rare vehicles) and Herbert Ampferer (director of the division) found the GT3 project uniquely challenging – not from an engineering perspective, but from a cultural one.

The Dr Ing hc F Porsche AG of the 1980s and early ’90s operated at times more like a boutique creative workshop than a major manufacturer, turning out bespoke, limited-run performance cars with little thought paid to production efficiencies.

Models such as the 964 RS and 993 GT2 were essentially handbuilt machines, making them both exclusive and eye-wateringly expensive to produce – hence the aura that surrounds them today.

The Porsche 911 GT3 has lightweight, 10-spoke wheels

However, exclusivity is not the friend of profitability.

So when Wendelin Wiedeking took over as chief executive in 1993, he quickly got to work waging a war on inefficiency.

Parts interchangeability, production streamlining and cost-saving had become the new gospel.

Thus, motorsport wasn’t exactly top of mind when Porsche committed to an unfamiliar, water-cooled engine for its new generation of cars.

The 996-series Porsche 911 GT3’s flat-six engine was derived from the GT1 racing car

As a result, although the regular 996’s 3.4-litre flat-six, derived from the Boxster unit, featured twin overhead cams per bank and four valves per cylinder, it lacked the crucial dry-sump lubrication needed for racing.

But Ampferer, ever the resourceful engineer, found a neat workaround: instead of re-engineering the 996’s budget engine, why not use a modified version of the powerplant developed for the 911 GT1 competition programme?

It was a masterstroke for two reasons.

First, it allowed Porsche Motorsport to draw a direct line between the high-cost GT1 programme and its road cars, reinforcing the brand’s racing pedigree. Second, it was scalable.

Roland Kussmaul (right) with Wolf-Hendrik Unger in the Porsche 959 on the 1986 Paris-Dakar rally © Porsche

With the GT1 engine sharing its block and crank with the old air-cooled 993, Ampferer realised that minimal re-engineering would be required to develop a variant with forced induction for the soon-to-launch 996 turbo.

This meant that the GT3’s development costs – including modifications such as mounting the dry-sump tank on the engine block instead of the chassis – could be spread across longer production runs.

While almost every engineering decision had to be meticulously justified to Porsche’s board, from an external perspective the GT3 was a public relations coup.

It allowed Porsche to demonstrate that even the mass-produced, slightly effete 996 had genuine competition heritage.

Porsche engineer and driver Roland Kussmaul in Monte Carlo, in 1981 © Porsche

As Chris Harris noted in his Autocar road test in August 1999: “The GT3 is Porsche’s answer to critics claiming the latest 911 has sold its soul for an easier life.”

Finished in Guards Red, Porsche Museum’s immaculately preserved, low-mileage Gen 1 996 GT3 looks spectacular against the lush, green backdrop of the Austrian Alps.

Sure, its design is more conservative compared to the wilder GT3 incarnations that followed, and many enthusiasts still bemoan that regular buyers were given the option to spec similar wheels and aerokit on their base Carreras.

But look closer and there’s a skunkworks feel to the 996 GT3 – as if it was built after hours with parts borrowed from other projects.

Roland Kussmaul tests a Porsche 911 (930) turbo © Porsche

The way those 10-spoke, split-rim alloy wheels sit so snugly in the wheelarches, and how the impractically low front splitter barely clears the Tarmac, gives it the unmistakable look of a road car set up by race engineers.

And while the understated, body-coloured rear wing looks modest next to today’s swan-neck monsters, it would never have made it to production without Roland’s persuasion.

Dressed in his signature grey Porsche polo, Roland squints against the morning sun as he recounts a key battle: “The president didn’t like the wing.

“He thought it was ugly and said, ‘This isn’t the face of Porsche. Can’t we do without it?’”

The Porsche’s discreet badging and the distinctively shaped rear wing with neat Gurney flap are key GT3 identifiers

“I argued that we needed it for the autobahn,” continues Roland.

“At 300kph, if I need to change lanes, the car needs downforce for safety and stability.”

Roland won that argument and, in typical fashion, added a subtle Gurney flap to fine-tune the aerodynamic balance.

“That wasn’t found on the regular aerokit cars,” he remarks with a smile.

But that wasn’t the end of the conflict with his superiors during the car’s development: “I even had to argue for the single-mass flywheel.”

‘Instead of re-engineering the 996’s budget engine, why not use a modified version of the powerplant developed for the GT1?’

“It made the gearbox chunter at idle, and the higher-ups said people would think that the car was broken,” he explains.

“So we compromised – the standard GT3 had a dual-mass flywheel, and the Club Sport got the single-mass with a racing clutch. Time has shown that enthusiasts want the CS models.”

The museum’s 996 GT3 is a non-Club Sport model, and therefore does without its rollcage, six-point harnesses, a fire extinguisher and Roland’s hard-won single-mass flywheel, but that’s not to say it feels opulent inside.

Slide behind the perfectly positioned steering wheel and it’s hard to believe that journalists at the time were concerned that the 996 felt a bit too modern and luxurious compared to a 993, because, by today’s standards, the interior is sparse.

The Porsche 911 GT3 has a slick gearshift

You get three pedals, a six-speed manual gearbox, analogue dials, a radio… and that’s pretty much your lot.

Yet that simplicity is refreshing. Compared to a modern GT3, there are no distracting digital screens, lap timers or g-force meters.

There isn’t even any nannying traction control or electronic stability programme.

The only driver aid is anti-lock braking. As Roland remarks: “There is no one to help you. You are the driver.”

An aerokit similar to the Porsche 911 GT3’s was available as an option on the standard Carrera

It’s a good reminder to take it easy and build into proceedings, but that’s easier said than done when your road route starts atop the Hahntennjoch mountain pass.

It’s a good thing, then, that you only need a few miles behind the wheel of the GT3 to understand its limits.

Indeed, if you didn’t know it already, you would guess right away where the engine is the first time you tackle a set of switchbacks.

The GT3 badge has joined RS, CS and turbo in the pantheon of Porsche greats

You can’t just brake late and throw the nose in towards the apex.

Do so and you’ll feel the front end slide uninterestedly wide of the anticipated line.

Instead, you must brake early, let the nose settle, then turn in with a gentle lift, using the rearward weight bias to bring the rear around before you can get hard on the throttle for a clean exit.

If you’re more used to driving modern high-performance machinery then it takes some acclimatisation, but, on the upside, it means that you get to enjoy yourself at lower speeds.

Racy bucket seats in the Porsche 911 GT3

You soon come to realise what it means to drive a car rather than merely guide it.

If you are not focused, not reading the road, not aware of your speed or your revs, then the 996 will feel recalcitrant and hard work.

But pay attention, and listen to what the car is telling you, and you’ll be treated to one of the most immersive driving experiences at any price point.

Better yet, you won’t even feel particularly antisocial when hustling a 996 down a tight, twisty mountain road, in part because it’s so small – narrower, even, than a current Alpine A110.

This gives you the space to adjust your chosen line within your own lane.

The 996-generation Porsche 911 GT3 isn’t as hardcore as its successors, but that makes it a fantastic road car

And then there’s the engine.

Compared to the weapons-grade, near-500bhp, 9000rpm 4-litre flat-six that powers a contemporary 911 GT3, the 360bhp, 3.6-litre unit in the back of the 996 feels rather demure at first – you could even go so far as to suggest that it feels sleepy below 4000rpm.

But, once again, it’s almost as if the car is nudging you to say: “Come on then, stop being lazy, put in some work.”

At which point you feel compelled to drop it down a few gears and use all the revs.

‘Look closer and there’s a skunkworks feel to the Porsche 911 GT3, as if it was built after hours with parts taken from other projects’

Do that and you’ll find the engine rolls up its sleeves and delivers a sense of nonchalant but irresistible pace.

The kind of performance you can indulge in without fearing for your licence.

Better yet, at around 5000rpm the low-level grumbling makes way for a deep howl, which builds from there to a signature, hard-edged, flat-six yowl just beyond 7000rpm.

It’s the kind of noise that has you rowing up and down the tactile six-speed ’box for the sheer joy of it.

Maximum power comes at 7200rpm in the Porsche 911 GT3

Even Roland, who drove more than 150 miles from his home near Stuttgart in his own 996 Gen 2 GT3 RS (see below), can’t resist taking the Gen 1 for a spin as the day comes to a close.

Disappearing for a good half hour, he returns with a statement that cuts straight to the heart of the car: “It doesn’t have the same front-end bite as mine, and it’s got a much softer set-up, but it’s still great to drive.”

With the 996 GT3 conceived in turbulent times, Kussmaul, Kristen and Ampferer did all they could to create the ultimate roadgoing GT car, but with management worrying about how the model would be received, and budgets being closely monitored, you get the sense that the engineers wish they could have taken the concept a bit further.

The GT3 has become the centrepiece of the Porsche 911 line-up

Forget that this was the first-ever production car to lap Germany’s Nürburgring circuit in less than eight minutes, or that the competition version won its class at the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours, the fact the road car was 30kg heavier than a regular Carrera must have troubled Kussmaul & Co.

Yet it left behind an important and enduring legacy.

Because what the Porsche Motorsport division managed to create was a car that feels inherently right; a car that is idiosyncratic and curious, much like an old, air-cooled 911, but one that is just as fast as you could ever want or need it to be.

Porsche Museum’s immaculate 996-series 911 GT3 looks great in Guards Red

And while it remains the least hardcore GT3 Porsche has built, that’s precisely what makes it such a fantastic road car.

Its supple ride and refined cabin mean you can relish every mile, not just endure it.

Porsche had originally planned to sell just 1350 Gen 1 996 GT3s, but demand proved to be so high that production was extended by more than 500 additional units, bringing the total to 1858 examples.

Enthusiasts simply couldn’t get enough of this 21st-century road-racer, and Wiedeking responded by giving the green light to the more extreme Gen 2 996 GT3 – the car that marked the GT department’s breakthrough into the United States, now the largest market for GT-badged cars worldwide.

‘Drop down a few gears, use all the revs and the Porsche 911 GT3’s low-level grumbling builds to a signature, hard-edged, flat-six yowl’

So, while the original GT3 might not be the most revered or sought-after Porsche, it proved that the brand never lost sight of what makes a 911 truly great as it entered the water-cooled era.

And in doing so, it laid the foundations for what many consider to be the finest series of performance cars ever made.

Images: Roman Rätzke

Thanks to: Porsche Museum

Porsche 911 GT3 RS: Roland Kussmaul’s pet project

Roland Kussmaul was a key figure in the Porsche 911 GT3’s gestation

The Porsche 996 GT3 RS is what happens when a lead engineer, after years of waiting, finally gets the green light to indulge his obsession with lightness.

Glance at the bonnet and, instead of a physical Porsche crest, there’s just a decal.

Open it and you’ll find that the liner is a thin sheet of carbonfibre, rather than the usual carpeted plastic tray.

Meanwhile, peering through the Perspex rear window feels like looking through a mirage of vaporised petrol.

The result? A car that weighs 50kg less than the Gen 2 GT3 Club Sport – it’s extreme.

But not extreme enough, it appears, to prevent 81-year-old Roland Kussmaul from driving his prized 996 GT3 RS all the way from Stuttgart to the Austrian Alps.

He chuckles when I compliment his dedication. “It’s a car,” he responds with a shrug. “You just drive it.

“Although it does tend to clack, clack, clack down the road – I swapped the standard rubber bushes for solid ones.”

Roland Kussmaul is passionate about saving weight in his own GT3 (furthest), the testbed for the RS programme

Roland’s trip to the Hahntennjoch Mountain Pass has just nudged the car’s odometer past the 74,000km mark, which probably makes his RS one of the highest-mileage examples in existence.

Porsche collectors are likely cringing at the thought, but Roland has no interest in selling it – and, even if he did, the mileage wouldn’t matter.

Why? Because this particular GT3 isn’t just any RS. It’s the very first one ever made.

“We did all the final tests on my car – we took it to Nardò to log the official acceleration and top-speed figures before signing it off,” explains Roland, grinning as he opens the featherweight door to pull out a brochure.

“It was also the car used for all the press materials.”

So, how did he manage to register a pre-production prototype, you might ask?

“Ah, it’s not a prototype,” he says. “At the time, we just asked the guys at Zuffenhausen to give us a car from the production line early so that we could turn it into an RS. The body itself is just a regular 996 GT3.”

Roland Kussmaul worked at Porsche for four decades

Roland recounts the development process with fondness, though he suspects not everyone on the team felt the same: “When I’d walk into the workshop at Weissach, some of the mechanics would groan, ‘Oh no, that b*****d is coming.’

“They remembered me asking why we couldn’t use smaller washers under the nuts. On a rally car, you don’t lose 10 or 20kg right away – you go crumb by crumb for every kilo. So I wasn’t always popular.”

And that obsession with weight-saving didn’t stop after the GT3 RS went on sale.

As we circle around to the back of his car, Roland lifts the engine cover.

“On the regular model, there is a fan mounted here. It kicks in when the temperature gets too high to cool the alternator.

“But I had them remove it – that saved 3kg,” he says with a wink.

Factfile

Porsche 911 (996) GT3

Sold/number built 1999-2000/1858 (106 UK)
Construction steel monocoque
Engine all-alloy, dohc-per-bank 3600cc flat-six, Digital Motor Electronics ignition, electronic sequential fuel injection
Max power 360bhp @ 7200rpm
Max torque 273lb ft @ 5000rpm
Transmission six-speed manual, RWD
Suspension independent, at front by MacPherson struts rear multi-link, coil springs, telescopic dampers; anti-roll bar f/r
Steering power-assisted rack and pinion
Brakes ventilated discs, with servo and ABS
Length 14ft 6½in (4430mm)
Width 6ft 4¾in (1950mm)
Height 4ft 2in (1270mm)
Wheelbase 7ft 8½in (2350mm)
Weight 2976lb (1350kg)
Mpg 21.9
0-60mph 4.8 secs
Top speed 188mph
Price new £76,500 (1999)
Price now £70-90,000*