The world’s favourite sports car is 60 years old. To celebrate, Dan Baines of Rutland based Top 555 picks five used 911s that need to be on your shortlist.
1. 911 Speedster (991.2)
‘I thought about putting the 911 R and the sensational 991.1 911 GT3 RS on this list, but of the special 911s from that era the Speedster is the one. It’s got that magical 4.0-litre naturally-aspirated GT3 engine – here with independent throttle bodies – and, being an open-topped car, the sound is just sensational. The Speedster also got the manual gearbox, of course, together with a stack of lovely design touches, including a carbonfibre bonnet and engine cover, the cool retro humps on the rear deck and the lower Boxster windscreen. Each car in the 1948-unit run was individually numbered too, rather than just limited production. One hell of a car and a great investment. Values are at the £330,000 mark.’
2. 911 Carrera 4S coupe (996)
‘The 996 is the most affordable 911 currently, and a nice C4S with the manual gearbox is both an absolute joy to drive – just brilliant – and a lot of car for the money. Expect to pay £25,000-£35,000 for a tidy one. The improved 3.6-litre flat-six sounds so good and you get the widebody style of the Turbo – but in my opinion they’re better to drive than the Turbo.’
3. 911 Carrera T (991.2)
‘These are a bit of an enigma in the 911 range. But I think the T has the best chassis of any turbocharged 911 I’ve driven (standard T equipment included a diff, PASM sports suspension and lightweight glass). They’re a stonking car and I wish I’d bought one when I had the chance. They don’t make much sense on paper but to drive they’re way more than the sum of their parts. You’ve got the basic engine in a narrow body but if you were smart you could spec it as a baby GT3, with bucket seats, carbon brakes… On the road they feel small and nimble, and you can use all the power – or you can easily tune them to GT3 power.’
4. 911 GT2 RS (991.2)
‘Okay, it’s another spicy choice – the 690bhp, rear-drive GT2 RS, with its sub-3.0-second 0-62mph time and 211mph top speed… But I think there’s real cache in owning the fastest production 911 yet, they’re astonishing to drive – far more usable than you’d think – and they’re super rare; we’ve only ever sold three of them. Values are between £330,000 and £340,000. If you’re talking 911’s greatest hits then this has to be on the list.’
5. 911 GT3 (997.2)
‘These seem to be stable value-wise at £120,000-£130,000. They’re a real sweet spot, I think. You get the Mezger engine, which people go rightly crazy for, and though the Holy Grail RS version is even better, having driven both I wouldn’t say it’s £60k better… A smart buy.’
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