If you are willing to spend close to a million dollars on a supercar you are spoilt for choice. Apart from the “usual suspects” such as the upcoming Ferrari “Enzo/F70″ and Porsche 918 Spyder, you can opt for something less common like a Veyron, Koenigsegg or a Pagani.
However, if you really want to go exclusive, you may want to visit Monterey next weekend as RM Auctions is putting up a Porsche 911 GT1 “Strassenversion” (that’s German for “street version”) for sale.
Not to be confused with the various 911s bearing the GT moniker, the GT1 is a completely different beast. In the mid-1990s, the most successful carmaker in the history of Le Mans was spurred by McLaren’s success to return to endurance racing.
Porsche’s weapon of choice debuted at the La Sarthe circuit in 1996. Although it was named 991, it was mid- and not rear-engined and the flat-six was water cooled and featured four valves per cylinder. In fact, the only thing borrowed from the (then current) 993 was the front structure, which was mated to the rear of Stuttgart’s previous all-conquering racer, the 956/962.
Homologation rules dictated that to be eligible for the series, “at least” 25 road-legal models had to be manufactured. Porsche obliged and created the Strassenversion.
It was effectively a racer with a slightly detuned engine (with 544 instead of 562 bhp) to comply with emissions regulations and offered some amenities like carpeting and a 993-sourced dashboard.
The car that is heading to the auction block is based on the racer’s second iteration, the GT1 Evo. Built in January 1998, it’s barely run-in as the odo reads only 7,180 km (4,461 miles).
So why shell out $1.2-1.4 million (RM’s estimate) for it when its performance figures are modest by modern standards, especially when compared to much cheaper cars like Aventador, the F12berlinetta or even Porsche’s own 918.
The answer is that although the former may be much more modern and pass the 200 mph (320km/h) mark with the GT1 topping out at “only” 193mph (311km/h), they are effectively road cars.
The 911 GT1 is a thinly veiled racer that due to regulations, can also be driven on the streets. Besides, if you can afford it we guess you already have a garage full of modern supercars anyway.
There’s also one final thing that may interest you: RM Auctions says that this particular car, chassis number WP0ZZZ99ZWS396005, is the only one known to have been imported to the US of A.
You can watch the 911 GT1 Strassenversion and Tiff Needell reviewing the racecar in the two videos that follow after the break.
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