If you look closely, it says 911 GT on the back of the car and not 911 GT2. How does that actually happen?
As you know, this weekend the Concours d’Elegance took place at Villa d’Este. While the major car fairs are becoming more and more stripped down, it is precisely the specific events that can count on a lot of enthusiasm from manufacturers. There are fewer competitors demanding attention and it is often cheaper than standing at trade fairs with 100 people for weeks.
Our highly esteemed editor-in-chief @michaelras also likes it much more. He can also enjoy an IAA or Salon, but you can really wake up Our Big Boss for a good competition full of old cars and modern classics in the making.
Of course he saw some cool cars at the event, but there were also some cool cars driving around in the area. One of them is this yellow Porsche 911 that you see in the photos. They have a great internet connection in Italy and so the Car Whiz-Honcho was able to upload the records.
Why 911 GT and not 911 GT2?
Something stood out: the car we see is a 911 GT2 of the 993 generation. Everyone sees that. But if you look closely at the baaaaaadge on the back, you will see that it does not say 911 GT2, but 911 GT.
In fact, if you take the press photo, you will only see: 911 GT. But what about that? And why do we call it a GT2? And is this interesting enough to make an article about? Well, we hope so!
It’s actually very simple. In the early 1990s, Porsche did not have many different 911 models. The racing cars were based on the Carreras (or prototype racers of course). The 911 GT2 was launched in 1993 as the 911 GT. The 993 GT was a homologation special par excellence. With this Porsche one could participate in various international racing classes.
Racing class
And that is exactly where the car got its name from, the racing class in which the car was allowed to be competitive: the GT2 class. Only later, when a Porsche 911 GT1 was also introduced, was the name GT2 used to position it, but not with the badge.
Porsche never changed the name because the car was produced in very low numbers: only 67 copies of the 911 GT(2) were built in five years. So yes, making a new badge for that halfway through is a lot of work.
By the way, Porsche changed a few small things at the end of the GT2’s career, so that the car had 450 hp instead of 430 hp at its disposal. And more power with the same badge is always more premium than the other way around.
The naming of the racing classes has therefore only been used a few times: 911 GT2 (993), 911 GT1 (993) and 911 GT3 (996). These are also the only real homologation specials that could appear at the start of the relevant racing classes.
Positioning in this way allowed Porsche to market the 911 GT3 (the 996 that came onto the market in 1999) and much later the Cayman GT4. So everything after the turn of the millennium is simply for positioning, so that these types of articles are no longer necessary.
Photo credit: Yellow 911 GT by the Ayatollah of Car Whiz via Car Whiz Spots!
Read more? Check all numbers per model of the 911 993 generation here!
