The Porsche 996 proves that Porsche purists are whiners

Porsche is a strong brand and one of the most profitable car manufacturers in the world. In the early 1990s it was different. The Porsche watered down in Zuffenhausen. It was sink or swim. And the brand pumped it up with a new 911, the Porsche 996, which was enormously successful and annoyed many purists.

One should never listen to purists, because they are against everything. The Porsche 996, for example, was the first 911 without an air-cooled engine. The horror! Sacrilege! The typical 911 sound would disappear, was the fear. A 911 should have air cooling, that’s what it sounded like.

Porsche 996 the only right choice

Nonsense. Porsche made the only right decision because there was simply no way left in the development of the old drive source. It would also make it impossible for the engine to meet increasingly stringent emissions requirements in the future. The result was a new 3.4 liter flat-six engine with 300 hp.

The block would grow to 3.6 liters after the facelift in 2000 – which introduced a new headlight shape. In the 911 Turbo, the engine delivered an impressive 450 hp. The GT2 was the most powerful variant of the 996 family with 484 hp and a 0-100 time of 3.6 seconds.

Criticism of fried egg headlights

Speaking of headlights. That was another point of criticism. The so-called fried eggs, round headlights with an orange tab for the indicators, could not count on the applause of the purists, the public and the press. The units were for a good reason though: since everything was included, including the headlight washer, they were cheaper to manufacture and quicker to fit.

Because that was important. One of the reasons Porsche was so bad was the inefficient production process (the other reason was the outdated model range of which only 993 and 968 were left). To streamline the production process, the help of Toyota was enlisted, which taught Porsche to build cars quickly and cheaply.

Developed together with the Boxster

Incidentally, the success of Porsche is not only due to the 996. The model was developed together with the Boxster. They are completely identical up to the A-pillar. Dutch designer Harm Lagaaij was aware of the risk of confusion between the 996 and 986 Boxster, but had other priorities at the time: saving the company.

First Porsche 911 with GT3 variant

The Porsche 996 is also significant because it was the first 911 to receive a GT3 and GT3 RS variant. Originally, the GT3 was a homologation model, but the huge success of the lightweight 911 prompted Porsche to continue with the GT line. Based on the Turbo, the GT2 was the first 911 to come with carbon ceramic brakes as standard.

Porsche sold 175,000 996 models

At the beginning of the 1990s, Porsche sometimes sold just 5,000 cars a year. The goal for the 996 and Boxster was to produce a total of 30,000 units. These expectations were too low. Porsche has sold 175,000 of the 996 alone. And those purists…they’ve finally stopped whining.