Background
Forget 42, which according to Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers’ Guide to The Galaxy is the answer to The Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. 911 is a far more pertinent number when it comes to cars. No three digits are better known.
From school age kids to octogenarians, Nine Eleven, or Nine One One (take your pick) immediately brings to mind a slinky looking rear-engined German sports car with links that go right back to the Beetle. But 997? What’s this, a logarithm?
The 997 broke cover in 2004, largely to sighs of relief from Porsche fanatics. The 996 had annoyed 911 worshippers with its fried egg style headlights and general similarity to the cheaper Boxster. The 997 reverted to the bug eye appearance of the 993 and classic air cooled 911s of old.
So, why exactly did Porsche change the course of the 911’s history and swap air for water as the cooling medium in its engine designs? Well, the signature air-cooled flat six had reached the zenith of its development trajectory in the 993. It’s very hard to get exhaust emissions as low as legislation insists they must be with an air-cooled engine, which relies on some extent to a rich mixture helping with cooling duties. In short, Porsche had no choice.
The German firm teamed with Toyota to improve manufacturing processes, as well as introducing the 996 alongside the entry level Boxster, bringing down manufacturing costs and opening up the target audience for its products. The 996 then was a 911 for a new millennium with new technology, a newly revived factory and a new engine. The 996 is the model that ensured Porsche continued to dominate the sports car market. And the 997 went one better.
Looks aside, the 997 bristled with new technology, evolved chassis dynamics and enhanced engine performance, making the 997 generation a performance driver’s favourite again, and the 3.6 litre flat six would now propel the Carrera to 60 in 5 seconds and a top speed of 177mph.
Many consider the 997 to be the last great 911, as later versions became more and more sophisticated, the computers separating the driver from the road. There may well still be a lot of processing power in a 997, but these cars are from a simpler time, when people were still expected to be able to drive the car largely unaided.
The 997 is generally split into two phases, the first lasting from launch in 2004 to 2009; a facelift and power hike delineating the phase two, which lasted until the end of 997 production in 2012.
Second generation 997s like this lovely example have become more and more affordable as time’s gone on, helped largely by the fact that it’s still, to date, the German sports car company’s best-selling 911. A first-rate initial MoT pass rate of 85% indicates that these machines also age very well, with the fragility of the air cooled era merely a faint memory.
