Yes boys and girls, it’s time for Pick Numero 4 in our Ultimate Car List Top 5. A pretty exciting and potentially monumentous day for this Porschephile in particular. Why? Well, I think I’m finally moving into the 21st century of Porsche supercars.
Pick #4 is a Porsche Carrera GT. Any year would do just fine.
Before I get into why the Carrera GT, let me just tell you that I had originally intended my #4 spot to be taken up by a Porsche 959. Ever since I was a teenager, I have loved the 959. That was always THE ultimate Porsche supercar for me. Heck, that was the ultimate supercar period. In it’s day it was simply amazing. And really still is a force to be reckoned with.
However, my views on the 959 dramatically changed with a couple of recent events. First, I saw a picture of a 959 from behind and realized how ugly the car is from that view. What’s more, it’s just feeling a bit dated and unsexy to me these days. Unlike the classic lines of the 911 series that still look amazing even with cars that are pushing 40 years old, the 959, with the extra body work and whatnot just feels extremely dated.
The second thing is I saw a couple of Carrera GT videos, one of which I posted a few weeks ago on a Monday video post, and I started to fall in love. Throw in Leno’s spinning Carrear GT and I’ve become hooked. So the rare model supercar parked in my dream garage has to be the Carrera GT.
I don’t even know why I have to address any more of the “why” question, so I’ll just throw out a few reminder tidbits:
- Produced from 2004-2006 with a production run of 1270 vehicles (604 sold in the US)
- In 2004, the Carrera GT carried an MSRP of $440,000
- Powered by a 5.7 litre V10 engine that produced 612 hp
- 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds; 0 to 100 mph in 6.8 seconds
- Top speed of 205 mph
- A six-speed manual transmission with a beechwood gearknob attached to the gearbox paying homage to the wooden gearknob used in the Porsche 917 Le Mans cars
- Stock colors were Guards Red, Fayence Yellow, Basalt Black, GT Silver and Seal Grey (custom colors were also available from the factory)
A very sweet car. And still “ownable” provided you have the financial means and patience to find the right one. A quick search on AutoTrader.com produced 21 Carrera GTs for sale in the US including a hopped up 2005 Gemballa Mirage GT for $859,900 (pictured below). Most were under $400k with several even below the $300k mark. Be a great time to buy one while the economy has them priced low.
Ultimate Car List Top 5:
- 356 Speedster (1950s)
- 911 Turbo/930 (1978/79)
- RUF Rt 12 (2009)
- Carrera GT (2004-2006)
[Source: Wikipedia]
yeah, i like this one. its just serious looking from the start.
Bad to the bone!
big big surprise on this one ryan!!! the only thing that would surprise me more would be if you picked a cayenne
good choice, though I’m not a big fan of the Gemballa version
That is a great pick Ryan. Definitely belongs on the Ultimate list. I actually think I saw at Black GT on the road last week around Portland. I only had 1 second to look at it because of traffic, otherwise I probably would have tried to follow it and get a pic.
YES!!!!!!!!!! A-W-E-S-O-M-E ! What a treat to come to the blog today and see the Carrera GT! …and making the top 5 list!! I for one appreciate seeing it making your list!
Made my day seeing this post. I like the 959 and love the CGT…but even though both made my unimportant list lol, The 959 could be easily bumped off if it came down to it and the CGT,…. with no deep thought needed. The CGT is simply the ultimate Porsche! Well my opinion! …and looks like yours too! 🙂
I didn’t think it was that big of a surprise. I think the bigger surprise for me was Ryan admitting the 959 looks horrible from the rear (agreed, BTW). The GT is so impressive that I would have been a little shocked had it not made the list – unless of course you were going to go all classic (which we found out wasn’t the case when the RUF made the list). Good choice.
great car,great choice.wish thety still made it.
i’ll go out on a limb and agree with everyone this had to make the list.
This car is crazy cool. Shoe in for top 5 list.
Other than speed comparisons, I see no similarities between the GT and the 959. The GT is exotic; the 959 is odd looking.
The orange one for 859k is just crazy. I couldn’t imagine ever owning that and actually driving it.
Wasn’t this orange car in a film recently? Fast and the Furious or somthing?
another nice choice.
Would have been cool in the silver CGT pic if the spoiler was up!..still looks KILLER though!
it’d be sooo much fun to drive this car. i think one of the joys would be using the shift knob. having it be so close to the steering wheel would make the shifts so much quicker
I’d love to take this car for a serious spin
that would be fun on curves…
I saw a mirage GT in California at a ferrari dealer and it was dope! 25 made no two alike!