I’ve always liked Porsche 911s. I think having mostly owned German cars they always seemed the best of their breed. Unfortunately when you could pick up a 964 for £12k I had spent all of my £3k budget on a 306 XSI (I couldn’t quite stretch to a GTI-6). When a 993 was readily available for sub-£15k I’d already invested my £5k budget on a Corrado VR6. So when I owned a 2003 BMW Z4, which was worth about £7k, and saw a Porsche 911 for £8k I had to make my move and fulfil a dream. 

First things first, it was a 996. Now that’s out of the way, it was a C2 manual in dark blue with a grey interior. It even had the turbo style wheels and seats, both fitted at the factory. It had a folder full of receipts, including for the IMS seal being done and had been well run in by its past 8 owners, with nearly 140k miles.  It had quite literally been around the world 5 times. Wisely I even bought the 996 before I sold the Z4. I’ve always believed ‘a quick sale is a cheap sale’ and I proved that adage. Anyway, once the Z4 was sold I could get on with some ‘worry free’ driving enjoyment with my first, and hopefully not last, Porsche 911. 

Life started well. Although a little tired in some areas there was no doubting the engine still had most of the 300bhp it left the factory with. It sounded good too. The handling was ok, if a little bit soft. I don’t know if that was due to the 90s spec suspension or well worn bushes and dampers – probably a bit of both. That said it was still everything I expected the ‘classic’ 911 driving experience to be.

Back in 2003 a friend let me borrow their C4S and it was a lovely, lovely thing. Looked amazing, sounded fabulous but in all honesty my 5-times-around-the-world, bog standard C2 was better.  The handling, being rear wheel drive (rather than four wheel drive like the C4S) was so much more fluid and fun. The C4S was an auto too, and I know this is down to personal taste, but it ruined the car. The gearbox was slow and dimwitted – even if you asked it to change gear with the steering wheel buttons it still felt like it was interrupting you. The manual gearbox in the C2 suited the car perfectly. 

The first 8 months of ownership was just what I hoped, it was like realising a dream. It was fast, fun, great to drive and had the feel good factor of driving a 911, yet was old and cheap enough that I was never afraid to leave it alone in a train station car park.  

There were 2 reasons for selling the 996.  My wife was pregnant with our first child, and whilst there are child seats available for the 996, there was bugger all space for anything else.  The other was the constant niggle that some big bills were on their way. After less than 4k miles in my ownership the gearbox started making a whining noise and regularly decided, by its own accord, that it was bored of the gear I had selected so popped itself back into neutral for me to choose another.  The final straw was driving home from work one night and the windows forgot they were controlled by a switch and decided to open, fully. This would normally be an irritation, however I was driving through Storm McStormalot (or whatever name they decided to call it) so when I got home drenched, fed up and frustrated I decided it had to go.  After just 10 months of ‘living the dream’ it was time to move on. Its replacement was a family-friendly, ISOFIX-prepared 2006 BMW 535d Touring (estate) and less than a week later the 911 had gone.  

The 996 was a good, but not quite great, car.  It drove well enough and was good fun but I’m not sure if it have the cachet of other 911s, and to me the ownership experience reflected this.  It always felt like the 911 I could afford, not the one I dreamt of. I think based on this I will need to own another 911, probably a later 997, if only to fulfil my 911 dream.

The future of the 996

The earlier air-cooled 911s have rocketed in value, with 964s and 993s regularly starting at £30k.  The car that followed it is holding its value, with 997s rarely dropping below £20k. When it was launched the 996 was well regarded, holding its own against exotics such as the Ferrari 360, however it seems to be stuck in a void – not being old enough, or scarce enough to deserve classic car status, with current values reflecting this.  I can imagine it will follow a similar path as E36 BMW M3s, which also never quite followed the success of either its predecessor or successor. Porsche 996s are cheap enough now that people are using them for track days and racing, just like the E36 M3, and as their numbers dwindle they will become scarce enough to be collectable. Back in the early ‘00s nobody would have believed E36 M3s would ever be worth £10k and based on this it’s a fair assumption that in 10 years people will look back and think that an £8k Porsche 911 was something of a bargain, even if it was a 996.