1999–2005 · Mezger · first water-cooled GT3
It is the first car to wear the GT3 name, the last of that naturally aspirated Mezger in this body, and a U.S. run of 960 cars — 864 for 2004, 96 for 2005 — compiled by enthusiasts from PCNA sales, not a brochure. If you still mix it up with a Carrera, it also does not have the IMS story everyone repeats.
6gt3.com is Matthew Herman’s unofficial notebook for that car. Specs are sourced. Prices are only quoted when a named publication dated them. The silver taco-wing 996.2 GT3 in the photos is his. Nothing here is a stock or scraped photograph.
360 PS
996.1, 265 kW
PCNA, 2019
380 hp
U.S. 996.2 SAE listing
PCNA, 2004
960 U.S.
864 MY2004 · 96 MY2005
Enthusiast-compiled PCNA sales
6-speed
Manual only. No rear seats.
PCNA
Why this car
Porsche introduced the 911 GT3 to Europe in 1999. The 2019 PCNA retrospective is blunt about what it was: a motorsport-derived road car with a high-revving naturally aspirated flat-six related to racing engines, rear-wheel drive, less weight, more aero, and a suspension you could actually set up for a closed course.[1]Porsche Cars North America press database
The first engine is listed at 265 kW (360 PS) from 3.6 liters, turning to 7,800 rpm, bolted to a six-speed taken from the 993-generation GT2. With air-conditioning and rear seats deleted, PCNA quotes 2,976 lb (1,350 kg). Walter Röhrl’s 7:56.33 Nordschleife lap is the number Porsche still uses to explain why the first one mattered: first production car under eight minutes, in their telling.[1]Porsche Cars North America press database
Four years later the facelifted 996.2 arrived, and North America finally got a GT3. Horsepower, in PCNA’s later summary, grew to 381; torque from 273 to 285 lb-ft; redline to 8,200. Period U.S. press copy listed the same car as 380 SAE hp at 7,400 rpm. This site prints both and labels them.[1] Porsche Cars North America press database[2] Porsche Cars North America (period U.S. press materials)[4]Hagerty Media, Rob Sass
Original schematic. The Mezger story is the crankcase and the oiling, not a photograph of a valve cover.
996.1 and 996.2
1999–2001
Fried-egg lamps, taco wing, 360 PS, 7,800 rpm, 187 mph in PCNA’s 2019 figures. Not sold new in the United States — Hagerty, PCNA, and RM Sotheby’s all say the first U.S.-market 911 GT3 is the 2004 996.2. 9WERKS still treats the 996.1 as the rawer, more fluid car.[1] Porsche Cars North America press database[3] 9WERKS, Tim Pitt[4] Hagerty Media, Rob Sass[11]RM Sotheby’s
Full compare →2003–2005 · U.S. 2004–05
Teardrop lamps, flatter wing, VarioCam, drive-by-wire, 8,200 rpm, six-piston fronts, PCCB optional for the first time. U.S. kit: 380 SAE hp, 4.3 s to 60, 190 mph, 3,043 lb. 9WERKS’ European sheet lists 381 hp and 4.5 s to 62.[1] Porsche Cars North America press database[2] Porsche Cars North America (period U.S. press materials)[3]9WERKS, Tim Pitt
Labeled spec table →North America did not get a 996.1 GT3. PCNA’s 2019 retrospective says the facelifted car was “offered in North America for the first time.” Hagerty (25 June 2026) says the first GT3 was “inexplicably denied to North American buyers” and that the 2004 model year “finally saw the introduction of the GT3 to the U.S.” RM Sotheby’s writes the same split: 996.1 not sold in the United States; 996.2 arrived for 2004.[1] Porsche Cars North America press database[4] Hagerty Media, Rob Sass[11]RM Sotheby’s
The tight U.S. rarity number is 960 cars sold in the United States — 864 for model year 2004 and 96 for 2005. That split comes from a 6SpeedOnline compilation the poster said was taken from PCNA press releases (January 2007). It is enthusiast-compiled PCNA sales, not a Porsche brochure total.[12]6SpeedOnline, Divexxtreme
A PCA Tech Q&A table of PCNA monthly announcements (29 September 2007) ends at a cumulative 959 through October 2005 — the same U.S. sales story, off by one. This site headlines 960 and notes 959 as that monthly running total.[9]Porsche Club of America Tech Q&A
Enthusiasts often round the wider fleet to about 1,000. A Rennlist post describes the 2004–2005 North America–spec count (United States, Canada, and sometimes Mexico/Brazil in those NA-spec tallies) as “slightly over 1,000 units.” Gooding catalogs use “1,018 examples built for North America.” Those are NA-spec / auction-house lines, not a Canada-only figure. This site does not invent a Canadian split.[10] Gooding & Company / Gooding Christie’s[13]Rennlist, 996 GT2/GT3 Forum
Paint split is a VIN sample, not a factory census. A February 2007 Rennlist compilation by member “enthusiast” lists 393 North American 996.2 GT3s by exterior color — a slice of those ~960 U.S. / ~1,000 NA-spec cars. Porsche AG does not publish color totals.[14]Rennlist, 996 GT2/GT3 Forum, member “enthusiast”
Worldwide, 9WERKS publishes 1,886 for the 996.1 and 2,313 for the 996.2. Other commonly repeated tables use 1,868 and 2,313. The 996.2 figure matches; the 996.1 figure does not. Both 996.1 counts are listed here rather than picking a winner.[3]9WERKS, Tim Pitt
Collectible, not mystical
For years the 996 GT3 lived in the shadow of fried-egg jokes and the Carrera’s IMS reputation. Hagerty, writing on 25 June 2026, says GT3s “have appreciated significantly over the last several years” and that a good driver starts at around $120,000.[4]Hagerty Media, Rob Sass 9WERKS describes values doubling off their nadir, without pretending every car is a blue-chip sculpture.[3]9WERKS, Tim Pitt
One August 2026 Hagerty auction note on an exceptional 9,789-mile 2004 car — a Porsche Classic preservation winner — recorded bidding to twice a $175,000 high estimate. That is a single sale, not a price guide.[8]Hagerty Media
Market notes with dates →Ownership
The M96 in base 996s is the engine with the sealed intermediate-shaft ball bearing people mean when they say “IMS.” The GT3 uses the Mezger family: gear-driven intermediate shaft, plain bearing in the oiling system, dry sump. Specialist guides treat IMS failure as an M96/M97 problem, not a 996 GT3 problem.[3] 9WERKS, Tim Pitt[5] The Stable[6]Renn Driver
What they do tell you to look at: crash and track repairs, crankshaft seals, timing chains, gearbox / clutch / LSD slack, coolant pipes on hard-used Mezger cars, and whether anyone cheapened the maintenance when these cars were unfashionable.[3] 9WERKS, Tim Pitt[4]Hagerty Media, Rob Sass
Watch list, not scare copy →
Clubsport versus Comfort is a real factory distinction — cage, buckets, harnesses, extinguisher, cut-off — not a forum nickname.[3] 9WERKS, Tim Pitt[7]PurelyPorsche
The taco-wing silver car is Matthew’s. White 997s and other cars in the same frame are labeled as other cars, not the GT3.