Lee Sibley By Lee Sibley 1 year ago

My Porsche Story: luck of the Irish

As part of our series where 9WERKS members share their Porsche story, Paul Sykes explains how a little 996 inspiration helped inform a decision to change the hue of his 991.1 GT3…

Purchasing my Guards Red 991.1 GT3 from OPC Aberdeen was the result of me lusting after a GT3 for years and then, after the thousandth search of Porsches for sale on a rainy Saturday afternoon during a lockdown, I decided to cheer myself up and make an inquiry. Long story short, 20 minutes later I had paid a deposit and was already looking forward to having a new (to me) 991.1 GT3 sat next to my old 997 in the garage.

A week or so later the car was delivered on the back of an articulated lorry to a nearby town as the driver wasn't comfortable delivering to a village. When I arrived at the location the GT3 looked like it had been through several winters without a bath, it was filthy. However, I'd soon forgot all about that when I got behind the wheel for my first drive. Listening to the sound of that 3.8-litre flat six at 9,000rpm is, I believe, one of the greatest engine noises you'll ever hear.

Categories

After living with the 991.1 GT3 for a year or so I started noticing this little Irish Green 996 online and in Total 911 magazine… this got me thinking about turning my GT3 into more of a 'heritage spec' car. Skip forward six months and she is now painted in PTS Irish Green 'peelable paint' from Logic VPC. The seatbelts are now black (not red) and the wheels are now silver, which look amazing against the PCCB calipers. I have also added some houndstooth seat inserts to the folding buckets which completes the look.

A friend of mine convinced me to have a JCR exhaust installed too, which sounds unbelievable under load and quite refined when on the motorway. Fingers crossed I don't regret that when I have my next warranty claim at an OPC!

I look forward to seeing fellow 9WERKS members at an event somewhere during the spring/summer with my Irish green 991 GT3.

Want to tell your story? Email us hello@9werks.co.uk.