911 GT2 Evo

Posted on October 18, 2016 by classiccarweekly

1996 Porsche 911 GT2 Evo

Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | November 2-5, 2016

Photo – Mecum

The 993 generation of the Porsche 911 was produced between the U.S. model years 1995 and 1998. This generation’s Turbo model was the first to feature all wheel drive – but that was a no-go for the FIA, which required manufacturers to base their race cars on road cars – and race cars had to be rear wheel drive.

So Porsche decided to build a 911 called the GT2 that would be very similar to the Turbo, but without drive going to the front wheels. This car is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter flat-6 making 600 horsepower. The base GT2 was built between 1995 and 1998 and only made 444 horsepower, but as you can see, this Evo version produced much more and has a lot of racing bits bolted on to the car.

Only 11 GT2 Evos were built by Porsche, making it a very rare homologation special. It’s also pretty extreme, with a roll cage and a single seat – perfect for track days. Whether or not it is street legal I’m not certain, but I am sure there are states that would say “NO!” This exact car no-sold at Mecum in Monterey for about a million bucks, so expect it to take more than that to find a new owner in Dallas. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum.

Update: Not sold, high bid $950,000.

Update II: Sold, Mecum Indianapolis 2017, $1,450,000.

Pajero Evo

Posted on July 21, 2016 by classiccarweekly

1997 Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Silverstone, U.K. | July 30, 2016

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The Paris-Dakar Rally is one of the premier off-road racing events in the world. It’s one that has, for a long time, seen major manufacturer entries and participation. Mitsubishi, long a competitor in rally competition, was one of those manufacturers.

Homologation rules are in effect for a variety of series worldwide and Dakar is no different. Manufacturers, in order to maximize their chances, will build a race car and then build a “road car” variant (that is usually extreme in looks and performance… not to mention price) so that they can say to the event organizers: “Hey, we are entering the production class because our race car is obviously based on a road car.” It’s a little backwards, but this practice is responsible for some awesome road cars.

In 1997, Mitsubishi sold about 2,500 Pajero Evolution models to the public. They were essentially a Pajero SUV with a wild body kit and a 260 horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6. The interior is by Recaro. This is a pretty sporty SUV, considering it was built in 1997 and “sporty SUVs” weren’t really yet a thing. At any rate, it’s really cool – and a little bizarre. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $15,776.

Porsche 911 GT1 Evo

Posted on March 8, 2012 by classiccarweekly

1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Evolution

Offered by Gooding & Company | Amelia Island, Florida | March 9, 2012

Photo – Gooding & Company

The Drendel Family Collection of Porsches that Gooding & Company are offering at Amelia Island this year is pretty amazing. The number of competition cars alone is staggering. But of all of them – yes, including the 917/30 we featured last week – this is the one that I want most, granted the street version (yes, they built a GT1 road car) would be even more incredible.

The McLaren F1 won overall at the 1995 24 Hours of LeMans. When Porsche saw this, they said, “Why not us?” Thus they built a prototype race car, seen here, and then added a few road car variants (supposedly 25) to make it legal as a GT1 car. In 1996 they won their class, finishing 2nd and 3rd overall.

1997 was even more competitive with new entries from Mercedes-Benz and Panoz. The 911 GT1 was slightly reworked and dubbed the GT1 Evolution. The car being offered here (chassis #993-GT1-004) was entered with drivers Bob Wolleck, Hans Stuck, and Thierry Bousten. A few hours past halfway, Wolleck spun and crashed and the car was out of the race. The sister car later retired with three hours to go. While this car never won an outright race during its competition history, it was still a serious competitor, placing 3rd at Laguna Seca in its final factory-backed race.

Underneath the rear body work sits a 3.2 liter twin-turbo Flat-6 making around 600 horsepower. On the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans it was capable of about 205 mph.

There were some great sports-prototype race cars campaigned in the late 1990s. This is one of them. And while I wait for a “Straßenversion” to come up for sale, I guess I will have to settle for this race version with a pre-sale estimate of $900,000-$1,200,000.