Rides from the Readers: 2003 Porsche 911 Turbo
Hagerty readers and Hagerty Drivers Club members share their cherished collector and enthusiast vehicles with us via our contact email, tips@hagerty.com. We’re showcasing some of our favorite stories among these submissions. To have your car featured, send complete photography and your story of ownership to the above email address.
Today’s featured car is a 2003 Porsche 911 Turbo, the first turbocharged model from Stuttgart to entirely eschew air-cooling. This 415-hp, twin-turbo beast is water-cooled, which—together with its “fried-egg” headlights—initially earned it a cool reception among Porsche purists. Today, however, the 996 has aged well; it balances turn-of-the-century nostalgia with modern driveability, and with a #3-condition (Good) value at just a touch under $40K, this all-wheel-drive Porsche is an incredible performance deal.
This particular example belongs to Josh Wyte, who, thanks to a litany of GTIs and M3s, is no stranger to German enthusiast vehicles. However, he didn’t want his kids to miss out on his automotive fun, so he searched for—and found—this 911 Turbo, which boasted a useable back seat and could rip an autocross circuit on a moment’s notice.
Wyte has enjoyed making this 911 Turbo his own, digging through Porsche’s parts bins to customize it to his liking. The 996 boasts a pair of intercoolers off a 997-gen GT2 RS, front brake calipers from a contemporary GT3, and an appropriately large rear deck lid and wing off a 996 GT2. Wyte even found a pair of fixed bucket seats from a European-spec 996-gen GT3, which he reports are “shockingly comfortable for a fixed-back bucket seat.” Looks like his son approves of the arrangement, too!
