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| Porsche Carrera GT 2005 |
The story of Porsche’s Carrera GT starts five years before the first production model left Porsche’s facilities in Leipzig, Germany. Porsche sought to develop a new Le Mans prototype to replace the venerable GT1, which was powered by a 5.5-liter V-10 engine. However, a change in FIA rules quickly shelved their racing plans while the model was in development, but Porsche remained undeterred and continued forward with plans to make the platform suitable for road use. To attract attention to their stand at the Paris Motor Show in 2000, Porsche displayed a road going concept of the car alongside their other production models. Combined with the amount of attention that the concept received, along with addition revenue from the Cayenne, Porsche decided to go ahead and produce the car. The Carrera GT was first offered for sale in 2004, alongside the Ferrari Enzo, Ford GT, and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, and it more than held its own in what proved to be an incredible year for supercars.
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| Porsche Carrera GT 2005 |
The materials that went into the construction of the Carrera GT were simply that of an engineer’s dream. By utilizing a carbon fiber monocoque and sub frame, as well as carbon ceramic brakes, Porsche’s engineers pushed the envelope of what was mechanically possible in order to offer a car that was as light as it was strong. Porsche also designed a three-disc carbon fiber racing clutch for the car, which measured 7.5 inches in diameter and was about a third of the size of a normal clutch. Similar attention to detail was applied to nearly every facet of the car. The ultra-lightweight forged magnesium wheels had center-locking bolts that were color-coded for each side of the car, ensuring that wrong bolts were never put on the incorrect side of the car.
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| Porsche Carrera GT 2005 |
At the heart of the Carrera GT lies a monstrous 5.7-literV-10 engine, the first V-10 produced for use in a Porsche. Performance was incredible, with 605 horsepower and 435 foot-pounds of torque, and the Carrera GT could rocket from 0–60 mph in 3.6 seconds, towards a top speed of 205 mph. The Carrera GT truly showed its racing roots when one, piloted by Walter Rohl, lapped the July 2004 Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7:28, which was a record for a Porsche that was not broken until the release of the 911 GT2 RS in 2010.
Slip into the Carrera GT’s carbon fiber bucket seats and it is clear that Porsche’s engineers did not limit the car’s track-focused nature to just the exterior and mechanical components. Every surface within reach is either leather, aluminum, or carbon fiber, and nothing in the car, minus the requisite stereo with CD player and air conditioning, distracts the driver from the task at hand. Everything else in the cockpit is typical Porsche, from the instrument layout with the tachometer in the center to the left-hand placement of the ignition. Porsche topped the gear shifter, which was mated to a six-speed manual transmission, with a knob made of walnut, tying an organic link from past models into their technological tour de force, thereby showing that their most powerful creation to date indeed had a soul. By the time production ceased, 1,270 examples had been built.
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| Porsche Carrera GT 2005 |
This Fayence Yellow Carrera GT is considerably rare in the realm of Carrera GTs, considering that there were less than 100 examples produced in this striking color. Almost a requisite with all new supercars, the front bonnet has been applied with 3M paint protection film, to keep the paint free of imperfections due to road use.
When new, journalists hailed the Carrera GT as one of the greatest supercars of all time, as it featured incredible performance in a lightweight, race-ready package that had gorgeous bodywork. Even 10 years after the first car was produced, it is still remarkably exciting to drived.
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