March 1999 saw Porsche introduce their highly anticipated 911 GT3 hot rod at the Geneva Salon. A normally aspirated homologation special, it was the modern day incarnation of 1972's 2.7-litre Carrera RS. Unlike earlier RS-badged 911's though, in standard trim the GT3 was no stripped out lightweight. Indeed, when Porsche revealed it weighed 30kg more than the stock Carrera Coupe, many enthusiasts thought it would turn out to be a poor relative of those illustrious machines from the past. The extra weight was due in part to an all-new 3.6-litre engine based on the GT1 architecture, this bringing an additional 60 horses to the table.

With its specially developed engine in place, the rear-wheel drive-only GT3 became the first production car to lap the fabled Nurburgring in under eight minutes. Many additional developments were also made, ride-height being dropped by 30mm thanks to fully adjustable dampers with shorter, firmer springs and adjustable anti-roll bars. There were also adjustable spring platforms and strengthened ball bearings. Brakes were now 330mm cross-drilled and ventilated discs all round (compared to 318mm front and 299mm rear for the standard 3.4-litre Carrera), the four-piston aluminium monobloc calipers coming painted red. Lightweight 10-spoke 'GT3' wheels had an 18-inch diameter and measured 8 and 10-inches across at the front and rear respectively. Meanwhile, that high performance motor was developed not from the regular Carrera engine, but as a normally aspirated version of Porsche's GT1 unit, turbocharged versions of which had been used to win outright at Le Mans in 1998.

Complete with titanium con rods that allowed the engine to rev much harder and higher than the 3.4, displacement of these specially built engines was precisely 3600cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 100mm x 76.4mm. With compression upped to 11.7:1, dry-sump lubrication and re-mapped Bosch DME sequential engine management, there was an extra 60bhp over the standard 3.4-litre production motor. With 360bhp being produced at 7200rpm, the GT3 was the most powerful normally aspirated 911 ever offered to the public. The engine was coupled to a six-speed gearbox taken from the 993 GT2, a handful of which had been built in 1998.

In the end, that extra 30kg was negated by the additional power, the GT3 posting some outstanding performance figures. Top speed rose to an astonishing 187mph, 0-60 dropping from 5.2 to just 4.7 seconds. Aesthetically, a number of subtle aerodynamic tweaks were made, a deep wraparound chin spoiler minimising air-flow beneath the car. Deeper side sills further enhanced the GT3's more aggressive demeanour, as did a unique two-tier adjustable rear wing featuring a Gurney flap mounted on its lower trailing edge. This look was also achievable on 3.4-litre 911's by specifying the 'Cup' aero kit although you could tell a genuine GT3 by its super low ride-height. Inside, there were leather trimmed bucket seats and GT3 logos on the instrument facia whilst in true RS tradition, the stock Carrera's rear seats were junked and the vacant area trimmed with carpet. Otherwise, only a couple of the luxuries you would normally find on the Carrera were missing from the GT3, air conditioning having been moved to the options list and electric mirrors deleted, power-operated windows remaining standard.