Porsche reveals jaw-dropping 911 GT3 R rennsport

Remember back in 2018 when Porsche announced that it would sell 77 examples of a GT2 RS-based track car pointedly called the 935? Well, this is what the firm calls its ‘logical successor’ – and boy, has it put its shoulder into it. Say what you want about the obscene price and vaguely pointless vibe of trackday specials based on race cars, but the new Porsche 911 GT3 R rennsport, very much based on the current 911 GT3 R, is a real eyeful. Where the 935 was somewhat thuggish, the rennsport is hand-bitingly well proportioned. And powered by a derestricted 620hp version of the R’s 4.2-litre naturally aspirated flat-six. Yep, want. 

The formula, it must be said, is familiar. The car was revealed at the Rennsport Reunion 7 shindig at Laguna Seca, an event that attracts up to 80,000 visitors. It is, of course, a ‘unique collector’s item’. The body is heavily revised – only the bonnet and the rood are taken from the standard R – and, thanks to a bespoke roll cage, there is only room for one seat inside. Naturally, it goes dramatically beyond any motorsport homologation or balance of performance restrictions. There will be just 77 examples. Sound familiar? 

But as is Porsche’s tradition, if something is worth doing twice, it’s worth doing better. “We have given the limited edition model a little more width and have visually stretched the length, while at the same time it sits very low on beautifully designed wheels,” said Thorsten Klein, the man responsible for individual, one-off vehicles of Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur. “This gives it perfect proportions and makes it look even more spectacular.” No arguments there, Thorsty. 

Natty design details are everywhere – that huge rear wing is intended to be reminiscent of the Brumos Porsche 935/77, for example – while the back end as a whole is said to hark back to the 962 Le Mans racing car, albeit with a light bar and the Porsche lettering illuminated. Its maker declines to say exactly how much downforce the rennsport is actually generating, but we’re going to say ‘a lot’. And just in case the airflow isn’t being fettled to your liking, the totally brilliant 18-inch BBS rims – fitted to a ‘basically identical’ GT3 R chassis – are available with a new tyre compound which is said to improve ‘warm-up and drivability’ compared to the race-spec Michelin Pilot Sport M S9. 

This is good because you’re probably going to want all the help you can get. That 4.2-litre motor is a 9,400rpm monster in familiar 565hp format; the thought of it with 620hp (described by Porsche as ‘probably a record for a naturally aspirated engine of a GT racing car’) and an unsilenced racing exhaust offering an ‘extremely emotional sound’ – not to mention a lightly modified sequential six-speed ‘box with Daytona-calibrated ratios – ought to be enough to have any committed Porsche race fan reaching for his or her chequebook. 

Best leave it blank though and just let Porsche fill in the numbers. In the States, there will be seven of them. Because the car is priced at 1,046,000 dollars before you get to whatever the tax is. Which means you’re looking at more than a million quid in the UK, too. But what a thing, right? And a nicely differentiated companion piece to the 935 if you’ve already splurged, given it’s expected to tip the scales at just 1,240kg – some 140kg lighter than its turbocharged predecessor. Cooler, too.