GT3 HEAVEN
A garage full of every generation of 911 GT cars? There was only one man for the job...
Good news! Harris has made to it to heaven. No, not that kind... this is Porsche GT heaven, and he’s here to meet the man with the golden touch
Andreas Preuninger:
Chris, welcome to our Noah’s Ark. One of each kind of GT-series Porsche 911 ever.
Chris Harris:
You know normal people dream of either beautiful women or beautiful men? I dream of a room full of Porsche GT3s. Where do we start?
AP Without me actually The gen two was the first GT I worked on I missed the very first edition
CH So because you didn’t develop the original I can say a couple of things OK? I remember coming to Weissach collecting the first GT ever to go to the UK in July It was very cool but it wasn’t perfect We took it to a track it wasn’t as quick as I expected and it ran out of brakes The gen two you developed claimed another bhp horsepower but it felt like it had more to me and the brakes worked Your magic had begun How did that evolve into the first GT RS?
AP That was my dream project because I always had a Carrera RS poster above my bed when I was years old It happened because we needed to homologate new wheel carriers for the RS racecar but I wanted to pay tribute to the RS So we added a carbon bonnet and what was for the time a huge wing
CH It looks tiny now
AP Did you know this was the first Porsche street car ever upholstered with Alcantara? Just on the steering wheel gear shifter and the door handle It was the first time we had a polycarbonate window
CH That’s nerdy The steering in this car is incredible isn’t it? It’s totally alive
AP BMW had just done the M CSL which I loved it was a good competitor We had Pirellis they had the Michelins and that influences the steering feel a lot
CH Right to the This car gets a bit forgotten because everyone wants the gen two but actually this engine is spectacular isn’t it?
AP It was a very special car very successful it had Michelin ultra high performance tyres for the first time We o ered it with ceramic brakes and only a manual gearbox That’s all the sports car you ever need
CH How many times did you go out in these things to remind yourself of the DNA of what you’re making?
AP I think it’s very important to touch base with the old cars to reset the internal button because in the memory you tend to glorify the past and forget the new My whole team drives these cars to make sure that the new car will fit its line of ancestors correctly so the GT values virtues and DNA remain
CH Aha the gen two I probably did more miles in these than any other GT This for me felt like your GT division had really established itself Everyone wanted one
AP Because we knew we’d sell enough cars to pay back our investment we went to town New brakes centre lock wheels a litre engine di erent cams more revs more horsepower CH You once told me about a new coating on these grilles that allowed more air flow through I remember thinking “Come on really?” But you were adamant And the people that buy these cars care about the details
AP We like to concentrate on details because the sum of the little things make the whole more desirable
CH Poetic Now over here is the one that everyone still talks about the GT RS I remember you having an ashen face explaining how much it costs to make a wider indicator repeater to fit the flared arches How much was that piece of plastic again?