BLACK MAGIC DUO
Aussie GT2 owners? Well there’s Mark Webber and then there’s Ingrid Fraser-Williams, one the ‘lantern-jawed’ racing driver stereotype, the other, well, not. That’s the thing about stereotypes, there’s always someone to defy them. Thank goodness!
Iguess there isn’t really a ‘typical’ 996 GT2 buyer, but if there were then five-foot-five Ingrid Fraser-Williams probably wouldn’t match most folks’ vision of what that buyer might look like. The car, after all, has earned the reputation of the ‘widow maker’, one of Porsche’s scariest road-goers, and the petite care home management consultant – and I hope she’ll forgive me for saying this – is the antithesis of the lantern-jawed and towering racing driver type that stereotyping dictates should be behind the wheel of the 456bhp twin-turbo reardrive GT2. But what sets Ingrid apart from some other GT2 owners is that she adores her car, a super-rare Clubsport model – she admits that the investment potential was an element of her original purchasing decision, but that she frequently can be found standing in her garage just staring at it.
‘I realise that some people can be coy about their Porsche ownership, but I’m completely the opposite,’ confesses Ingrid. ‘I’m in no way modest about my
GT2 because I’m so excited to own it: if I’m in a room with other car freaks then I’ll bring out pictures of it on my phone at the slightest excuse. I’ve recently been appointed to a commission for women in motorsport here in Australia, and when we all met for the first time and had to explain our personal passion for cars and for racing, I referred to my GT2 as my baby. Another woman on the commission who also doesn’t have kids thought it demonstrated how passionate I am about cars that I used such an affectionate term for my Porsche.
‘A while ago Porsche Doncaster in eastern Melbourne – the place where I bought the GT2 three years ago – hosted a “911 Appreciation Day” in its showroom with a display of key examples. They asked if they could borrow the GT2 for the day and it was my absolute pleasure to oblige. I was really proud that it’s a car of such interest within a line-up boasting the heritage of the 911.’
The 996 GT2 is a rarity, full-stop –
Porsche made just 1287 examples between 2001 and 2004. A mere 29 of them made it to Australia, (like the UK, a right-hand drive market) and according to Ingrid’s research just eight were delivered in Clubsport specification – carbonfibre trim, removable half-cage, extinguisher, hardshelled race-style seats, harnesses and a battery cut-out. Hers is one of the original eight, but how many by now may have been exported or turned into race cars, she doesn’t know. (For reference, 129 996 GT2S were sold in the UK, of which 16 were Clubsport spec.)
Ingrid’s automotive backstory starts somewhat less glamorously than shifting straight into Porsches, but the same is true for most of us. ‘My first car was a Mini Cooper which I bought to learn to drive in back in 1983 when I was 17, living in England,’ she reveals. ‘That car cost me £700 and the reason I was able to afford it was because my mum and I were involved in a serious accident years before in Sydney: there
was a compensation payout and my parents put a portion of it in trust for a purpose such as a car.
‘The Mini was a fabulously entertaining car to drive, even if it wasn’t that quick. I got my first taste of a Porsche while I was a teenager living in London, when I persuaded my boyfriend to let me drive his 944. That was a pretty exciting experience that helped shape my future ambition to have a Porsche of my own. My mum always talked about Porsches, too, which was also a strong influence, and my dad was a fighter pilot so I suppose speed is in my blood.’
A ride in a Lancia Stratos cemented Ingrid’s suspicion that she was a fast car lover, but when she moved back to Australia in 1991 she had to adjust her expectations a little. ‘I was thankful to have wheels but I was initially running around in a 1965 Austin Lancer, which was produced under licence in Australia. It was an old-fashioned thing that I had to sit on a cushion to drive, but I still managed to rack up a couple of speeding tickets in it during my first
“While I was a teenager in London I persuaded my boyfriend to let me drive his Porsche 944 ”
month driving around Melbourne – I got a bit confused between mph and km/h… And thirty years on I still get frustrated at how low the Australian speed limits are and how zealously they’re enforced, especially when I’m out in the GT2.’
Having worked her way through a series of boring cars, another Mini, and a BMW, in 2008 Ingrid finally got round to buying her first Porsche, a brand new 987 Boxster. ‘For five years I had some really good times in that car, but in 2013 I had to sell it to help fund an age care business. But I’d been bitten by the Porsche bug and I made a promise to myself that my next Porsche would be a 911, a gift to myself.’
In sub-conscious preparation for that eventuality Ingrid went through a series of other high performance cars including an E39 BMW M5, a BMW Z3 M Coupe, a Holden Maloo HSV pick-up, and even a Peugeot 205 GTI. She twice participated in the Dutton Rally – a sort of mash-up of grassroots motorsports events – undertook a few mini track events and trackdays, and was also invited to a Porsche Driving Experience Day at Phillip Island Circuit, about an
hour and a half south of Melbourne. ‘That was a great day out,’ Ingrid enthuses. ‘We got to drive the Gtseries 911s on our own while following an instructor around the track. I’d never driven Phillip Island before and hadn’t been behind the wheel of anything quite so violently fast, and by the end of the day I had learnt a healthy respect for the top tier 911s.’
Business success eventually brought Ingrid to the point where her 911 fantasy could become reality. And she had been dreaming big. And bad. In fact, the baddest. GT2. She put in a lot of research hours: ‘Obviously I looked at pricing, the investment potential, and I wanted it to be an extraordinary experience whenever I drove it. Despite there being so few GT2S in Australia, I found one here in Melbourne, at Porsche Doncaster, which I think is the smallest of the Porsche dealers in the city.
‘The car had only had one previous owner, had just 20,000km on the clock, and had been garaged all its life. I took it for a test drive and holy f**k it was fast, it felt like it was going to kill me. So I had to have it.
‘I have to confess that it’s a struggle with Australian speed limits to enjoy the GT2 to its full potential. But there are occasions… Friends have suggested that I just take it out on track, but I can’t afford to crash it. Even so, I love this car. During the horrific bushfires in Australia we all had to devise emergency plans in case we had to leave home in a hurry – mine was to jump into the GT2 and drive away as fast as possible; I was prepared to sleep in the car if I had to!’
Ingrid has recently taken possession of a second Porsche, the GT2 not being particularly appropriate for commuting through Melbourne traffic. ‘I had previously bought a Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works as a fun runaround, but when I took on a new contract which meant more miles on the highway and in the city, some of the pleasure of ownership disappeared. So I traded it in against a Macan S. Although it was five years-old it was in immaculate condition and was exactly what I wanted – it was quick, comfortable and practical. I am aware, though, that I’ve gone from one extreme of the Porsche stable to the other. But at speed the engine sound is amazing, deep and gravelly when you floor it, and although it’s an SUV the Macan still has a Porsche sports car feel to it.
‘The other day the Macan had to be recovered on the back of a truck because it suffered a serious leak from the coolant tank, which was replaced under warranty. But here’s the power of brand loyalty – because of my experiences with the GT2 and because the Macan is so good to drive, it doesn’t matter that I’ve had a bad experience, it hasn’t put me off.’
So would Ingrid entertain the notion of buying another Porsche? ‘Oh absolutely, if I was able to afford one. When I was researching the GT2 I did momentarily consider a much older 911, but I decided I wanted something newer that didn’t involve the sacrifices you so often have to make with a classic car. A few months back, though, I did have a go in a 991 Turbo and it was stupendously quick, as well as convenient and practical: I could see myself in one of those, as long as I got to keep the GT2.’