OWNER STORY
The 996 Carrera 4S was offered as a coupe in 2002 and 2003. 2004 saw the arrival of the Carrera 4S Cabriolet. This four-wheel drive drop-top would act as swansong for the 4S, as well as the entire 996 range. Stefanie Mahan is the proud owner of the awe-inspiring example pictured on these pages.
"The original buyer specified more than £50,000 of extras from Porsche's special wishes team in Stuttgart," she tells us, highlighting updates resulting in a lack of exposed plastic in the cockpit. Custom leather covers everything, from the seat backs to every inch of the dashboard, air vent vanes, speaker grilles, the oh-so-retro car phone and even the steering column stalks! Additionally, the dash binnacle, centre console surround, steering wheel, climate fascia, gear knob and handbrake cover are all made from carbon-fibre, a relatively exotic material for production cars at the time of this special 996's assembly.
As a community nurse, Stef spends much of her time on the road. Having acquired her 911 from MLR in Stoke-on-trent in 2021, she has since called the Porsche into service as her daily. "Four-wheel drive makes the 996 feel hugely planted in all driving conditions, not just when roads are slippery," she says. "Compared to this, a 986 Boxster feel like a go-kart, which I admit is a lot of fun, but the 996 C4S feels like a far more substantial car in every sense. Whether simply commuting for work or using the steering wheel controls to thrash around backroads at high speed at weekends, the C4S simply feels like more Porsche. Following the recent addition of a Pioneer head unit providing sat-nav and smartphone connectivity, if feels like a much younger car, too."
Having just returned from a ten-day skiing trip to the French Alps (view the video at bit.ly/996alps) with her fiancé, Gareth, she confirms the 996 is far more practical than many might give it credit for. "We loaded up with our clothes, snow socks for the car, safety helmets, backpacks, a tool kit, ski boots, my handbag and much more. Packaging in the frunk can resemble a game of Tetris, but there's still plenty of room in a 996, and the rear seats fold down to take the form of a shelf offering even more luggage capacity."