Lee Sibley
Model 996.1 Carrera Year 1998 Acquired January 2019
I’m back! And, seeing as a lot of columnists in our ‘Living the Legend’ section are selling theirs, I’m very pleased indeed to get myself back into a Porsche 911. Regular readers will know I had to sell my 996 Carrera 4S back in the autumn as I needed the money for a house deposit. Mrs K. Sibley and I are now on the property ladder and all settled in, so I didn’t want to waste any more time being without a 911!
As previously mentioned in my editorial, it’s very much a buyer’s market right now. Lots of cars are up for sale and, in the UK at least, nobody is buying them. You’ve plenty of choice and plenty of time to make your choices! The slow-down in the market means
I’ve managed to get myself a lot of car for not a lot of money. As you can see, it’s a non-sunroof, 1998MY 996.1 Carrera, meaning it’s the last of the cable-throttle cars before the switch to e-gas and drive-by-wire for the following model year. It was only these early 996s that had the amber lenses too, so it represents a unique year of Porsche
911 history!
I bought the car off my good friend Alex at Apsley Cars, which made for quite the pleasant experience – think a quick chat over the phone followed by a test drive after a Sunday lunch cooked by his lovely partner, Lisa. Alex has a number of low-mileage 996s in stock in both Gen1 and Gen2 form, and can be very proud of the business he’s created. I’m delighted to support him and thankful it’s given me such an awesome 911. Check him out at Apsleycars.co.uk.
Even better, it’s a glorious driver’s spec out the box, including manual transmission and an LSD. It has just 80,000 miles on the clock and has had all the work I’d like to see done on this model with this mileage: new IMS, RMS, air/oil separator, rads, and water pump. It also has a short-shift kit and lightweight flywheel, recently fitted by RPM Technik, so it’s absolutely begging to be driven, and driven hard!
Although this is my third 911, after the house purchase I fully appreciate I’m starting again from the bottom step of the 911 ladder, but I’ve grand plans for this car. All will be revealed very soon, so stay tuned!