Want a Street-Legal Racecar? How about the GT1 Evolution? (Photos)

1. The real deal

Have you ever wondered how to one-up the person who brags that they own a street-legal "race car"? Just buy an actual street-legal race car. Porsche built these cars back in the 1990's when the brand decided to get back into international sports car racing. The prototype was a new mid-engined vehicle on a composite and steel-tube chassis. That prototype became the 911 GT1, a racing car that could be detuned, outfitted with creature comforts, and put on public streets. However, Porsche drew the ire of the competition who had taken their street legal cars and turned them into striped down and extremely modified rockets. 

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2. Under the skin

The car that Porsche set out to pass and destroy was the McLaren F1 GTR that had a weight of fewer than 2,200 pounds. Engineers then found during testing that a bit more weight than the F1 would actually give an advantage by way of a larger air intake that could generate more horsepower. The twice KKK turbocharged horizontally opposed flat-six engine with water-cooled cylinders and heads was placed midship behind the driver's compartment to give the car the maneuverability and power it needed.  After all of that, the GT1 came in at just 2,300 pounds and some change and had a nasty bite in the form of over 600 horsepower.

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3. New life for a damaged hero

The factory produced six racing cars of the GT1 which were numbered 001-006, and 22 cars for public road use. Then in 1998, one more street version was made along with four more racing cars to bring the final number of GT1s to 41 cars. For those of you who enjoy a bit of trivia knowledge, that 41 breaks down to 18 cars for racing and 23 for the street.  According to Barth, the car above was sold as a bare tub through PMNA (Porsche Motorsports North America) to Btyzek Motorsports in 1997. The team needed it to replace one of the 1996 GT1's chassis that was damaged at Mosport Park during a race. Carried over from the damaged car were the drivetrain and suspension components. The rest of the plumbing was purchased through PCNA. A big plus that this car enjoys is that it received an Evo upgrade package. As a matter of fact, this car is the only 1997 Evo sold new by the factory while all others that year were just upgrades of the 1996 chassis. 

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4. Top of the podium

This car, known as 993-117, made its share of history as being the car that consistently scored the highest finishes, especially at the Bytzek home track. The team easily captured the Canadian GT Championship in 1999, 2000, and 2001. Chassis 117 is believed to be the most successful of ALL Porsche GT1 racing cars with 13 wins in 31 starts under its belt. 

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5. Goodwood Festival of Speed

The car was fully restored in 2014-2015 by Lanzante Motorsports in the UK to the tune of over $380,000! It made its first appearance to the world post-restoration at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed. This car has never before been offered for public sale and is the only road-legal GT1 race car that is currently registered for such use in the UK. The car sold for $3.1 million at a recent Sotheby's auction which was smack in the middle of the estimated selling scale of $2.97 and $3.3 million. 

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