2005 Porsche Carrera GT
Launched at the Geneva Salon in 2003, the Porsche Carrera GT was arguably the most extreme road-legal model in the Stuttgart firm’s history. Unsurprisingly, the German supercar was received with unrivalled enthusiasm and a rush of orders with 1,270 examples being produced between 2004 and 2006.
Porsche’s new supercar broke new ground in many ways; it was the company’s first product to utilize an immensely strong but lightweight monocoque cabin and engine support unit of CFP (carbon fibre-reinforced plastic) with steel bracing around the windshield and passenger compartment. The front and rear suspension was based on state-of-the-art racing design, with upper and lower stainless-steel wishbones and inboard-mounted, rocker-arm-operated coil-over shock absorbers at all four corners. Huge ventilated and cross-drilled carbon-ceramic disc brakes were managed by multi-piston rear light-alloy callipers fitted behind forged magnesium-alloy centre-lock road wheels.
Furthermore, the Formula One-derived V-10 engine now had a home. Sized at 5.7-liters in production form, this marvellous 40-valve powerplant developed an astonishing 613 horsepower at 8,000 rpm and 435 pound-feet of torque at 5,750 rpm. Power was delivered through a six-speed manual transaxle. To keep the car’s centre of gravity as low as possible, the engine employed dry-sump lubrication.
The bodywork incorporated large air intake and exhaust vents, as well as a pair of removable CFP roof panels that could be stored within, a rear air diffuser, and a stability-enhancing rear wing that rose automatically at 75 mph. The leather interior was luxurious, with every amenity, and included a large digital information screen. At the centre of the cockpit is a gear selector knob made of birch and ash, Porsche’s subtle nod to the wooden shift knob on the storied 917. The Carrera GT was fitted with numerous safety systems, including traction control and anti-lock braking, all vital to a machine capable of 0-60 times of three seconds and a maximum speed of 200 mph, quite remarkable for a normally aspirated road car.