THE CARRERA GT

The origin of the Carrera GT dates back to the 1980s when Porsche was the engine manufacturer for the McLaren F1 team. Porsche's turbo-charged V6's brought 2 constructors and 3 driver championships. Not many people know about this parntership because the entire engine project was funded (naming rights included) by TAG (Techniques d'Avant Garde). 

In the 90s F1 made the move to naturally aspirated engine configurations so Porsche decided to take two V6's that brought them so much success in the 80s, remove the turbos and create a V12 to power the Footwork F1 team chassis. The V12 ended up being a bulky bit of kit and its performance was not up to par. To make things worse for Footwork, the engine's large dimensions meant they needed to redesign the chassis just to make it fit. Halfway through the season Footwork dropped the Porsche/TAG engine and went with the more powerful Ford engine. In the midst of this Porsche was developing a 3.5L V10 engine for the next season.

Determined to make use of the new V10 they began making modifications to comply with FIA and ACO regulations for the LMP1 (9R3) race car that would be used for the 1999 season. They increased the displacement to 5.7L but the program was cancelled just days after the first car began testing to make room for the development of the Cayenne. Luckily the Cayenne was such a success Porsche once again had the funds to bring their 6th supercar to life, the Carrera GT. The first Carrera GT hit the road on January 31, 2004 in the US.

The video below is Jeremy Clarkson's German and British take on the Carrera GT. Enjoy!