2004 Porsche Carrera GT

Just when you thought last week’s 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 was wild with Amaranth Violet, we have another Purple Porsche that is on a whole other level. This 2004 Carrera GT checks in with paint-to-sample Viola Pearl and I’m willing to bet it is the only one. It was delivered new in Missouri of all places but quickly transported to its first owner in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. From there, it went to a few owners before being exported to England where it sits having just 7,500 miles.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2004 Porsche Carrera GT at DK Engineering

Year: 2004
Model: Carrera GT
VIN: N/A
Engine: 5.7 Liter V10
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Mileage: 7,500 mi
Location: Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, England
Price: POA

The Carrera GT’s roots can be firmly traced back to its predecessors, the 911 GT1 and LMP1-98 racing cars. In 1998 Porsche planned on a new Le Mans prototype for 1999. The car was initially intended to use a turbocharged flat-6, but was later redesigned to use a new V10 engine, pushing the project back to planned completion in 2000. The V10 was a unit secretly built by Porsche for the Footwork Formula One team in 1992 but had been shelved. The engine was resurrected for the Le Mans prototype and increased in size to 5.7-litres. Unfortunately, the project was cancelled after two days of testing for the first car, in mid-1999, mostly due to Porsche’s wish to build the Cayenne SUV with involvement from Volkswagen and Audi, thus requiring engineering expertise to be pulled from the motorsports division. It was also speculated that VW-Audi chairman Ferdinand Piëch wanted Audi’s new Le Mans Prototype, the Audi R8 not to face competition from Porsche in 2004.

Porsche did keep part of the project alive showing a concept car at the 2000 Geneva Motor Show, mainly in an attempt to draw attention to their display. Surprising interest in the vehicle and an influx of revenue provided from the Cayenne helped Porsche decide to produce the car, and development started on a road-legal version that would be produced in small numbers at Porsche’s new manufacturing facility in Leipzig. Porsche started a production run of Carrera GTs in 2004, the first Carrera GT went on sale in the US on January 31, 2004. The Carrera GT is powered by a 5.7-litre V10 engine producing 612 horsepower. Porsche claims it will accelerate from 0 to 62.1 mph in 3.9 seconds and has a maximum speed of 205 mph although road tests indicated that in reality, the car can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds! The Carrera GT has a basic five colour paint schemes which included Guards Red, Fayence Yellow, Basalt Black, GT Silver and Seal Grey. Custom colours were also available from the factory. A traditional six-speed manual transmission is the only available.

Elements pointing to the car’s stillborn Le Mans routes are abundant throughout the car. Attached to this gearbox is a Beechwood gear knob which pays homage to the wooden gear knob used in the Porsche 917 Le Mans racers. In typical Porsche fashion, the ignition is to the left of the steering wheel. This placement dates back to the early days of Le Mans racing when drivers were required to make a running start, hop into their cars, start them and begin the race. The placement of the ignition enabled the driver to start the car with his left hand and put it in gear with his right.

Originally supplied new to the United States of America, this Carrera GT received its pre-delivery inspection at Plaza Porsche in St Louis, Missouri ahead of a sale to its first owner in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on 20th September 2004.

The car would remain with its first keeper until 2006, where, after 1,500 miles, the car passed to its second keeper. This example would be used frequently by its second keeper who covered 5,000 miles before the car was purchased by a Lexus dealership in Pembroke Pines, Florida in July 2007.

Purchased by the current keeper from the USA at that time, the car has had just one owner since 2007.

Since purchase the car has covered just 2,500 miles and today presents with just 7,500 miles from new. Off the road since 2012, this example is fresh from a comprehensive restoration and rebuild at Porsche GB in Reading, additionally seeing the car receive a new clutch, new tyres, a major engine-out service. At the same time, Porsche completed a comprehensive respray of the whole car, changing the colour from its original Basalt Black to Viola Pearl 39G. Viola Pearl was made famous by the ‘Jubilee’ or ‘Jubi’ to celebrate 30 years of the 911 model.

A rare treat to see a purple Carrera GT, this example has since received full body paint protection film and is available to view at our showrooms just outside London immediately.

I can’t imagine the asking price on this one given the crazy prices we’ve seen from Carrera GTs of late. I seemed like for a while these were well on their way to being over $2,000,000, but that train has slowed down some and they’ve settled closer in the ballpark of $1,500,000 depending on mileage. However, there is no telling how much value this one adds given its rare color.

There are far more paint-to-sample Carrera GT than I would have guessed, and they all seem to bring a premium no matter what their shade. Sadly, all the public data from recent sales are all from one of the five standard colors, and DK Engineering doesn’t seem to eager to share how much this one is going to run. Granted, if you are the kind of person to buy a car from DK Engineering, you normally don’t really care about the answer to “How much is it?”

– Andrew