This 2002 Porsche 996 Carrera Coupe was acquired by the seller as a project car in 2020 and underwent a subsequent restoration which is detailed in the “Project 996” video series on the AutoAmateur YouTube channel. The car has also been featured in several issues of 'Total 911' magazine, as well as several episodes of the podcast “Curb and Canyon”. It has been refinished in a custom blue color and modified with a ducktail spoiler, an OEM 911 Turbo front bumper, aftermarket Fuchs-style wheels, blue interior accents, a custom steering wheel, and an OEM Turbo short shifter. It features a replacement 3.6-liter engine and 6-speed manual transmission as well as an upgraded Soul Performance exhaust with FD Motorsports Fister mufflers. Recently serviced with new brake pads, fluid, and Porsche-recommended maintenance this resurrected 996 Carrera is now being offered for auction by its seller out of Minnesota while showing approximately 183k miles on the odometer.
This Carrera Coupe was refinished in custom metallic paint inspired by Porsche’s classic 1960s color of Bali Blue. The seller indicates the paintwork is fully clear-coated and encompasses the door jambs as well as the undersides of the hood and rear decklid. A ceramic coating has been recently applied to the exterior and clear paint protection film covers the front bumper. The car has been modified with a Sport Classic inspired ducktail rear spoiler, an OEM 911 Turbo front bumper, a Cup-style front splitter, black racing stripes, and aftermarket 19” Fuchs-style wheels. The brake calipers have also been custom refinished in orange with black Porsche lettering. The seller notes some minor wear is present on the clear coat on the driver’s door edge. Detailed images are provided in the gallery along with a full CARFAX report.
The interior features black leather seats, an Alcantara headliner, a Bose sound system, and the factory-optional Power Seat Package. It has been customized with blue seatbelts and a matching tachometer dial as well as a customized OEM leather steering wheel with deviated blue stitching. Other modifications include an OEM Turbo short shifter, a GT3 lower center console delete, and a modern head unit with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Bluetooth compatibility. The seller indicates several trim pieces have been replaced with new OEM parts and the front seats have been refurbished with replacement leather.
Power comes from a replacement 3.6-liter flat-six engine which was installed by Porsche of Minneapolis in 2022 at 170k miles and sourced from a donor vehicle with approximately 90k miles. A replacement 6-speed manual transmission and clutch were also installed by Porsche of Minneapolis at this time along with new front suspension mounts, control arms, and struts. The engine has been upgraded with Soul Performance catalytic converters and FD Motorsports Fister mufflers.
This sale will include owner’s manuals, a toolkit, a spare tire, some documentation, and a clean title.
The seller would like you to know: “The vehicle was purchased in 2020 as a project car. The restoration and modifications were the subject of the 'Project 996' video series on the AutoAmateur YouTube channel. The car has also appeared in several issues of 'Total 911' magazine, as well as several episodes of the podcast 'Curb and Canyon'. Along with myself, this car has thousands of admirers and friends from around the world. The vehicle was purchased with a cracked windscreen, broken transmission housing, and a crack on the original engine casing. The concept of the project was to create as close to a factory fresh, custom, 996 as possible in the style of the famous 'Sport Classic' style of 911. After Porsche of Minneapolis installed a replacement engine, transmission, and new clutch, along with many other custom modifications, the car has conquered the Smoky Mountains and the world-famous 'Tail of the Dragon' US highway 129.”
Comments (67)
Congrats James!! Looking forward to your next project.
@Dplin2001 all will be revealed on Friday this week! I'm so excited!! :)
@Mccheez you're going to LOVE IT!! Congratulations!!! Hit me up and we'll go from here! Cheers!
What’s next James? That GT3 you want? Cheers!
Sold for $27,500
Congrats @mccheez you got a nice car.
Wow James, I expected that to make it to $30k. I am certainly thankful for the deal. It should have done better, but ill take it!
@THBuyer Thank you!
Bid in the amount of $27,500
Great color nicely done
Bid in the amount of $26,411
For anyone bidding, in the frunk I've also included a brand new DASH CAMERA with power cable, OEM PORSCHE FLOOR MATS and a couple of other goodies for the lucky winning bidder!
@Mccheez Hahaha. Thanks for the advice!! :-) I appreciate it, and that comment still makes me laugh out loud when I think about it. Especially when I'm shooting because whenever I'm on camera it immediately springs to mind. HA!
@gcopelin a German car parts specialist / salvage yard in Washington State. The donor vehicle was an identical 2002 996.2 C2 manual coupe. Rather than 175k which the original engine had, the new / donor engine only had just over 90k on it when it was installed by Porsche.
Hey James, I just watched the oil change video where you said you had been given the feedback of less face and more car, lol. I was just getting ready to make that exact comment, lol. I have not seen a lot of new content , but when you do more content I really would let the engine and trans be the back music! I love the DIY videos, but let the car do the talking in the follow ups! I have a 99 996 Test car and a 2001 GT3 Cup car that i will be campaigning in HSR next year. I am looking at this one for my Daughter in law and son to do HPDE events with me locally. Thanks!
Bid in the amount of $26,161
whaere did the motor come from?
@Mccheez the last couple of times I’ve been to the Tail with the guys in the 996 I’ve been having waaaaaay too fun to take a lot of video. That probably says a lot about how much fun we had. Michael Wooton has a video from the last trip (Michael’s Motor and Meats) which shows you Bluey along with the other cars. So cool.
@Mccheez That’s awesome!! That was a great trip. The 996 did amazingly on those mountain roads. I want to go back!
@Mccheez The car was running so well in The Smokies that the local police gave James some fan mail.... ;)
Having seen this car in person and driven alongside it with the group in The Smokies no buyer should be disappointed with the car. I would be bidding on it myself if I could have quickly sold my current Porsche.
I found the video from the Rockies
Hey James, I cant find any videos of you taking the 996 on the Tail. Did the car not complete that trip for any reason? I know you had mentioned it in several of the videos. Thanks
Bid in the amount of $25,911
@FisterD thanks Darin!!!! FD Motorsports for the win. 🤩🙌🙌🙌
Good luck James! With all of the documentation and videos you have done, this should be a fun car for someone!
See yall in a few hours!
Bid in the amount of $22,500
Bid in the amount of $13,996
Bid in the amount of $13,277
@CarsSteakGunsWatches Good question! Instead of paying Porsche $3.5k for a new primer ABS pump, I had them remove the part and replace it with a repaired unit. This is the one Porsche Minneapolis took out / replaced for me and that one is now good. The second ABS is the one Porsche would charge $7k for a new unit. But like the first pump, the process is basically the same. Porsche would take the pump out, it would get shipped overnight to the following company who repair these units for Porsches and other German cars (see link at the end). They repair it for $350 and ship it back. Porsche then puts it back in and the car is good to go. So the part is $350 to repair and you’re looking at the same for labor all in, say $500. That’s a total of $850 and allows you to avoid paying $7k for the new part. This part fails a lot in 996s and 997s, hence the services who readily provide repair services for these and others like Audis and WVs. Here the service: https://xemodex.com/us/product-tag/996-355-955-fx/
Hi James. I looked up the ABS issue and it looks like it could be $7Kish for the part. is this a PSM car? I can't quite see the button label above the rear wiper. What part have you identified that you can fix this for $350 plus labor? Is this something Porsche Minneapolis can fix or is this someone else quoted for the repair? Outside of this issue, is the car throwing any codes or lights?
@Dnesvisky it’s all OEM / factory suspension.
@AutoAmateurJames the suspension looks to be fairly stock (replacement parts noted). Any suspension upgrades not listed?
@MJB thanks for asking! Here are the answers in line with your questions:
A) Is the passenger seatbelt buckle on backward? (male end appears to face b-pillar by default in photo 82) - Not that I can tell! Having had many passengers in the car, no one has ever had any issues or noticed anything odd about it.
B) Any dummy lights (eg check engine) while idling/driving?) Yes, related to ABS. Because one of the two ABS pumps needs to be repaired, there are ABS and PSM warning lights on in the instrument cluster, but the car is functioning normally and I've been driving it without issue during this period. Porsche of Minneapolis just recently replaced the primer ABS pump for me (last week on 8/11/23). The second ABS pump is quoted to cost $350 to repair, plus approximately the same in labor to swap it out / back in again. I was about to get this job done but my plans got put on hold when my car went up for auction.
C) Any transmission issues now or over the last year? Since the new transmission and replacement engine was installed by Porsche of Minneapolis nearly 18 months ago there have been no transmission issues at all. Since the job I have driven several thousand miles from Minneapolis to Denver and back, up and down the Rocky Mountains. Two trips to the Smoky Mountains to drive Tail of the Dragon in North Carolina / Tennessee and I have been using it as a weekend car locally in Minnesota. It's rock solid.
D) Was the car ever smoked in? (allergy) No. The car has never smoked in. What's more, since owning the car for the last few years I have had the entire interior including all of the fabric upholstery on the doors and floors washed and fully detailed. Smell is very subjective of course, but I would say the interior smells fresh and nice! No smoking.
Thanks! Hope this helps! James
Just uploaded photos of the inside of the frunk / storage under the hood.
Additional content has been added to the gallery for this listing.
Sharp 996! A few aspects I'm curious about:
A) Is the passenger seatbelt buckle on backward? (male end appears to face b-pillar by default in photo 82)
B) Any dummy lights (eg check engine) while idling/driving?)
C) Any transmission issues now or over the last year?
D) Was the car ever smoked in? (allergy)
Thanks!
@Dnesvisky good question! The A/C climate control works perfectly. The cold air is ice cold and the heating works as expected. There is also no debris coming through any of the air vents like what can happen with a lot of 911s and Boxsters of this era.
Good looking car, congrats on the build. No mention of the AC/climate control. Everything working there ? Thanks
Bid in the amount of $12,996
Bid in the amount of $12,606
@GVI_Pilot thanks for your support!! Suuuuure I can’t tempt you to make a bid?? 🤷♂️☺️
@AutoAmateurJames The typo has been corrected, thank you.
Clarification - this car was acquired by me as a project car in 2020, not 2002. Not 2002 as noted in the description. Typo!
Beautifully sorted car, I’ve followed it throughout its build and everything has been done just right, making it one of the most desirable 996 Porsches of its model in the country. Sadly, my garage is full.
@CarsSteakGunsWatches oh goodness, the ONE lamp post in the entire location I took the photos... :) Picture 27: it's the lamppost in the background reflecting on the paint... Picture 42, 55: the same lamppost. Same for the door handle, it's the lamppost!!
Hi James,
Just a few questions on the paint. On pic 27 is that a scratch or goo/dirt on the bumper and fender? 42 scratch mirror, 55 bumper scratch, and door handle scratch?
@luis.seneriz sure! It’s a custom color. The idea was to create as close a match to Porsche’s ‘Bali’ blue as possible. The actual Porsche paint wasn’t available, so the body shop custom matched it for me. I have the paint code / formula so that any body shop can match the paint perfectly should it ever be needed again in the future. I have to say the color of the car is maybe my favorite thing about its look now. It’s even more impressive in person, but the photos came out great too. 💙
@AutoAmateurJames. There’s never too much power. I have seen all your videos. I have an early 99 car cable throttle that is power max out. Only way I get more power is to build a bigger engine. I was actually going to buy a Carrera S 997 but with all the bore scoring issues I spend the money on a 996 tt that’s sitting right now close to 650 horsepower. I split a coolant line racing a corvette but as soon as that is fixed and the new coils and spark plugs are in I’m going to tune it up some more. Can you tell us the specific color of the paint??
Bid in the amount of $12,356
@CarsSteakGunsWatches great question! One of the previous owners tried to install an IMS upgrade / solution into the original engine. It seems the engine and transmission weren't reinstalled back into the car correctly. They were slightly out of alignment which created the stress that fractured the transmission housing and engine casing. There is no frame damage and I purposely asked Porsche to install the new engine, clutch and transmission to give me peace of mind that the same issue wouldn't happen again. Since the new engine was installed I have done over 10k miles between the Rocky Mountains and several road trips to the Smoky Mountains and Tail of the Dragon - the car drives like a new car, it's rock solid.
What was the eventual cause of the cracked transmission and the remedy for that? Was the frame of the vehicle bent causing this excess pressure or was there another reason for this happening to you and the prior owner?
@luis.seneriz I wish! That was considered at one point but it didn't fit the build / restoration budget unfortunately. To be honest though, the 3.6l is more than enough power to have me smiling from ear to ear every time I hit the gas. That with the new clutch and the manual transmission, the fister mufflers and Soul cats.... WOOOOSH. I absolutely love the set-up.
@CarsSteakGunsWatches thank you!! Between Instagram, Facebook and YouTube I get my fix of Porsche chat and content. I really enjoy Rennlist and the other forums but I don't get on them often enough to really participate there. Keep in touch, cheers!
Should have put a 4.0 in the car. Anyway I love the color.
Bid in the amount of $2,996
Looking forward to this one. Interesting build and I never heard of your channel until now. Was this build posted on rennlist or another forum? Im making my way through the build playlist.
@QwikKotaTx another thing to note, the oil gets changed religiously every 5k miles and the car doesn't sit idle for months and months at a time which almost reduces the risk of IMS failure to zero. Its the cars that sit in storage all year and rarely get oil changes that run the risk of IMS issues.
@QwikKotaTx hello! No, but Porsche did a thorough inspection of the replacement engine before it was installed and everything checked out. Perishable components like hoses and seals were replaced / added new.
Was the IMS bearing upgraded on the replacement engine? Thank you.
@brudomen cheers Bennett!! I always appreciate your support! Cheers!
James glwa!!
She’ll do very well.
Great car!
Bennett
Bid in the amount of $2,000
@elcid86 thank you!! Yes, it was a really hard decision. Between the replacement engine and transmission, the new clutch, the new suspension components, it’s such an amazing drive. I still get a thrill every time I turn on the ignition. Thanks for your support!!!
Bid in the amount of $1,500
Wow. I can’t believe your are selling her. I’ve really enjoyed watching your restore the car. I know it’s hard to let her go.
Hey everyone! I absolutely adore this car but I need to make room for my next 911 adventure. I’m here to answer any questions you might have! Please give this beauty a happy new home!!