2001 Porsche 911 Convertible

• 42k Miles
• 3.4-Liter M96 Flat-Six
• Six-Speed Manual Transaxle
• Lapis Blue Metallic Paint
• Savannah Beige Upholstery
• Blue Convertible Softop
• Removable Hardtop
• 17″ Carrera 4 Alloy Wheels
• Deployable Rear Spoiler
• Power-Adjustable Front Seats
• Automatic Climate Control
• CD Stereo
• Manufacturer’s Literature
• Clean Carfax Report

With its “fried-egg” headlights, this 911/996 Porsche represented a major shift in philosophy at Porsche. This 996 is the first to use a flat, water-cooled engine, abandoning the air-cooled variant Porsche used for the previous 34 years. The car has benefited from a thorough dry ice cleaning of the underbody, suspension and engine.

This example is a two-owner car and was regularly serviced by the second owner’s specialty shop for past 20 years. It is one of 27,275 Carreras made in 2001. Always garage kept with only 41,954 miles showing.

Dressed in Lapis Blue with a body-colored removable hardtop, the car’s paint and trim are in overall excellent order. Hardtop does have some storage blemishes and soft top has some wear showing. The bodywork is straight and solid, the engine bay is tidy and the body-colored bumpers fit tightly to the body.

This Porsche rolls on 17-inch Continental radials. Each one is mounted to a factory alloy wheel. The wheels are in great shape while the tires are in good, original order.

Out back is a 3.4L flat, water-cooled six-cylinder engine. It generates 300 horsepower and is backed by a Getrag G96/00 six-speed manual transmission. Driver convenience features include air-conditioning, power rack-and-pinion steering, power four-wheel disc brakes with cross-drilled rotors, power windows, power locks, power sideview mirrors and cruise control. An electronically adjustable rear spoiler was installed that raised at speeds over 75 mph. It could also be raised manually by means of an electric switch.

Safety equipment include dual front air bags and anti-lock brakes.

Inside, the tan leather interior is overall very good condition. The leather buckets and matching carpet look great. A three-spoke steering wheel, the dashboard and inner door panels are all in very good order. The center console has a shifter and there’s a factory AM/FM stereo with compact disc player.

The Type 996 introduced in 1998 represented two major changes for the venerable 911 lineage: a water-cooled flat-6 engine replaced the popular air-cooled engine used in the 911 for 34 years and the body shell received its first major re-design. Changing to a water-cooled engine was controversial with Porsche traditionalists, who noted this as the end of the ‘true’ 911.

The 996 styling shared its front end with Porsche’s mid-engine entry-level Boxster. Pinky Lai’s work on the exterior won international design awards between 1997 and 2003.

The Carrera variant had a 0.30 coefficient of drag. The interior was criticized for its plainness and its lack of relationship to prior 911 interiors, although this came largely from owners of older 911s.

Competitors to this Porsche in 2001 included Acura’s NSX, BMW’s M Roadster and Panoz’s Esperante.

Decoding the option sticker reveals the following information:

• L3A8 – Lapis Blue Metallic paint
• SJ – Savannah Beige leather upholstery
• C02 – Version for USA
• 436 – Three-spoke steering wheel
• 437 – Eight-way power-adjustable seat, left
• 438 – Eight-way power-adjustable seat, right
• 537 – Seat position memory, left
• 750 – Without removable hardtop