Porsche Carrera GT Production Ends

[white devil]

The Most Successful Supercar in History
An offshoot of Porsche’s racing program and a technological tour de force, the 605-horsepower Carrera GT is a carbon-fibered symphony of speed.
The manufacture of the most successful supercar in history has come to an end. Production of the Carrera GT at Porsche’s facility in Leipzig, Germany, concluded on Saturday, May 6, 2006, bringing to a close the latest series in a line of ultra-exclusive and ultra-performing automobiles from Porsche.

In its brief production run, and befitting its ethereal performance, the award-winning Carrera GT was named “Best Dream Car 2004” by Road & Track magazine, and “Best Dream Machine” by the popular MotorWeek television program in 2005. “Even a short ride in this carbon-fiber wonder-car will spoil you for the rest of your life,” said MotorWeek host John Davis. “The Carrera GT is the best motivation to get rich that we’ve ever driven.”
Even in an economic climate that did not favor products in this segment of the market, Porsche’s V-10 powered supercar has sold in unprecedented numbers. More than 1,270 Carrera GTs have been sold since its introduction in late 2003. To date, 604 have found homes in North America. This figure represents a greater number than the total production of the McLaren F1, Ferrari Enzo, and Pagani Zonda models combined.

The Carrera GT is a storied member in a line of limited edition supercars, a lineage born from Porsche’s experience at the highest levels of world-class endurance racing. The Carrera GT owes its product modeling as an exclusive, racing-derived, ultra-high-performance roadcar to Porsche’s first supercar, the 959. Storming the world automotive stage at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 1985, the 959 was intended for “Group B” racing competition, and served as Porsche’s technology flagship—a rolling paradigm of automotive performance from which future models could draw even loftier benchmarks.

The Carrera GT supercar also had its genesis in the racing program, but instead became a street-only machine. The Carrera GT evolved from a 5.5-liter V-10 engine program originally developed for endurance competition. Enlarged to 5.7-liters for the production car, the naturally aspirated Carrera GT’s V-10 produces 605 (SAE) horsepower at 8,000 rpm, and this power is routed through a production car first—Porsche’s Ceramic Composite Clutch (PCCC®). Only 6.65 inches (169mm) in diameter, the race-caliber clutch easily handles the Carrera GT’s prodigious output while allowing the entire powertrain to sit lower in the chassis, dropping the center of gravity for even sharper handling.

The Carrera GT’s wide use of cutting edge materials prompted Popular Science magazine in 2003 to name the exotic machine the “Best of What’s New” for its advanced technology and chassis development. The Carrera GT’s monocoque chassis is constructed from bonded layers of carbon fiber tissue, resin, and aluminum and plastic honeycomb materials that are incredibly light, but strong. The entire chassis weighs just over 220 pounds (100 kg), and is mated to equally esoteric materials including forged magnesium wheels, and the staggering 380mm Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB®).

Thanks to near fanatical attention to weight savings, the performance results are stunning. The Carrera GT will accelerate from a standing start to 62 mph (100 km/h) in only 3.9 seconds, at which point, things really get going. The 99 mph (160 km/h) mark arrives in less than seven seconds, 124 mph (200 km/h) in under 10 seconds, and the Carrera GT can achieve a top test-track speed of 205 mph (330 km/h). Despite the otherworldly performance, the Carrera GT is still one of few supercars that can be driven every day. Traction control, air conditioning, GPS navigation, a Bose audio system, and a fitted, 5-piece, matched-leather luggage set are standard equipment.

The Porsche Carrera GT first went on sale in North America on January 31, 2004, and pricing for this ultimate Porsche supercar is $440,000 (USD).



the info was taken from www.germancarfans.com

i never thought that the carrera GT was that succeful
im not a big carrera gt fan but wouldnt mind getting one after what i read

[white devil]

some nice pic

[Matra et Alpine]

Usual "rewriting of history" in claimg "most successful".

They had originally PLANNED to buidl 1500, so claiming they built more than others who set out to build less is a bit silly.
Especially given that they in fact didn't product to their own target

How much profit did it make ?
How much investment did it take and hwo much of that was "written off" after hte first attempt to "launch" ?

Yeah ... sounds like fanbosy makign up claims Just liek VW America and that stupid three wheeler

[McReis]

Just when I was about to order mine...

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by McReis

Just when I was about to order mine...

Oh what a shame... I suddenly feel very sorry for you...

[McReis]

Originally Posted by Ferrer

Oh what a shame... I suddenly feel very sorry for you...

You should!

[VtecMini]

Originally Posted by McReis

Just when I was about to order mine...

Ahh... I was thinking of selling mine, but it'll start appreciating now, so I don't suppose I can!

[carbrochuretom]

I got an email from porsche today asking if I wanted to buy one of the last Carrera GTs - it read:

"thought you maybe interested to learn that the Carrera GT below is available for purchase with immediate delivery. This is brand new and currently un-registered so you would be the first owner on the log book - the specification is as follows:-

GT Silver Metallic
Ascot Brown/Black Full Leather
Car Cover
Climate Control
Luggage Set Ascot Brown
CD-Radio incl.Bose Hifi

The cost of this car is circa £330.000 - if this is of interest to you then please do let me know and I can get more information from Porsche for you."

Im flattered to think they'd ask me but for starters Im only 18, i have £600 in the bank and I contacted Porsche in the first place because I wanted some info for some business studies coursework for my A-Levels...so I think they may have confused me with someone else!

If anyone actually wants to buy it, let me know I will forward you the email address for you to enquire

[McReis]

haha!!! Nice stuff! Seems like they are a bit desperate.
Offer what you have. Maybe they bite.

[Matra et Alpine]

You want to show some interest -- you might blag yourself one of the last brochures

[PerfAdv]

Seems like a waste with all the tooling and special parts that are specific to a car like the CGT to just have such a short production run. I never understood why manufacturers don't keep such models as part of their lineups, if not regular production cars then as made to order special ones.

CGT, Enzo and even the Ford GT are the best of what the maker can do, yet only a handful are made...

[Matra et Alpine]

Originally Posted by PerfAdv

Seems like a waste with all the tooling and special parts that are specific to a car like the CGT to just have such a short production run. I never understood why manufacturers don't keep such models as part of their lineups, if not regular production cars then as made to order special ones.

CGT, Enzo and even the Ford GT are the best of what the maker can do, yet only a handful are made...

Exclusivity is important to the buyer. He's not going to want to spend £100Ks and find them on every street corner
It also ensures that they dont' get a reputation for not selling !!!
Improves second hand sales value -- again important to someone who buys and sells supercars.
Also, they can predict when it will fail future regulations coming in -- which is the case with the CGT finishing early. It wont' pass some US reg next year IIIRC.

[lightweight]

Originally Posted by PerfAdv

Seems like a waste with all the tooling and special parts that are specific to a car like the CGT to just have such a short production run. I never understood why manufacturers don't keep such models as part of their lineups, if not regular production cars then as made to order special ones.

CGT, Enzo and even the Ford GT are the best of what the maker can do, yet only a handful are made...

They can use some of the infrastructure created for future über-models. But anyway, these cars are brand-building exercises in most cases, taking advantage of the Halo-effect. Longer production runs will devalue the purpose for which they were built in the first place

[PerfAdv]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

Exclusivity is important to the buyer. He's not going to want to spend £100Ks and find them on every street corner
It also ensures that they dont' get a reputation for not selling !!!
Improves second hand sales value -- again important to someone who buys and sells supercars.
Also, they can predict when it will fail future regulations coming in -- which is the case with the CGT finishing early. It wont' pass some US reg next year IIIRC.

It's true what you say about exclusivity and helping supercar brokers along with a very finite commodity. But as far as meeting regs couldn't a mostly hand assembled model accommodate such changes? The NSX was not anywhere near as exotic but it survived a 15+ year run.

[PerfAdv]

Originally Posted by lightweight

They can use some of the infrastructure created for future über-models. But anyway, these cars are brand-building exercises in most cases, taking advantage of the Halo-effect. Longer production runs will devalue the purpose for which they were built in the first place

I like that term, Halo-effect.

I hope there are future Porsches of this ilk. I mean the 911 can just be modified so much. The CGT did raise Porsche to another level, one of supercar builder.