Special-edition sports car revealed as a France-only proposition as the classics return to Le Mans
The mystery 911 variant teased by Porsche France earlier this week has been revealed as the 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Le Mans Centenaire Edition and, as expected, it’s exclusive to the French market.
Designed to celebrate the centenary of the world’s greatest endurance race – the 24 Hours of Le Mans – and Porsche’s long history at the event, this special-edition 911 uses the mid-range Carrera GTS as it base and flaunts a series of heritage-fuelled design upgrades to honour two of the brand’s most successful and vicious race cars: the Porsche 356 SL and the 911 GT1 ‘98.
Features of the former include the Le Mans Silver paintwork, racing number ‘46’ side decal, Graphite Blue leather and corduroy interior, ‘Cayon’ trim and contrast stitching, while the Aurum Le Mans Silver Metallic wheels, black window décor and red seatbelts are inspired by the latter.
Unique Le Mans-inspired touches include the ‘24h Le Mans’ logo and laurel wreath design on the rear lid mesh, plus a French tricolore Le Mans circuit B-pillar badge and ‘Born in Le Mans, Manufactured in Zuffenhausen’ rear decal.
Apart from the wheels, there are no other mechanical changes to the Carrera GTS, meaning the twin-turbo 3.0-litre flat-six petrol engine continues to howl out 353kW/570Nm.
Drive is shipped exclusively to the rear wheels via either a seven-speed manual or eight-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic transmission.
“We are really proud to present this model today,” said Porsche France managing director Marc Meurer.
“The 911 Carrera GTS Le Mans Centenaire Edition is the fruit of the expertise and shared passion of our teams at Porsche France, Style Porsche and Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur.”
This year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans was held over June 10-11 and won by Ferrari for the first time since in 1965.
The 911 Carrera GTS Le Mans Centenaire Edition’s reveal could therefore be seen as a little late by those not up to speed with endurance racing, but it’s broken cover right on time for the 2023 Le Mans Classic this weekend – an event featuring both the 956 SL and GT1 ’98.
There’s still no sign of the upcoming Porsche 911 ST, which had been expected to appear at the Le Mans 24-hour, leaving us wondering exactly when the hardened but stealthy limited-edition 911 – which should be a global model – will make its public debut.
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Keyword: Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Le Mans Centenaire Edition revealed