I bought maybe the cheapest Porsche 996 Turbo—that’s right, Jalopnik is a two-Porsche 996 family—on the market a year ago, and I’ve mostly been happily stacking miles on the odometer since then. I have been working on making the car my own with a period-correct set of wheels, some extra carbon trim, and a GT3-style center console. I’ve also been fixing a few of its minor quibbles, as it served as the previous owner’s track rat for a few years, and was, um, cosmetically challenged.
The front bumper and hood are mismatched, but I don’t like the factory Seal Grey color anyway, so I’ve been waiting for the winter when I wouldn’t be driving the thing to send it in for a bit of paint and bodywork. Today, knowing it would take a month or two to fully bake, I ordered up the carbon fiber roof that will be installed at the same time.
A few months ago I started following c1composites on Instagram, as they’re building an all-carbon 996 track car right now, and I was intrigued. I won’t be going nearly as far as they will, but a custom laid carbon roof and hood were certainly in my plans. When I reached out and discovered the roof would cost me just $1,600 plus two bills to ship it, I was surprised. It’s still a tough pill to swallow dropping $1,800 on a single part when there technically isn’t anything wrong with the roof my 996 Turbo came with from the factory.
If you want a carbon roof for your 911 from the factory, it’ll cost you almost $4,000! I’m sure there will be not-insignificant installation costs when the car goes in for paint and bodywork, but hopefully getting it all done at once will make the process a little easier and a little less expensive. I still reckon I can get a carbon roof installed in my 996 for less than Porsche would charge you to put one in a 992 GT3.
By deleting the sunroof and swapping cold hard metal for this carbon piece, I should be removing nearly 70 pounds from the very top of the car. With a few other modifications, I’d like to see how close to 3,000 pounds I can get the car from its original 3,380. This is a big step in that direction.
My goal with the project is to develop a period-correct custom 996 Turbo more in line with today’s 911 S/T or 911 Sport Classic. There will be some throwback tweaks, but mostly it’ll be a push to make a lighter and more engaging 911 Turbo without resorting to the completely track-focused (and occasionally deadly) 996 GT2. A bit of carbon here, a bit of extra horsepower there, and some extreme use of color to really set this car apart from the crowd.
For now it’s fall, so I’ll continue driving the car through boost season, but then it’ll head under the knife for a bit of a revamp. I’ll leave you Porsche nerds with a few key words to get your imagination going.
Ocean Jade Metallic paint. Exposed carbon roof and hood. Full-leather Nephrite Green interior. Green wool tweed seats with a single hardback sport seat for the driver and a comfort seat for the passenger. The hardback, the half-cage, the center console, and the gauges color-matched to the exterior. Yeah, this is going to be good.