I often joke about how the roof in the garage started a water leak back in 2016. And what I mean by that is that was the first time I had a water-cooled 911 in the garage, which in fact is this 2004 996.2. For me it was significant because it was the first water-cooled Porsche and the first water-cooled 911 I ever owned in a sea of air-cooled sport-purpose 911s.

The 996.2 GT3 was sort of the pinnacle of the early generation of GT3s. Later 997s, 991s, and 992s, just kind of got big, bloated, a little bulky, and what I call too much of a race car for the street. The 996.2 GT3 I often describe as sort of chiseled, like a scalpel; it's like a 911 Carrera RS 2.7 on steroids, just more power—everything's ramped up, but it's still just on the right side of being the perfect amount of racecar for the street. It's nimble, it's balanced, it's really direct. It turns super, super sharp and fast. You really feel connected and engaged to the car.

And that's what I loved about it on that first drive back in, I believe it was like, August 2016. I might have gone to Monterey car week with Alex Sharky [of Porsche GT2 and GT3 specialist Shark Werks] and then just driven the car back. I think it was pretty much just as simple as that.

Anyway, straightaway when I got it back, I had my buddy Matt Bown of Alchemy Paint make the hood black, the front bottom spoiler lip orange, and then added these very Brumos-inspired two-tone blue stripes, which go from the rear quarter turn signals all the way down through the front fender. It's got some carbon inserts, carbon steering wheel, came with these Porsche factory race bucket seats and the Porsche factory bolt-in roll cage.

It's one of those cars that, just, is great at everything it does. And weirdly, for a 20-year-old car, it's still an effective weapon.

—Magnus Walker

Instantly recognizable by its one-piece, curved rear wing, the first-generation 911 GT3 marks the start of Porsche’s modern-day GT lineage and a return to producing homologation-style road cars in the tradition of the original Carrera RS. It debuted for the 1999 model year as part of the first generation of the 911 to be powered by a water-cooled engine—the type 996. Engineered to deliver a motorsport-like driving experience on the road, the 911 GT3 featured a lightened, enhanced chassis, a stiffer, lowered suspension, and a potent “Mezger” 3.6-liter flat-six. Named after its designer Hans Mezger, this water-cooled engine derived from the 911 GT1 racecar that won the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, its robust engineering tracing back to the earliest air-cooled Porsches. Notably, the 1999 Porsche 911 became the first road-legal car to lap Germany’s punishing Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in under eight minutes, driven by racing legend Walter Röhrl.

The initial 911 GT3—dubbed the type 996.1—was not sold in the United States. The updated 911 GT3 type 996.2 finally arrived on American shores for the 2004 model year, featuring new headlights, a redesigned rear wing, different wheels, more horsepower, and a higher top speed. Together with the concurrent 911 Turbo, it was the automaker’s first production model to offer Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) as an option.

This 911 GT3 has been a California car for life and is understood to have been delivered new to San Jose. It completed production on 11 June 2003, finished in Arctic Silver Metallic over Grey Natural Leather. Factory options included wheel caps with colored crests, air conditioning with full climate control, interior carbon fiber trim, the xenon headlamp package, carbon door sill model insignia, natural leather, rear center console alu-look, leather sun visors with lighted mirror, three-spoke steering wheel in carbon fiber and leather, and shifter and hand brake lever in carbon fiber and aluminum.

Magnus Walker acquired the car in 2016 out of Northern California and immediately drove it down to his home in Los Angeles. Soon after acquiring the GT3, he had the hood, rear spoiler, and wheels painted black, the front lip spoiler finished in orange, racing-number roundels added to both doors, and blue Brumos Racing-inspired stripes applied to the bodywork. Walker notes that the previous owner had mild suspension work completed and drove the car at Porsche Club of America track days.

Now offered showing 66,753 miles on the odometer at cataloguing time, this 911 GT3 from the first year of North-American availability presents honest patina throughout, testifying to its conscientious enjoyment. “It's nimble, it's balanced, it’s really direct,” says Walker. “You really feel connected and engaged to the car, and that's what I loved about it on that first drive back.”