It was a unique 1990s project to build an armoured 996. Today, Total 911 presents the world’s only bulletproof and fully drivable Neunelfer

Photography by Damian Blades

As we well know, the 996 is famous for being the generation which took the 911 from air-to water-cooling, thereby serving the single biggest step change in the Neunelfer’s long and decorated history. Twinned with Pinky Lai’s striking exterior design which deviated substantially from 911s of old, the 996 really did herald a time of innovative thinking at Porsche, the company daring to be different in the face of a battle for its very survival.

Mr Lai described to Total 911 just last year how the 996 was thought of at Porsche as the company’s last bullet: with sales down and costs rising, this new 911 really was the last chance for Porsche to return to profitability or face extinction. The analogy is ironic because, once the 996 entered production, it was indeed bullets Porsche decided to focus on for a special project – only this time they were physical rather than metaphorical.

Finished in Libelltürkismetallic (that’s Dragonfly turquoise metallic, in case you were wondering), at first glance this 996 Carrera looks like any other from the era, with iconic amber lenses signifying that it was built during the first year of 996 production at Zuffenhausen.