Written by Kyle Fortune

After the controversial 996 took the 911 in a new direction, the 997 did a brilliant job of evolving the platform while being sympathetic to 911s past. Here’s why, 20 years on, the 997 is still dearly loved

It’s difficult to believe that 2004 was two decades ago – the year when Porsche unveiled the 996’s replacement, the 997.

The 996 might still be a divisive model, but the 997 wouldn’t prove to be Porsche’s ‘difficult second album’ in the modern era of 911s and would, instead, arguably go on to become Porsche’s most successful and coveted version of its iconic sports car. Part of that must, of course, be attributed to its predecessor, as without the 996 as its foundation, and the lucrative sales it generated, the 997 story and that of the entire company could have been very different indeed.

While the 996 was blazing a sales trail, Porsche was already heavily into the development process with the 997. Taking on board some of the criticism levelled at the 996, while building on the attributes that clearly appealed to its customers, somewhat unsurprisingly the 997 would be an evolutionary re-engineering of the 996’s revolutionary platform and structure.