This Porsche 911 (996) is armoured and unique of its kind

The Porsche 911 has been, is and will be one of the sports cars of the moment, becoming more and more efficient and practical like few others. And it is that with each generation of the nueveonce we have witnessed improvements and advances, but today we have come across a feature unprecedented until now. It is true that the 996 variant of the German sports car was not well received at the time due to a questionable styling, but the unit we are looking at today does not stand out for how well the passage of time has treated it, but for being the only one in the world armoured.

That’s right, this 911 (996) is bulletproof and belongs to Porsche, who has it on display in its museum. However, it is no coincidence or the result of a whim of the company that this Porsche 911 is armoured; rather, a very special customer, who remains anonymous, expressly asked the people in Stuttgart for a car capable of withstanding gunfire.

Aesthetically there is no sign that it is armoured, since we find a perfectly ordinary 996 finished in the eye-catching Dragonfly Turquoise Metallic colour. However, we are looking at a Porsche 911 capable of repelling shots from 9 mm calibre pistols, as well as from a Magnum 44 revolver, as the company verified at the time.

To achieve this, the engineers at Porsche used Dyneema for the bodywork, a material with a weight similar to steel but 15 times stronger. In addition, all the windows have a 20-millimetre-thick reinforcement, which helps this 911 be not only safer but also quieter for its occupants.

However, in this case we do not find a contained weight as happened with that armoured Ferrari 458 Speciale. The fact is that, under normal conditions, the Porsche 911 (996) weighed 1,317 kilos on the scales, but with the armour that figure rises to 2,722 kilos.

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And this weight is more than enough to diminish the German sports car’s capabilities, since it does not appear that engine output has been increased to maintain a power-to-weight ratio faithful to the original. Either way, the fact that it is the only unit in the world of the Porsche 911 (996) to be armoured makes it a very special specimen, worthy of admiration even though it does not contribute to the low weight that every good sports car should have.

Technical specifications of this car

CoupePorsche 91119 versions · from 157,835 €