► Limited edition track-only 911 created with race team Manthey
► Manthey input and ‘Grello’ livery celebrates a 25-year relationship
► 30 to be made, yours for €525,000 (£450,000)
When you absolutely, positively need to be the fastest thing on any given trackday, a 911 isn’t a bad choice. Balanced, fast and tireless, Porsche’s timeless talisman loves a good spanking between painted kerbs.
But sometimes you just need a little bit more, well, everything. Which is where cars like the GT3, GT3 RS and GT2 RS come in. The latter is as ballistic as the road-legal 911 gets, combining track-ready aero and suspension with obscene power from its 3.8-litre turbo flat-six. Despite being a few years old now, it remains a phenomenal machine.
So phenomenal, in fact, that Porsche can’t stop messing with it to create some spine-tingling track-only specials. It started with 2019’s slant-nose 935, a GT2 RS-based retro-modern homage to Moby Dick. Weissach created 77 of those and punted them out at €700,000 a pop. That they sold out in a heartbeat has convinced Porsche of the demand for boutique track cars, and now there’s another, the Manthey GT2 RS Clubsport 25.
Who?
Manthey. Founded in 1996 it remains a race team first and foremost, though it’s since expanded into modified Porsche road cars. Based near the ‘Ring, the firm employs some 200 people and runs many of Porsche’s key motorsport programmes (Porsche has a 51% stake in the company), including the World Endurance RSR 911s and Porsche’s Nürburgring 24 Hour (N24) entries.
This year, Manthey prepared and entered the ‘Grello’ (green and yellow, geddit?) GT3 R in the N24 race, and these limited edition Clubsport 25 motorsport cars are an homage to that machine. (Though thankfully with the day-glo colours deployed as tasteful accents, rather than across acres of retina-searing bodywork, as per the racecar).
What’s so special about it?
The 911 GT2 RS is already pretty special, and the Clubsport cars retain the GT2’s fundamental structure, turbocharged flat-six and PDK transmission. But the Clubsport 25 cars move things on with significant engineering and aero changes.
The front end is bespoke, combining a GT3 R-style central radiator (more efficient and less likely to be damaged than twin radiators, one in front of each front wheel, while also aiding brake cooling), a new front splitter that boosts front-axle downforce, a sealed underbody and a unique bonnet in carbonfibre that serves a couple of aerodynamic purposes. The two big vents direct airflow over the cockpit and onto the rear wing, while the tasty NACA duct sends fresh air into the car to help cool your fevered brow.
The rear end combines a vast rear wing on swan-neck mounts with increased engine bay venting, Manthey’s no-prisoners rear diffuser and a unique exhaust system.
So, a Porsche or a Manthey?
Like any true collaboration, the Clubsport 25 is a bit of both. Manthey submitted a raft of technical and design ideas. In turn, these were melded into the finished car by Style Porsche’s Grant Larson, the chap who also penned the related GT3 R, 911 RSR and the 935.
The result blends road and race cues while also spanning generations, the Clubsport 25 sporting plenty of 992-generation 911 design elements despite being based on the previous-gen 991 platform. (We’re still waiting for the 992-gen GT2 RS.)
Deliveries are slated to begin in January 2022 – happy New Year indeed.