A little history
The coming of each new generation of the famed 911 renews for Porsche the challenge of being up to the legend this car has become over the years. Its previous incarnation, also known as the 996, was only seven years old when the German manufacturer introduced its replacement, the 997, in 2005.
The new car wasn’t exempted from receiving critics. Sure, Porsche worked a lot to further improve its car’s performance and handling. Nonetheless it’s an automobile’s style one would notice first. And here, it seems that Porsche’s designers made a total waste of the allotted budget by conceiving a totally new car… that looked exactly like the old one, except for its round headlights – which I personally utterly dislike… Actually, the original 997 didn’t last until July 2008 before being slightly facelifted.
Most versions of the 996 were carried over in the new car’s range. Traditional badges as Carrera, Targa, Turbo, GT2 and GT3 were all worn by the 997. Base engine is a 3.6-litre flat six, rated at a respectable 325 hp. Those fearing that the car would be short on power had to wait until November 2007, when the new GT2 was made available. One could think that with 530 hp, the twin-turbo version of the flat six was well enough for any would-be Schumacher… However, we live in times when the very meaning of the word “enough” has been forgotten, so a limited-edition GT2 RS was introduced in May 2010. The newest car in the 911’s range offers 620 hp packed in a lightweight body. Acceleration is instant, top speed tremendous. Unfortunately, an anti-G suit is not provided as standard equipment.
About the model
Model: Porsche 911 Carrera S
Year: c.2005
Maker: Hongwell
Scale: 1/43
Distributed by: Cararama
Acquired: brand new, in July 2009, in Manila, Philippines
Once again I preferred to reserve my budget for classic cars rather than modern ones, so I turned to this new Cararama release. My verdict: today’s kids are so lucky to have such brilliant toys! Considering the rock-bottom price, the Chinese company did a superb job in reproducing this slightly beefed up Carrera S. My rating is 12/20.