This 996-generation Porsche 911 started life as the 89th GT3 to drive off the assembly line ... essentially by stripping a ...

These are all qualities that have come to represent the range-topping RS models of each 911 generation, first represented in the modern era by the 996 GT3 RS, which was launched in 2003.

Amongst 911s you could make a case for many an RS model, or even the 1987 Carrera CS (for Club Sport), being a forerunner of the current GT3, but in the end the 996 GT3 was just too neat to ignore ...