I can't exactly remember when I went into heat for a Porsche GT2. I was driving a 2001 BMW M5 that I was really enjoying. The BMW dealer in Akron, Ohio had taken care of me for over 18 years and I had taken care of him by buying (or should I say leasing) most of my BMWs for 2 years and then getting a new one. I once asked the General Manager if I was one of their better customers to which he laughed and said "You are our BEST customer!"
I just can't think of the reason why I wanted to see a GT2 but anyhow Eunice (my girlfriend) and I wound up going to the Porsche dealer in Sewickley, Pennsylvania about 50 or so miles away from us. They had two GT2s there. A used 2003 with around 1500 miles or less on the speedo. It was lowered, custom aftermarket exhaust, some interior work, wheels that were outlined in yellow and some other stuff that I'm probably forgetting. But, knowing that it had miles on it, wasn't a 'virgin' and had been 'hopped up', kinda turned me off for sure on this yellow one.
The red one was absolutely beautiful! Shined like an 'Army drill sergeants boots'! It had red gauges, red seat cover backs and all kinds of other stock stuff. But it didn't have some things I wanted, like carbon fiber dash and most of all, red seat belts. You put those red colored seat belts on and you feel like your in a fighter jet cockpit!
But the main reason I was hung up on my decision about buying the red one was the color. I had this hankering for a yellow GT2 after I saw the used yellow one in person. The color just screamed attention! So thus began my search for a yellow GT2.
I contacted my local Porsche dealer, Armando's Porsche in Boardman, Ohio and I sat down with the general manager one day shortly after my Sewickley visit, to do a search of what was available in GT2s across America. He found several but none that were totally decked out with all the options I wanted. He then searched some more and found a 2003 Yellow GT2 down in West Palm Beach, Florida at a Porsche dealer there and it only had 4 miles on her.
The car was absolutely loaded! It had carbon interior package, leather console and roof liner, carbon steering wheel, painted sport seats, chrome aluminum wheels and.... and..... my yellow seat belts! Yeeee haaaa!
Well, needless to say, my juices were flowing big time! I tell him to see what he can do to acquire this car and, believe it or not,
he's trying to talk me out of it. He's saying I should get one up North! "What's the matter with a Southern car, I ask him?" What the heck..... I thought the Civil War was over! Besides, every one 'up North' had a sticker of around $189-193K. The one in Florida has a sticker of $205K..... meaning it had a lot more options..... including my Yellow (fighter jet) seat belts!
I told him, "Look, that's the one I want. If you don't want to get it for me, I'll go to Sewickley and I'll bet they won't have any trouble getting it for me.... real fast!" So he decides to make the call and said he'll call me after he talks to them. A couple hours later, he calls me at home and tells me to come on over. I get there and we start talking. He can get the car but that dealership won't do a dealer trade. So what... that's not my problem! Next he says they told him they have put a 'special wax' on the car because of the Florida atmosphere of salty air (if anything, it would probably be for keeping all the bulls _ _ t off the car) and they want $700 for the wax job. Yeah, right! Who getting the wax job.... me or the car? Then he tells me the battery is dead and they want the cost of replacing the battery. What happened to the new car warranty? I can see I've got two really honest dealers here!
I say, "Dave, tell them to stick the wax job and new battery charge where the sun don't shine or the deal is off! Can't remember if they gave me both or not. We finally manage to strike a deal. I'm trading in my leased BMW M5 and I decide to lease the GT2 as well. I want a 3 year lease. After checking with Porsche Credit, he tells me they'll only give me a 4 or 5 year lease. What is going on here? I ask him why and he can't explain. Great!
Anyway, Einstein orders the GT2 and several days later I get a call that she's here. I fly up to the dealership and there she is, in all her glory and that Yellow is so bright I almost need my sunglasses! We start her up and "Katie bar the door', I've got myself a cruise missile under my ass! After Mr. Personality (you'll see why I call him this later) shows me some little things about the car, I gently roll her to the exit of the dealership. I'm a little bit nervous knowing that I have 456hp in my hands but once I get on the 4 lane highway going home, all my fears melt away and I'm smiling so hard from pleasure, my face hurts!
I get her home, park her outside in the drive, get out and like the rest of my cars, I just keep walking around and around, looking every square inch of her over and over. I touch the outside of her and I think how she'll be able to slip through the air and that tail looks just like a shark's fin signaling that this 'little GT2' is ready to attack anything on the road. I get back inside checking out all the leather and take in deep breathes of the fine craftsmanship. Yellow stitching everywhere! Carbon fiber everywhere; the dash, steering wheel, door panels, console and even the gearshift knob! And the smell of pure speed is also everywhere to be had!
The next day, after all the initial excitement has gone down slightly, I take her out for our first casual drive around town. Leaving my drive and going down the street, the GT2 feel fantastic. Solid but very quick handling. I goose the throttle a little and she accelerates easily with the knowledge that there's plenty of throttle and speed left in her! She rides a little firm but not as firm as my present Carrera GT does. The shifts are positive and the clutch, unlike the CGT, is easy to let out in first gear with no fear of stalling the car.
By the way, did I tell you this car is fast? Oh yeah?..... you don't know how fast this car is! I've even seen reports that some journalists feel it's just as fast or almost as fast as the Carrera GT. This little GT2 is stupid fast. And if you're an idiot, you'll be in trouble so quick, nothing in this world will save you!! The brakes are super and if you hit them in a panic stop, your facial image will be part of the windshield if you don't have your seat belt on..... but again, if your a jerk, even these fantastic brakes won't save your derrière (French for butt)!
You have to forgive me for comparing the GT2 against the CGT, but I don't want to slam any of the other cars thus I feel it's OK to compare different models from the same company and avoid comparing Manufacturers.
My ONLY gripe about the car that I can remember is the feeling going around curves on roads or highways at speeds above, say 60 or 70 and more. When going through a curve, the car seems to like 'float' which to me feels like going up on an elevator at the start or if you can remember, going up and down a small, quick hill on the road pretty fast and your stomach goes up and down too. ALL my previous 911s gave me the same feeling but not a fast as this GT2 did.
I'm almost embarrassed to tell you this, but I never took any interior pictures of my GT2. I guess I was enjoying her so much, I never thought of it. Anyhow, the two pictures of the interior are from the used 2003 GT2 that was in Sewickley, Pa. It's the same interior as mine with all the carbon fiber treatments. The only difference I can see is, I didn't have the yellow console and I had stock GT2 floor mats. My apology for missing these pics. BTW..... make sure you check out the Yellow seat belts!
The interior controls are very good. The large Yellow (oh yeah!) tach is right in the middle of the gauge console so you can't miss it! The seats are very comfortable, a lot more so than the CGTs are. The radio is great, but like the CGTs, the damn station ID numbers, station buttons and mode selection buttons are too small for someone that doesn't have x-ray vision like Superman! There's plenty of volume for hard rockers and the sound coming from the speakers is very good. And if I remember correctly, the GT2 had cruise control unlike ALL the cars I have now. I really miss cruise control for all long my 5-10 mile trips (meaning I hardly ever go anywhere!) Seriously, it does come in handy when you want to maintain a certain speed in well known speed zone areas and for coming home at night after a couple drinks. I think most of you know that feeling after a couple drinks.... sometimes your dang foot gets a little heavy and can get you in trouble real quick!
The GT2 got a lot of looks and comments but surprisingly, and I hate to say this, not as many as the Ferrari Maranello I now have. Everybody knows the 911 Porsche profile so well that it's readily accepted by the general public even though most people don't realize that a GT2 is few and far between. But for car nuts like you and me, we know what it is and freak out because they're not an everyday sight. On the other hand, the Maranello's profile seems to be more unknown and apparently very well received by people of all ages even from a distance even before they actually realize it's a Ferrari. This is not a knock on the GT2, it's a magnificent car! The 911 is beautiful in it's own right and a very well selling design or else it wouldn't still be here after, what is it by now, a thousand years or so.
Now back to the reason I called the GM, Mr. Personality. After a week or two, I started thinking why would I be approved for a 4 or 5 year lease and not a 3 year lease. So, out of curiosity, I place a call to Porsche Credit, and finally reach a gentleman who answers the phone. I say hi, tell him my name, tell him I just bought a new GT2 and ask why did I got refused a 3 year lease but a 4 or 5 year lease was alright. He says to me, "Michael, you aren't going to believe this, but I'm the one who actually approved your lease. I told the GM at Armandos that he could lease you the car for any amount of time you wanted!!" "What...." I scream! "Then why the hell did the GM say that you only OKd the 4 or 5 one?" He says, "Michael, I'm sorry. They're a smaller Porsche dealer and it's harder for us to control every little thing they do." I ask him if the reason is because the dealership and the GM will make more money from a longer lease and he hesitantly agrees with me. I ask if there's anything I can do to remedy this and he suggests talking to the owner who I know very well but was out of the country when I bought the car. OK..... I thank him very much for his time and now I'm POd at the GM! Now for the real kicker here...... the GM has been a decent friend of mine for years. I knew him from being at several car dealerships in various positions. I now understand why he didn't last too long in one place. As a side note...... I heard last week he just got fired a week or so ago from his last job of being a GM at a Toyota dealership about 15 miles from me. I guess his salary of approximately $150,000 wasn't enough to keep him from continuing his unscrupulous ways!
I'm sorry if I left anything out of my review of the GT2 but you must realize it's been almost a year since she was in my hands....... and believe me, I honestly miss the hell out of her. If I could find a brand new (Yellow?) one, I'd figure a way to buy her right now!! If there is something I forgot to explain in my review, please ask and it might tickle my aging mind enough to get you an answer.
p.s. Just to show you how nice a person I really am (just in case there were any doubters), the Columbus, Ohio dealer who I traded the GT2 for the CGT, sold the GT2 to a Porsche dealer in Illinois. I got a call from Farris, a salesman at that dealership, who told me he sold the car to a man in California and the buyer asked him if I still had the original window sticker. I told Farris that indeed, I still had the original sticker, but I was not going to part with it. But what I would do is go to KInkos and have them do a color copy of the window sticker and build sheet and send them to him so he could forward them to the buyer. Farris thanked me and said the buyer would really appreciate it. Got the copies made, sent them out , and a week or so later, I get a little package from that Porsche dealership. Inside was a thank you note and a little gift of a Porsche wheel-tire-disc brake key chain! I was certainly surprised. I guess I made a couple of new friends....... just like I hopefully have with all you guys (and girls)!
One little final note..... "Thank you my little Yellow Porsche GT2 with your Yellow seat belts. You gave me 2 and 1/2 years of sheer excitement and pleasure. I'll really miss you! I hope your new owner loves you as much as I did. Take care little buddy and many years of happy motoring to you!
:cry: Pics will be here shortly.... later today of first thing tomorrow!
ops: I should learn to listen(and stfu) and be patient more 
It was a hell of a car as I can see 
and this is probably the only Porsche I'd buy (if I had the moniez...). I believe it was a sad goodbye...
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