Some owners develop bonds with their cars so close that they make certain parent-child relationships cold and distant. Perhaps the involved relationship one must have when owning and modifying a car over the course of a decade, one might get closer to their car than they can with kin. Plus, a Porsche 997.1 GT3 RS doesn’t make rude comments at Thanksgiving, nor does it come home with strange suitors and expect you to make small talk. However, like a kid, the GT3 RS does cost a great deal of money—not that spending money on this beauty was something Shawn Lee ever did begrudgingly.
This simple, frill-free GT3 RS is impressive on stats alone. With 420 horsepower, less than 3,000 pounds to haul around, a slick six-speed, and as little superfluous bits as possible, there’s plenty to enjoy. But this model has some history to boot. A former car of the late Paul Walker, this GT3 RS was modified in the way that the face of The Fast and the Furious would have. Walker fitted it with Lexan rear windows, GMG Cup fenders, and Carrera GT seats in the year he owned it, then sold it to Mr. Lee.
A few tasteful modifications make this GT3 RS even more of a driver’s car.
To Lee, the analog nature of this generation of GT3 is its main appeal. “This car gives a workout,” he says. With the ability to make its driver sweat and the level of involvement it demands, it leaves you tired. “It beats on you,” Lee adds. Even compared to the 991 GT3, he finds the visceral, unfiltered experience of driving a 997 GT3 RS can’t be beaten—even if it’s not the fastest machine around nowadays. There’s a deeper connection that older cars offer the driver. The young guns and the laptime-obsessed might not feel the same way, but that relationship one forms with an analog car can really leave its owner panting, elated, and ready for another go.