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149th cabrio built
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Mine is a cabrio built in 2/98 with an in-service date of 5/98 - it was the 149th cabrio built for North America.
Leading evidence: '149th cabrio built' (1 discussions report identifying this cause; no attributable repair resolution). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is '149th cabrio built' (1 discussions; 1 report identifying it and 0 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Check car' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Install roll cage and euro gt3 seats at some point
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They installed a roll cage and Euro GT3 seats at some point.
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I recently ran a report on 602597 ("W" car, 1998 production) and it was a mid-Dec 1997 build date.
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With the Mk.2 they used the same body for C2 and C4.
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It was officially presented to the public on september 1997, so mine is likely a press car, but trying to find out more, if you guys know something about it
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It was officially presented to the public on september 1997, so mine is likely a press car, but trying to find out more, if you guys know something about it
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3/98 for mine. Sold by Brumos in Florida 4/98 or 5/98. It was registered in SC in 5/98. Transported to, and titled in SC where it has remained.
Edit: Car was sold in 4/98 or 5/98, not 7/98 as I stated earlier.
01/1998 build date. Which is a bit weird, since it got delivered by the dealer to the first owner on Jan 4, 1998. So you would expect it to be a 1997 build then.
Volkert
I picked up this picture somewhere, apologies for not knowing wherefrom. It must be that MY98 cars had production started in September 1997 and that the 1998 build year starts then.
My car has a serial number ending with 00992.
Did your car have a Brumos sticker in the windshield that said the car had been "test driven & approved by" with Hurley Haywood's signature on it?
My former '00 (may 2000 build code) came from Brumos as well and had such a sticker on it... Wondering if that was a normal occurrence back then?
There was a very low optioned '99 coupe for sale near me for the longest time with a 2/98 build date and 133k miles on the odo. Almost bought that car twice, but couldn't overcome the "arrest me" Guards Red color on the car. The only red I would consider is Arena Red. The 2000 Millennium Edition car I bought instead has Oct '99 build date and 40k less miles. Pretty happy the way things worked out.
if i recall earlier threads on this, the earlier the less chance of IMSB failure, correct ? I'll have to check my date(I know it's built in 98) but haven't done anything as far as the IMSB or RMS are concerned.
What I understood on why early 996 are the ones to have:
- double row IMS
- better alu casting for engine
- more balanced cooling water flow through the engine (compared to mk2 3.6L engines)
- throttle cable (C2 only) iso e-gas
- no ***** glove box! No cup holders!
- still can open frunk / boot with flat battery
Other?
Volkert
Still has the sticker on it. I took this picture 10 minutes ago. Car was purchased by Michelin Research and Development. They installed a roll cage and Euro GT3 seats at some point. I am sure it was gingerly driven for the first 42k miles of its life while they owned it! Roll cage was removed when they sold it. I am a little scared to see how much Level 1 and Level 2 over-rev activity there was. Has its original engine with 89k miles.
Also, why does this matter? A Boxster was still a Porsche last time I checked. Guess what? The engine is also a Boxster engine with a slightly larger bore size, they even use the same heads, and camshafts.
So my coupe is a 10/98 build MY99 Carrera 4 (delivered 2/99).
The cab is a bit more interesting - I don't have the production month on hand, but it was MY00 and delivered 12/99, so I assume it was relatively early (or maybe not; in any case I feel relatively confident that it was built prior to the date of delivery in calendar year 1999). It's got a cable pull for frunk/engine compartment, but it's also got the frunk release button on the keys (the button does nothing). Just a weird quirk.
3/99 C4 with a M96-04 Engine... Is this a replacement? It's not a rebuilt/re-manufactured motor but i think it came from another car M96-04 seem to be from 2000/2001...
In Europe according to AutoScout there are approximately 100 cars for sale with sales date of 1997 or 1998. 1997 cars only a few, so these are really rare. 60 or so (there are double counts and some with "engine mileage" advertised with less then 85k miles (150k kms). Sales prices 18-30kEuro
Wow, so based on the photo posted earlier in the thread showing only 14 996's made in 1997, 1/5 of those cars are presently for sale in Europe! And there is even the possibility that the car shown with 10/97 date could even be the very first 996's ever sold to the public!
"First edition Porsche 996. The beginning of the water cooled legends. Early build date not affected by the potential IMS issue. If you're looking for the raw 911 driving experience that can't be found in the newer models, this is the car for you. Don't let this chance at owning so much car for so little get away before the prices increase."
I think production dates of Model Year MY98 run from August 1997 until August 1998, etc. So those 14 MY97 are specials I guess?
My 996 was delivered to the first owner on January 4, 1998 and is a MY98 with production number 992. In the Netherlands people typically don't want a car registeredin the November/December timeframe because then it is "1 year old" quickly. So it probably was produced in October/November 1997 timeframe. If 10.000 cars were build in MY98 with the cab becoming available in May 1998 while the 993 was still being produced as well you'd expect that they build approximately 250 cars/month initially?
volkert
So the fourteen MY97 cars were likely made just before the annual Porsche factory summer break in '97. Guessing July~ish, alongside Boxsters. Probably all were test-cars.
I guess these stickers are only in NA cars?
All I could find was this in the engine department:
It has a manufacuring date of October 8, 1997. I guess this relates to the spoiler mechanism? But I don't know how that relates to the car's manufacturing date.
Parts are often manufactured months before the car.
I am curious about the VIN number compared to the build date. You would think it is car number 2301 (starting with 00001) manufactured and that there were 2300 cars built before it, but that seems unlikely to me with a 12/97 build date.
Interesting question. How many cars roll off the line in a month? If the 996 started production in Aug/Sep of 1997, how likely is it that they would be at 2300 by December?
I earlier assumed my "0992" would have been build around October/November. They only build coupes initially, so 500 cars per month, starting August? That could approximately work. Then adding cabs per February or so, leading to 10.000 cars manufactured in total for MY98?
Do cabs and coupes share their VIN number?
Volkert
Well, that at least solves one riddle! Yes, convertibles have their own series of serial number, however only in the States. ROW does not differentiate between cabs and coupes.
So that would mean yours is serial number 89 for MY98 NA Cabriolet!
Cheers!
I have an inservice date with dealer stamp of 22 May 1998, so clearly built before that.
I will check car when I get it back from the engine rebuild for a build date.
I didn't check mine before I shipped it off to FSI, but that wouldn't have mattered anyways. Jud at FSI looked inside my door and examined the entire vehicle and has concluded the sticker is gone. The vehicle could have been repainted, but I doubt it. The carfax doesn't indicate any accidents and the paint has plenty of chips, but a lot can happen in 19 years.
After some digging, I've pinned it down to a 9/98 build. The dealer had two dates in their system for the vehicle, 9/2/98 and 9/14/98. I thought this was odd, but who really knows. There is also a 7/98 build on here with xxxx3481, while my car is 9/98 with xxxx3633 for a vin. Makes sense, right.
Who told you that? They have a reduced chance on IMS bearing failure (due to double row design) and bore scoring (due to better temperature mgt etc). It does not mean they are failure free, especially when 18 years old... They do have a 4th/5th timing chain, lack of oil changes related issues etc etc (24 modes of failure....). You can still overrev them, cooling issues due to failing waterpump, clogged radiators...
7/98 for me.
And a real dipstick! Aren't they lighter than later years as more electronics were added?
I didn't even pick mine up yet and I'm already loving it!
(PS I just ate fried eggs for breakfast)
Where was your car sold new? My understanding is that the first production of cars for North America was 2/98 and they were called MY99 cars. Mine is a cabrio built in 2/98 with an in-service date of 5/98 - it was the 149th cabrio built for North America. Apparently 993 production did not end until 4/98, so your car and mine would have been built alongside 993 cars as well.
Daryll
From what I have read, the 996 went on sale in the USA in April 1998 as a 99 model. It makes sense that the first North American 996s were built in February and March. Mine was built in March 1998 and sold at Brumos Porsche. I don't know for sure if it was sold in April or May. It was registered in May 1998.
Mine is a 3/98. Runs like hell 96,000 miles no oil consumption no smoke, no tail pipe soot. Its set up like a go cart. Michelin Pilots I believe 4 285 30 18 rear, Turbo red wheels. The cars with low mileage that never get driven short drives, etc, etc are the ones that fail.
Any help would be appreciated here folks?....First time Porsche owner!....Do any of you guys know a build date from my label on the drivers door shut?....It's Forest Green Metallic which Porsche themselves have stated is a special order colour on my particular 996......one more thing....Should it have external full orange indicator ligbt clusters allround.....basic questions I know but best ask the experts!
Judging by your VIN (last four of VIN), I'm going to pin you around 03/98. Edit - actually yes I believe yours is an 03/98 car by the 3*98 on the upper lefthand side of that sticker. Curious about your sticker though... Maybe door was replaced? What part of the car is this sticker on? Typical VIN sticker, from what I've seen, should be black and should be on driver's side door sill.
I have have an 01/98 car. VIN ending in 0083. Runs great and is my daily. Cannot recommend these cars enough.
01/98 arena red coupe on full leather graphite grey interior with sport seats. Manual, LSD, and 4-spoke steering wheel. I have read a lot about these early production cars and it's certainly interesting. To be honest, I completely lucked out and did not seek an early one - I knew nothing about the advantages of having an early example. I chalk it up to selling my mint e36 M3 way back when - a car I still regret selling to this day. I had a chance to buy it back too, and shied away. I believe I'm getting another chance with this one.... The only 97's I've found have been 12/97 cars and they were ROW.
Couple of shots I still have - it had a discontinued Jim Conforti CAI (very rare), an M50 manifold, tune, SSK, Bilsteins on H&R race springs. I went through a few different styles of wheels from the style 32's, BBS Style 5's, DSII's, and finally the contours which were on the car when I sold it.
Based on your car being a ROW VIN with an "X" and the last 3 digits being 524 I am going to suggest it was manufactured in the fall of 1998 (likely late Sept or early Oct). My research shows approx. 2000 ROW units were built from Sept - Dec of 1997 as 1998 model year 996's, these all had "W" in the VIN. North American production started in January of 1998 and all were designated as 1999 model year 996's ("X" in the VIN). NA cars had their own VIN sequence and do not correlate to the ROW VIN sequences.
Porsche made the transition to clear lenses for ROW cars early in production, so it is possible you car came without ambers from the factory. I used to own an early production ROW 996 (01/98 build) that came from the factory without ambers, yet cars being built for the NA market during the same month were equipped with ambers. Not sure why Porsche did this, could be something to do with the different countries and relevant lighting requirements at the time.
Can confirm my 01/98 NA car having ambers. That's interesting. So they weren't litronics? Just regular headlights without the ambers? probably DOT laws with yellow turn signals....?
Yes, my 01/98 ROW was equipped with non-litronic headlights. Turn signals & side markers were clear with orange bulbs. I assume DOT laws had something to do with how the NA vehicles were equipped.
Thanks for the replies on this....it had been 'suggested' to me that the '98/14' stated on the drivers door label in thd image denoted....Week 14 of Year 98 as a build date.....any thoughts on this?....It 'could' make sense as my 996 was UK registered and delivered the the initial customer in September 1998.
It's hard to say what those numbers mean without an official explanation by Porsche. Week 14 would put production sometime in April 1998, but I doubt your car was produced that early given the "X" in your VIN and a Sept 1998 delivery date. If you a serious about finding out, try running your VIN here:
https://vinanalytics.com/
They access the Porsche data base to pull info and it will include the DD/MM/YYYY of build. For the low cost of the report I find it to be a wealth of information for our cars.
I recently ran a report on 602597 ("W" car, 1998 production) and it was a mid-Dec 1997 build date. Based on this, I would guess 601099 is a mid-late October 1997 build if it is a "W" VIN car.
Hi thanks for the info
perhaps I should have included the full id here is a photo of the book vin I think it must be later as delivered October 98 .
best regards Les
Hi guys, found this old thread, looking to get some more info if you ever find some :
my C2 was delivered on
july 7th 1997
! trying to find infos about it, the vin is ;
WPOZZZ99ZWS600136
It was officially presented to the public on september 1997, so mine is likely a press car, but trying to find out more, if you guys know something about it
Its also a fun spec, nephrite green interior, with all the options available at the time, including a very rare Nokia 9000 communicator
Thanks
That is very early indeed. Exterior colour?
you might find more interest and detail in this thread:
https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ad-hoc-38.html
When you say "delivered" do you mean the date of manufacture or sold to a customer? Your VIN is one of the earliest I have seen, likely within the first 100 cars built for MY98. If you want more details I suggest running in through VINAnalytics for a report.
If you VIN has an X in it then yes, this would be within the first 300 cars built for NA bound 996's. Marketed in NA as MY99, these early 1998 builds had unique differences vs. the later 1998 builds.
With the last 9 characters of the VIN being XXS621954 AND the first listing of arrival [Carfax] is in Los Angeles in June 98....Title issued by California DMV to first owner [July 98] as corporate vehicle....serviced by Beverly Hills Porsche .... first sold on Oct 2001 [28.3k miles] LISTED as Fleet Vehicle....Could possibly be a Porsche NA corporate car?.... Anyway it is a very early car on the west coast....Cheers, JON
Just be checking with CARVANA about what they think this car is worth ['99 911] and they responded with a most GENEROUS offer of $5200.... NOT inclined to take it for my early build....:-)
Sorry, It took some time to see it.
I actually have the original invoice on the delivery day of 07/07/1997, so its the date the customer got it, and I also have the official paper of the first time it was registered on the road, one week later, on 14/07/1997.
And yeah, the vin number is 00136; meaning its the 136th car but the 60 first ones were test and prototype cars. I've looked a lot on the internet, on VIN analytics but was never able to find more information than this...
I recently purchased my C2 manual and discovered that it�s a 1/98 build, build date January 31st and shipped to a dealer in Ontario. I wonder if it was one of the first 996 in Canada, that would be cool.
Heres a BAT listing from 2019. Car is still mint and since I bought it in Dec �25, I have customized the all black standard plastic interior with some full leather parts in savannah for a nice two tone look. Carbon silver three spoke steering wheel to replace the black four spoke really made a nice difference.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1999-porsche-911-27/
This is a source reference. Confirm exact model applicability in the original material.
