Gallery: 30 years of Porsche tuners Techart

Over this side of the channel, Techart isn’t quite a household name in the homes of the petrolhead. Unlike RUF, who captivated the minds of teenagers everywhere with the CTR Yellowbird, Techart’s a Porsche tuner with a lower profile. 

But we don’t think it should be so – yes, it’s very easy to look down your nose at aftermarket tuners, and say things like ‘oh god, it burns’ and ‘I can’t unsee that’ every time a tuner trots out a widebodied SUV. 

Not every tuner thinks the same way, though. Now, you don’t get anywhere in the aftermarket business by being subtle but, if you’ve the trousers to back up the rhinestone-studded shirt, you can make it into the big leagues – just think of Alpina, Abarth and AMG, for instance.  

And, considering that the town of Leonberg is also home to Gemballa, Techart could very well be the creator of the thinking man’s tuned Porsche – a more refined, understated breed. Up to a point, of course – Techart’s recent take on the Cayenne is rather… polarising.

But let’s not get bogged down in that. Instead, let’s celebrate the best of Techart’s 30 years, each one spent dedicated to making ever-faster Porsches. Bless ’em.  

Founding a company, as you might expect, is quite a milestone in said company’s history. 

Also, there’s a Lamborghini Countach, two Porsche 928s, a 944 and a Mercedes SL in one shot. This is worthy of internet-ing. 

Yep, this is the Frankfurt Motor Show, circa 1991. Well, there’s really nothing ‘circa’ about it, actually – it is 1991.  

There are more ’90s photos out there, but even this candid shot from the stand feels like it’s about to be photobombed by Wayne and Garth. 

Yes, getting a bigger building is wonderful news to the CEO, and likely a bit more of a yawn to anyone not directly involved in the company. 

Unless, of course, you celebrate with a brace of exceptionally well-prepared 964s, sprinkled with a pair of 993s and a 928. Oh, mercy. 

Q: What’s better than a 993 Carrera? A: Not much, at least in our eyes, which are appropriately rose-shaded, misty with nostalgia and wizened against anything made after our 10th birthdays. 

One thing that makes a strong argument for being better than a 993 Carrera is a supercharged 993 Carrera, with 462bhp – a healthy improvement on the 280-odd on offer in the standard car. 

Numbers without context are pretty meaningless. And sometimes numbers with context tend to be less impressive. For instance, 620bhp is a pretty sizeable figure these days, but certainly nothing that’d leave you agape for any particular stretch of time. 

But that’s the joy of context – in 2001, 620bhp was a monumental amount of power. For instance, the Aston Martin Vanquish, which graced the cover of Top Gear magazine in 2001, boasted 460bhp from its rather sonorous V12.

The Lamborghini Murcielago, featured on another 2001 cover of our magazine, was a lime green sliver of Italian exotica that produced a not-inconsequential 571bhp. So, discovering 620bhp in a tuned 996 Turbo was quite a find. 

Techart reveals a police-liveried 997 Carrera S, apparently to draw attention to ‘Tune It! Safe!’, which, apart from having perhaps the worst syntax in recent memory, promotes safe car modding. 

Presumably, the big ‘Polizei’ down the side promotes the consequence of unsafe car modding. 

Techart’s version of the Porsche 997 GT2 laps the Nordschliefe in 7:39, 13 seconds faster than a production GT2. The small matter of 650bhp and a top speed approaching 225mph may have entered into it.

The Techart version of the 991 Turbo S laps the 2.3-mile Sachsenring in Saxony in 1:31.12 – just 0.78 seconds slower than Porsche’s own Weissach Pack-equipped 918 Spyder. Blimey. Wonder how fast Techarts will be in another 30 years?