🗺🇩🇪 GT3 Touring - European “Delivery” - Road Trip #1 🇩🇪🗺

[white2abbit]

***DISCLAIMER: I end up writing these up as a bit of a personal diary for myself, so apologies in advance for overindulging on some of the details. If you don’t care for the story then just scroll past the text or hit the back button. Also, for anyone curious, these photos (over 780 in total) were taken on iPhone 13 Pro and a Fuji X100V.***

As long as I can remember I’ve always wanted a GT3.



Well, that’s not true. I guess my first love for Porsche was centered around the 996 Turbo. It was my poster car. The car I literally had a poster of on my walls in my childhood bedroom for years. It was the car I had always dreamed of owning, until I got a little bit older and started to understand the difference between NA and Turbo, Track-oriented and grand touring. I can’t remember exactly when it happened, but it was probably somewhere around the time the 997 GT3 was announced that my desire switched to the just-as-out-of-reach 911 GT3.


I grew up on turbos though, as I talked about in my "Got a Cayman GT4, and a little history" thread back in 2016. I still love turbocharged cars and very happily own an M2 Competition right now as my daily driver/road trip mobile (read multiple M2C road trip stories here). But for me, the naturally aspirated engine has always been the holy grail of motoring and the cars I’ve always sought after most (have always and very much still want an E46 M3 and E92 M3).

But anyways…

For the last decade or more the GT3 has been the car I’ve lusted after. Any and every time I saw one on the road I’d chase after it, trying to snap a photo or catch the reverberation of its musical masterpiece in my ears. It started off with the 997 GT3 but I always looked back on the 996 GT3 fondly. It was the first GT3 experience I had, riding along in a silver one at Mosport’s Driver Development Track (DDT) some time around 2010. 

When the 991.1 GT3 was unveiled I was disappointed the car didn’t come in a manual. When the 911 R was announced I cold-emailed a local Porsche dealership asking if I could buy one. I didn’t really have the money for it or anything, but it did seem like it might be a good investment.

The response? 

“Unless you purchased a 918 from new and still own it, you have no chance of buying this car.”

The impression left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth as I hadn’t yet experienced the whole you-can’t-just-buy-a-GT-Porsche thing. In any case, I couldn’t afford one, so I wasn’t too upset…


A few months later I did purchase my first Porsche, a 981 GT4, pre-owned for above MSRP. It was my first REAL sports car and I still love it to death. I’ve tracked it at least 20x at tracks in Ontario and once to Watkins Glen. It’s an amazing car, but the GT3 was always lingering in my mind…especially once the 991.2 GT3 was announced, bringing back the manual.



Full story here: https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1265031


The 991.2 GT3 was also out of my price range (not that I would have gotten a slot) so I hadn’t lost too much sleep over it…but I continued to dream. I became friends with a neighbour who owns a 991.2 GT3 RS a couple years ago and started going to the track with him. He’d let me drive it occasionally, and wow. That sound. It’s all I could think of.





The car felt so good I was almost a convert to PDK. I have to say, I really do love driving his RS with PDK on the race track. It feels like I’m driving a race car in Gran Turismo or something and I really do enjoy it. I think an RS makes a lot of sense if you’re going to be driving on the track 90% of the time, and one day if I’m lucky enough maybe I’ll own one for just that reason.

After returning from my European Delivery trip of my M2 Competition in July of 2019, I vowed to make sure I do this every 2-4 years. I’d just keep trading in my M car (which I had originally leased) for the latest and greatest, taking the opportunity to do a month or more Euro trip each time. Sadly, shortly after Covid hit, BMW announced the end of European Delivery for good. I was pretty gutted. That trip meant the world to me and was the greatest automotive experience I had ever had.



Thankfully, Porsche still offered it though, right? I even had a deposit on the next gen GT4 which I had asked to move to the 992 GT3. Unfortunately, that was a false promise, and after reaching out to my dealer, I was firmly told I would not be getting a slot, nor was I even close. I get it, I really do – I’m not one of their top customers by a landslide..but it’s just sad and frustrating I can’t purchase a car like this as a true enthusiast who will not only put tons of road and track mileage on the car but I’ll shout about how great it is every opportunity I get.

 Alas, I was out of options. The best I got was that I could MAYBE, maybe if I was REALLY lucky, if some strings were pulled, trade my 981 Cayman GT4 in for a base 718 Cayman. Are you kidding me?!

With my head hung low I drove home and realized that I’d only ever be able to recreate that European Delivery trip one day if I saved up enough money to buy a property in Europe, and then eventually, a car. Maybe in 5-10 years if business goes well I MIGHT be able to have a car over there.

That was until I had an idea during one of our extended Covid lockdowns here in Toronto…

What if there was a way to own a car in Europe without living there permanently? Well, I figured it out. If anyone’s curious how to do it, or would like to be put in touch with the person who made it happen, just DM me and I can share some more details.

But, I did it. I found a way.

 With business going well and me not really spending any money for two years (thanks covid) it was finally time to search for my dream car. I knew the car I had to have was a 991.2 GT3, but I was still undecided on a few things. What colour? What seats? Clubsport or Touring?

Colour was an easy choice. I wanted black. Seats were tricky to figure out, and while initially I’d always much preferred the winged look on GT cars, the more I thought about the Touring (and the more times I watched Chris Harris talk about it) the more I realized it was the car that made sense for me to have in Europe. It’s the car that’s a little more subtle and that can fly under the radar. And since I’d mostly be using it on mountain passes, stretches of the Autobahn and other windy roads, I felt like the added downforce and roll cage weren’t things I really needed. I settled on the folding bucket seats (an option we don’t get in North America) as they’re kind of the best of both worlds. I have the 918 buckets in my GT4 and love them, but with a 911 having much of its storage in the rear behind the seats and the road trips I had planned, the folding buckets made the most sense. I’m glad I went that way.

The search took QUITE a long time. There are always 991.2 GT3 available but it’s quite hard to find one in just the right spec. And then, I saw it. The perfect spec for me. Done.

I had to wait about a month before I could travel to Germany to actually pick up the car, so as you can imagine, the anticipation was killing me. My girlfriend knew we were going on a road trip, but she had no idea that I had bought a car to do it in. I was almost as excited to surprise her with the car as I was to drive the car myself.

And so, without further ado, on to my trip to Munich to pickup my new girl.

I try to avoid late nights before flying but I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to see Rüfüs Du Sol in Toronto, so my gf and I went to the show on June 3rd, the night before departing. If you’re into that kinda music and haven’t seen them, they put on a killer show!





Had some decent food on the flight over.



Almost there…



How you know you’ve landed in Germany:





Once we got into Munich we went out and walked around all afternoon, getting brunch and doing some sightseeing. My girlfriend hadn’t been to Munich before so I gave her a little tour for the next couple days (my sister lived there for 6 years). Will share some notable pics from the first couple days. Maybe it’s just me, but it really puts a smile on my face seeing a German sports car with a German plate…especially the older stuff.































Quick stop at my favourite neighbourhood Italian place in Munich:



And a little catchup on UFC in the hotel lobby to stay awake to avoid jet lag…



Alright, on to the fun part. Well, here she is. My new German baby, with just over 7,019km on the clock when I picked her up:









Few quick snaps from the first drive.











We were headed to Lausanne, Switzerland in the first stretch so we didn’t have TOO Much time to stop, but I wanted to get some shots of the car while it was clean.































Before we knew it the sun was setting and so we got back in the car and blasted to Lausanne to catch some sleep.



We didn’t spend any time in Lausanne – it was just a stopover to sleep on the way we were heading. We realized we were kind of close and so we swung by Geneva for a few hours in the afternoon to check it out (neither of us had been). Had a really nice time working/reading and having a bite at a place called La Bergamote Genève - Salon De Thé. Walked around a bit and got caught in the rain and had some hot chocolate.











Got back in the car and continued on towards Montpellier, France.







Arrived at our hotel, dropped our things and then took an Uber to Marché du Lez, a cool food market/hangout spot. We tried a bunch of things and had a few drinks, met some locals and then headed back to pass out.











Hopped in the car and continued on. Spotted a BMW 1M!



As we were driving we spotted some cool looking architecture so we decided to get out and look around. It was a little place called Corneilla-de-Conflent. They had the coolest trees there too. At least I thought so.











Somewhere along a mountain road in a place called Canaveilles I noticed something shiny and red in side mirror. It’s hard to really do it any justice with words, but a beautiful red 996 appeared behind me seemingly out of nowhere, following me around every curve of the winding mountain pavement. It was as if we were dancing. It truly felt like we were in a Porsche commercial, as they love celebrating both past and present. This lasted for about 20 minutes before I turned off to snap some pics. He was fast too – I couldn’t keep up with him after he overtook me.





Shortly after I pulled off to take a few photos. You can see where me and the 996 were following each other off in the distance.







Next quick stop for pics was called La Cabanasse.



















Our next stop was Andorra, a tiny country I hadn’t heard of until I randomly went back in 2017 (friends and I were on a road trip, spotted it on the map and decided to go spontaneously). We stayed at the Andorra Park Hotel and it was beautiful. Only regret was that we were only stayed for 1 night. Alas, such is a road trip.







After we checked in we went to walk around a bit and get a snack. Andorra is almost unbelievably tidy, but I guess that’s par for the course with a place like it. It’s quite beautiful too and everyone was really friendly.









Few more shots from our place before heading for dinner.







We had walked by a place earlier that looked good so we decided to go and check it out. The food was amazing. The place is called Restaurant Eric MARTY.











Unfortunately they didn’t let the GT3 sleep in our room.



We wanted to make the most of the place so we got up early, worked out and had breakfast at the hotel.







On the way out of Andorra I made the somewhat-terrible decision to wash my car at a DIY car wash place. I knew it wasn’t a great idea but there was tons of bird shit caked onto my car and I couldn’t bear to look at it. Sure enough I ended up with swirls all over the hood, but oh well. Got it buffed out later.





Our next stop-over was Zaragoza, Spain, but along the way we stopped a few times to take in the scenery.





























At one point, driving through a place called Àger, I saw a snake lying right in the middle of the road. My gf missed it, and I was going to quickly to turn around, so I just kept going. About a minute later we saw another one, so we decided to turn around, pull over and snap a few pics. Sadly, by the time we had turned around another car had ran it over. I did manage to get a shot out the window first. Anyone know what it is?





A little while later it looked like a good opportunity to snap a few more photos so I pulled over in Balaguer.













After getting gas up on a little hill I decided to have my gf film me do a couple drive-by’s. After driving in one direction I saw a Police roadblock in the distance, and U-turned. I was going to U-turn anyways to drive by the camera, but in hindsight, there’s nothing *more* suspicious than turning around when there’s a Police roadblock up ahead. The Police ended up coming after me and following me to the gas station (it took them a minute to come so they weren’t chasing me or anything). They came up to me with their sirens on and asked me what I was doing. I tried explaining in English/using Google Translate, and managed to get away with just a warning. I think they could tell I was a tourist + also wasn’t really doing anything too sketchy.





Passed by the The Greenwich Meridian in Candasnos.



The sun was setting in Pina de Ebro so naturally I had to pull over and snap some more photos. A couple of these are some of my favourites from the trip. Mix of iPhone 13 Pro and Fuji X100V shots:













We got to Zaragoza around 10:30pm and checked into our hotel (INNSiDE by Meliá Zaragoza). It was late and we were pretty exhausted so we just ate in the hotel restaurant, but it was pretty damn good!









The next morning we got up and made our way to Madrid, where we were meeting up with a work colleague of mine (who I’d never met IRL) for a couple nights. We stayed at CoolRooms Palacio de Atocha and it was excellent. I wish we had stayed a few more nights…2 nights in Madrid is not enough time. It’s definitely a little busy/tight for a GT3 Touring, but I made do!











Some misc. shots exploring Madrid:























Day 2 in Madrid:





















Time to hit the road again.



As we were driving I noticed a transport truck carrying two GT3s (a 997 and 996). I had my gf snap a couple pics. Excuse my filthy windshield.





Next stop? Bilbao for one night. We checked into our hotel (very close to the Guggenheim) which had a pretty cool car elevator to get down to the parking lot.





We dropped our stuff off and left to see the Guggenheim before it closed. Little did I know there was an automotive exhibit going on there called “Motion. Autos, Art, Architecture”. Was a nice surprise!















































Went back to the hotel to work for a little bit and then head out to explore the city a little more and grab dinner at Café Iruña, a restaurant that’s over 100 years old. We missed the tapas but still had a nice meal.















On our way out of town I tried to snap a photo with all of the cool architecture, but couldn’t really get anywhere near it without background clutter. Still, one for the memory bank.



Our next stop was a treehouse Airbnb in Martillac, just outside of Bordeaux. We stayed nearby Les Sources de Caudalie and rode bicycles over to do a wine tasting. We had the best bread of the trip. Sadly it was WAY too hot to use the hot tub (or sleep comfortably) but otherwise it was a beautiful place. Just need to not be there when it’s +35C, and probably stay for more than a day or two to really unwind.









We biked over to the winery so we didn’t have to worry about driving, but I was a little sad not to have driven when we pulled up and saw this.





The grounds were really nice. Wineries aren’t really my thing, but it is kinda relaxing. Three shots of the bread and butter because I’m trying to relive this experience as I write this up.































In the morning we literally roped up a basket of breakfast, something I can’t say I’ve ever done before.









Time to wrap up and head onwards, but not before checking to see if the 992 GT3 Touring was still there…





An ugly composition shot of dirty cars, but nevertheless I had to. Our next destination was Château d'Artigny & Spa, just outside of Tours.



The building and property were incredible, but the food, not so much. Still, a relatively affordable stay and an experience I hadn’t had before.





















Even though my car was absolutely filthy, I figured I’d snap a few photos of it in front of the chateau. I tried my best to “clean” these X100V shots in Photoshop.









Some more shots inside from a cocktail in the bar and dinner.









…and then back outside with the car again. I couldn’t help myself.













Quick hotel breakfast and some UFC and we were back on the road.





We were now on our way to Belgium to meet up with some other work colleagues of mine who live in a quiet rural farm area. It’s such a relaxing and beautiful place. I won’t say exactly where it is but it’s right near the border of France/Belgium. Grabbed a quick car wash en route.









We were having some appetizers when suddenly I noticed hot air balloons flying off in the distance. There were also a ton of flies flying around, hence the noise in the photos.









As much as we had just arrived and I didn’t want to be rude, I had to take the opportunity to grab my Fuji and chase them down to try and get some shots with them in the background.















I got back, and my the karma gods got me for leaving. I took a sip of the opened beer I had left on the table and…well…it was full of 50+ flies. I immediately ran to the sink and spat them out.



We then enjoyed some some food and company and went to bed. The next afternoon we went to the North Sea to a place called Koksijde for a beach day. Saw some jellyfish.







Belgian fries for dinner and then a little campfire and then it was bedtime.



Fresh eggs for breakfast before hitting the road again.







The next part of our journey had us taking the Eurotunnel from Calais to Dover to get to the UK. Watched a little Channel 5 while we were waiting.













Stopped to get gas and saw a familiar face…



Stopped at the grocery store and saw another familiar face…



The next few days were spent with my gf’s family out in Bracknell. Few misc. shots from the family visit and a day trip out to London.



Nice Nurburgring shirt!



































Next stop was in Wales, to visit my gf’s grandparents.































We settled into her grandparents house in Cwmbran and enjoyed a delicious meal and a nice little visit.











The next morning we hit the road again. Made a quick impromptu stop at a butterfly sanctuary in Buckfastleigh we saw a sign for while driving.











Next we stopped in Totnes for lunch (amazing potpies at Pie Street).











After Totnes we continued our journey, we encountered a bunch of wildlife. These first two are stills from a couple drive-by’s my gf filmed…note me heading towards the camera in the top left corner in the second shot (luckily I saw them!):







We then found some horses:



























We kept motoring on through some windy forested roads until we got to Tintagel.



Found a cool spot to park for a few pics:











And then we went to check out Tintagel Castle…but it was closed. So we kinda hiked around it and checked out the area anyways, as it was really nice.























Perfect golden hour when we got back to the parking lot.





As we were losing light we were trying to find something nearby to take some shots/check out the scenery. We kind of stumbled on Trebarwith Beach, and it was beautiful.





































We made it to our Bed and Breakfast (a place called Melorne Farm Guest House in Camelford) and ate some Indian takeout on the floor and passed out. I also managed to curb my rim (somehow) while pulling up on a little bit of cobblestone waiting for my gf to grab the food. Well, shit (it’s fixed now).



Woke up the next day, and while despite attempting to fast, they insisted on making me a good ol’ British fry up. It was amazing.



Watched a little UFC while my gf worked in a little outdoor hangout spot they had before hitting the road.



Said curbing:



We were then off to my girlfriend’s friend’s place in Redruth. The people we were staying with showed us around the area to a few spots and we grabbed dinner at a pub.

Gwithian Beach:















Trevaunance Cove (where the pub was, called The Driftwood Spars):





And that was it for Redruth. The next morning we got up and drove to Southampton to meet some friends for dinner, and then over to West Wittering to our Airbnb for the next couple nights for the main event…

The next day we were up early to make our way to the Goodwood Festival of Speed!

For anyone a little bored of my travel diary, the next chunk is going to be pretty much all cars. The parking lot alone was deadly.

Mix of photos from my iPhone 13 Pro and Fuji X100V.

Goodwood Day One









When I pulled into the parking lot I noticed another black 991.2 GT3 Touring, with Texas plates. I was so curious who that was, and how they got there car there…luckily I actually ended up meeting the guy and we became friends.



An RS (real I think? It had California historic plates on the back) and a flock of DBX):





Pretty much as soon as we walked into the grounds, my jaw dropped. Sitting on the lawn were SIX McLaren F1s. I couldn’t believe they were just sitting there on the grass (not roped off on a stage). I probably took well over a hundred photos of these cars over the two days we were at Goodwood, so you’ll see a bunch of them interspersed in this section. It was pretty hard to get a clean shot of the cars, but I was still a grinning child.

Here’s a few shots, but many more to come.









Next up? The Singer Turbo Study. These are also just the first few pics…more coming later.











I then went to check out Nardone Automotive's restomod Porsche 928:









Okay that didn’t last long. Back to the F1s for a closer look.













I’m pretty sure there’s no other car on the planet I would like with a Ronald McDonald paint scheme…but this is gorgeous.









Lancia Stratos:





Glimpse of the Turbo Study heading out:







Some cars running:





























Walking around:



































































That’s a wrap for day one. We got some takeout on the way home and came back to the Airbnb and chilled and went to bed.

For day two I’ll just post a bunch of the photos I took without explanation..I think the photos do the talking. I’ll also include the shots I took with my Fuji X100V here at the end, after the iPhone shots.

Goodwood Day Two



















































































And the Fuji shots:















































































































As far as cars go, the highlights of the show were probably the Singers, the F1s and the Paganis. The best sounding cars of the shower were the Huayra R and Porsche RSR. Oh and I guess the classic Ferrari Formula 1 cars, can’t forget those!

After the show my girlfriend and I left to get dinner with one of her friend’s from back in the day and then we head back to the Airbnb to get some rest.

The next day was one of the most exciting days I’ve ever experienced as a car enthusiast. One thing led to another and I made my way to a track day at the Goodwood Motor Circuit…with Singer. I can’t share too many details, but I will share a bunch of photos. Let’s just say it was a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Also, remember that other 991.2 Touring with the Texas license plates? Ran into him again.

iPhone shots first:













































































Fuji shots:























































They also had a track day photographer that captured a few shots:













We finished the night with an incredible meal and a stay at the Goodwood House hotel.



After that we were headed back to the Folkestone Eurotunnel Terminal to head back to mainland Europe.





Next stop was Amsterdam, but we pit stopped in Ghent for dinner. Had Italian, which was okay.





Woke up and met up with some friends who live in Amsterdam and walked around. Hung out for the day and then went for dinner and called it a night.







The next day we head out early and stopped in Borne, Netherlands, for what may be the weirdest meal I’ve ever had. A Thai chicken crepe thingy (I forget the name for it). It was…not great.



Next stop…back to Deutschland! We got to Hamburg just before sunset and wandered around for a little before settling into a Lebanese place called Békaa. The food was REALLY good. Especially after that lunch.













We walked around the next morning and afternoon enjoying the city. Had a quick lunch at Viet Bowl Hamburg (pretty good) and continued walking around. Saw a bunch of architecture that would be awesome for skateboarding if it wasn’t on the grass…





















We went back to the hotel to shower and have a couple drinks before heading back out…unbeknownst to my girlfriend, to a concert (The War on Drugs). The show was really good. Love this band.



















We then decided to roam around the city and bar hop for a bit. I had no idea Hamburg was that much of a party city, pretty fun place! Had a bit of a Blade Runner vibe too. It was impossible to get a taxi at the end of the night so we ended up walking halfway home. I think we finally got one around 4am and ended up passing out around 5 or 6am.























Next morning we were off again and stopped in Seevetal for lunch. We made a bunch of stops along the way for gas and snacks and by the time we got to around Munich everything near where we were staying was closed so we ended up at Burger King. Saw a 997 GT3 on the drive.









Stayed at a hotel in Unterhaching that I actually stayed on my M2 Competition European Delivery trip back in 2019. It’s not a bad spot outside of the city centre if you just need somewhere to sleep.



Before we called this trip quits we decided to catch a glimpse of the mountains. While the entire trip had been so much fun both myself and the GT3 were asking for the mountains. Went through a car wash to try to get some of the dirt off the car in case there was some cool scenery.



The first place we pulled over was near Unterjoch.















Went down the road a bit for some more:















We continued driving around and found another little spot to snap a few pics in Nassereith:











We then arrived at HUBER'S Boutiquehotel, where we’d be staying for the night.



We checked in and dropped our bags off and then head out to Hotel Gasthaus Steinerkogl to grab dinner on top of the mountain (incredible view, highly recommend if you’re in the area). The drive up isn’t too bad either:

















Had some great food with great views:













Then headed out to catch that last bit of sunlight for the day and take in a little more of the mountain.

















We toured around some of the roads in the area before catching the sunset in front of a really cool cloud (“Nope” movie anyone?). The sun was hitting the cloud such that it looked like it was on fire. Never really seen it in this way before.

















We grabbed a few beers from a local gas station and head back to our hotel to watch UFC #276 (which I hadn’t had the chance to watch yet).





The next morning we woke up, had breakfast and hit the road. There was some really cool clouds out the window when we woke.





Before getting in the car I noticed some unfortunate victims of our travels.



We’d pretty much entirely avoided rain on this trip but it looked as though our luck may be running out as we loaded up the car…



This was the last day of the trip and so we were headed back to Munich, so we figured we’d take the scenic route. I’ve always thought those big log piles make a nice backdrop so I pulled over in front of some wood.











Few more shots and then it started to drizzle…and I also realized we needed to make one more stop…









We tried to go to PlatzlAlm Hochzillertal but sadly it was closed. Will definitely be back to check it out (and maybe stay over) next time we’re in the area. The place looked beautiful.



No big deal though. We arrived at Kaltenbacher Schihütte in the mountains for our little treat…man am I in need for some Kaiserschmarrn right now.





They also had a little petting zoo type thing so we checked out the animals after we wolfed down our food.









Alright, back in the car. It was now pretty wet out, but it made for some nice shots. I’ve always loved taking photos of cars WHILE they’re wet or in the rain (just not afterwards when they dry off).





























At long last we arrived back in Munich with just over 15,000km on the clock. Not bad for our first journey together!



We had dinner in Munich and then went to our hotel to get a good night’s sleep. That was it, my first adventure in my 991.2 GT3 Touring.

What a car. Both the car and the trip far exceeded my expectations and only reaffirmed how much I love driving in Europe. While it still deeply saddens me that BMW has put an end to European Delivery, this might just be the next best thing. It might actually be THE best thing.

If you enjoyed this INSANELY long writeup with far too much detail, too many photos and a lot of blabbering you’ll want to stay tuned…this was just a little taste of my adventures with the Touring in 2022…as soon as I got back to Toronto I started planning another trip for August 2022…

More on that soon

Thanks for reading!
– white2abbit

[Germanauto]

Lovely thanks for sharing and congrats

I miss BMW ED threads

[white2abbit]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Lovely thanks for sharing and congrats

I miss BMW ED threads

Me too! We may have to petition BMW to bring ED back...