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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2024
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Porsche 996 designer Pinky Lai follows up my interview with him back in 2020 by agreeing to take questions from owners and enthusiasts of the very car he designed! The opportunity was afforded to 9WERKS members (join details above), who dialled in for a virtual roundtable chat with Pinky via Zoom. Mr Lai reveals new details about designing the Porsche 996 Carrera, including how it was created alongside the 986 Boxster, how it was initially meant to have a fixed rear wing, how and why Porsche created a facelift Gen2 model, and early design concepts for the famous Fried Egg headlights. This is a privilege to bring you highlights from the chat, and I thank Pinky for taking the time to chat exclusively with 9WERKS members during the 25th anniversary year of the 996!
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I have great respect for Pinky Lai and his incredible journey from Hong Kong to working with Porsche. My ride is the 987 Cayman base. This is my long distance touring car. An absolute big bang for the buck after selling my 1974 GTV 2000 after 34 years of ownership. The clock shows I have garnered 7 years and counting in this shapely coupe. Best wishes to Pinky and a salute to this site on you tube for featuring Pinky and his followers. Cheers Capt Ed
Lee, it blows my mind that you’re the only person who interviews Pinky. Thanks so much for doing it. Love all your content.
Thanks Johnny, I highly appreciate that.
Thank you for inviting Pinky, I never get tired of his stories and his designs are timeless! Hope to see more of him!
So great... and I love love love the 996 headlights. best design ever!
Lee, thanks for landing this interview. The more I learn about Mr. Lai's amazing effort in the face of crushing financial and legacy obstacles, the more respect I have for him and the resulting product. I love my '98 996 and really appreciate the design philosophy.
i am driving 1998 996 Gen.1 too. Still having the amber turning indicator
Thanks Joby, pleased you enjoyed the video and great to learn you have great taste with your choice of 911!
As remarkable as the 996 differs from the 993, both designs work so well with the 993 turbo wheel design.
Love it. Such enthusiasm for the 996 still shining through. Great questions, even better answers. I'm a proud Lapis Blue 996.2 owner. The sun is shining and I'm about to go out for a run in it 😁
Great stories! I was lucky enough to do an internship at the Porsche studio at that time. Pinky was a great character. I love the 996 and both headlights. Still the best looking water-cooled 911. The first Cayenne project just started when Pinky worked on the Turbo, and the first GT1 cars were tested on the Weissach track. Thank you for sharing great content.
Nice stories
as a proud of a 996 4s i loved these insights. ultimately like it or hate it, its the car that saved the 911. great content!
Thank you!
Great video - really enjoyed the development back story. I own a 996 Turbo which I have enjoyed since 2008. Coming out of a 964 coupe into the 996, I initially felt the car was a little large. Today, the car feels small, nimble and has a very engaging drive with 2wd conversion, GT2 ride height and GT2 spec wheels/tires/ alignment. And the power- K24/18G performance equals all but the quickest newer supercars...amazing considering a 25-year-old platform... thank you Pinky for a wonderful design
I have always thought that on the 996 most people have never understood anything. Like with a Van Gogh, true recognition will only come in the future. I own a 996.2, but I am madly in love with the "fried eggs". ;-) Great interview Lee! Kudos
Another great interview!
Thank you for giving Pinky a platform to share his amazing stories of designing such an iconic car.
I’m already looking forward to watching the next one 👍
Thanks Phil!
What an outstanding session! Very enjoyable listening to Pinky. What's interesting is that many of the 996 concepts and designs have carried over into new Porsche models. Today's spoilers are just an evolution of Pinky's original motorized design. I've a 2015 991 Carrera S and 2004 C4S w/ X51 package. I'd rather drive the 996 every day. Yes, they're both great fun, but the 996 C4S is an immersive driving experience. Thank you, Pinky Lai. And thank you Lee.
Unpopular opinion but the 993 “face” is the least attractive 911 because of the visual dissonance that occurs between the headlamps and the lines of the hood. Your eye is drawn to empty space because of how the 993 headlamps don’t “pop” in the 993. The 996 headlamps fill in that negative space with glass and, in my opinion, create an almost Art Deco look that feels natural and elegant. I wish I could have asked Pinky if filling in the negative space of the 993 style headlamps was the impetus behind the 996 glass.
Good interview. Thanks. For me, the design of the 911/996 marked the design of future Porsches, until today.👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
That was great; could listen to Pinky’s stories, anecdotes and thoughts for hours! Oh how I miss my 996 C4 in Viola Metallic…. Cheers
Great interview! I owned a 2000 Black 996 coupe. It was a great car. I currently own a 987 Boxster. I would have no hesitation whatsoever to buy another 996. I understand why some don't like the headlights because it was a departure from the iconic round or oval style, but the overall look of the car is stunning to me. The headlights actually have a more futuristic look look to them and the car doesn't appear dated today in my opinion.
Wonderful! The enthusiasm still burns in Pinky, the same enthusiasm that created the 996. It was a monumental achievement, which kept the 911 alive, so we still have it today. I have moved from 996.2 C2 manual to '06 997.1 C2 manual. The main difference (apart from cosmetic) was the steering, being slightly more transparent and direct in the 996.
Great video. Lucky enough to have been part of it. Great editing too Lee! Alex B
More video gold. Thanks for making this happen gents. History in the making.
Cheers Colin!
Lol! As a 1999 911 coupe owner, I lost it when he said "Don't blame me for it". He's probably been defending the headlights since day one. Wonder if anyone ever egged Pinky's home?😂
An honour to meet Pinky and blown away to get to ask a question - and get so much back in the response. Great job Lee!
Thanks for this follow up interview. I'm in love with my Guards red early 996 C2. Thanks Pinky!
Another great interview Lee. I love how Pinky refers to his design as sculptural
and that it was modelled in clay by the guy who worked on the 356. I didn't know that!
Great video. Thank you. I love my 996 Turbo S manual and 987 Cayman S manual. Thank you Pinky. I also have driven many of my moms E36s in the past and even logged many miles in the first M3. Cheers guys. Ps as I’m watching this vid I’m bidding on a Pinky print.
HI Master Pinky Lai, Greeting from Hong Kong, I am still enjoying driving your 996 3.4 C2 Gen.1 911, Truly Appreciate your contribution to 911.
Love Pinky’s energy, legend 👍
Brilliant video really enjoyable to watch and some good info 👏
Fascinating, so pleased that history has been documented in your video.
Pinky is not just a great talented designer, but also an amazing person full of zest and energy, and vision for the future hyper car, and what good life should look like 👍👍👍👏👏👏
He designed the Cayman also.
Thanks for this interview. What does the passion of an artist look like? I like this car more every day.
Love the passion in your stories Pinky. You’re a legend!
I do have one question, why did you not design the 997 and 991?
My family and I love the 996 and 986. So much so we have 5 (and counting😅) and they are all different. What a car, what a car. Absolute Porsheography 😜
Excellent video, thoroughly enjoyed that. 😎
Thank you!
It would be interesting if an aftermarket heard of Pinky's first headlight design of elongated oval with the orange turn signal halo and made it for retrofit.
Just subscribed! Thanks so much for conducting and sharing this interview! Having just purchased a 996.2 C4S less than two weeks ago (to add to my 981 Cayman) and learning about its design history from a thoughtful, creative, and humble sounding guy, Pinky, has made my new ownership even more special! (I wonder what would people have thought back then about those "orbital"/"elliptical" indicator lights around the main headlamps had that design been selected? Perhaps still controversial then, but I think they would now be considered well ahead of its time as that style is in vogue now. ;))
Thanks for the sub, and have fun with your stunning C4S!
I miss visible drip rail on cars so much. You can never open the windows on a rainy day in a modern car.
Unrelated to that, I drive a 996, but I think his best design was the E36.
Thanks 🙏, informative ❤
My hands look massive! Must hold them further from the camera next time.. Thanks for organising this Lee it was great!
Barrett.
I think the gen 1 996 is second only to the 964 in as the most beautiful Porsche ever. As they become more collectible I think some owners will invest in making the interior a bit more luxurious making for truly exceptional cars.
I own a 1999 996 6 Spd. in black Carrera 2 cabriolet with removable hardtop I bought used in 2009. Did not care for the fried egg headlights and got some black eyelids for them on Amazon and they look original. Also the IMS started to fail at 49,000 miles as the timing chain tensioners caused the engine light to go off. They were replaced with new tensioners and a barrel bearing set up with oil conduit line from Vertex outside of Miami. I have since had the 996 supercharged and it has a large intercooler in the front end. and this helps also to balance the extra weight of the supercharger in the rear . I also have a racing suspension from Ohlins of Sweden . The performance is almost on a par with my sons M4 Competition..and weighs a lot less. I think the styling is timeless and it does not look over bloated.
996 in guards red here. Nice to see this interview.
this is awesome..
That wiper arm intrigues me. It bothers me. I have to do it
Epic
996 porsche is a silent but evident tribute to miura :)
Itsa meeeee
996 is a good looking car and it's a great driving car. But it still was the successor of the best looking 911 ever made. And you can now buy three or even four 996's for the price of one 993. That speaks volumes how good the exterior design really was. But then again it was a good attempt but masses think it failed. Perhaps history will change how people see the 996's. It happened to 964 so why couldn't it happen again? Cheers.