Is This The World's Only Manual Porsche 991 GT3 RS?

When the 991 911 GT3 RS first arrived a couple of years ago, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Porsche had decided that the RS should have no manual option and fitted every single vehicle with a seven-speed PDK - a paddle-shift auto.

Driving enthusiasts were aghast. No manual, even as an option, was seen as dumping on the spirit of driving. Even though the PDK can change gears with no drop in torque fast than most drivers can think about changing gears, it wasn’t about the performance. Phrases like ‘involvement’ and ‘feel’ were bandied about.

Porsche sold every RS it could make nevertheless, but some owners weren’t satisfied. One, Rob Janev of Illinois, took it upon himself to remedy the situation.

Janev contracted Florida race outfit BGB Motorsports to carry out the swap on his 900-mile GT3 RS. Owner John Tecce sourced the six-speed manual gearbox from a 911 R, which is more or less a straight swap. However simply replacing the hardware isn’t the tricky part.

The team spent more than 60 man-hours during a six week build on the electrical side. Getting the car’s various computers and electrical subsystems to accept the presence of the clutch and manual ‘box, rather than throwing out random error codes, was a Herculean task. In an effort to make the whole thing look as stock as possible, BGB added custom gauges.

The end result of almost a year of planning and six weeks of work looks to be the only manual 991 GT3 RS in the world. It sends the message Janev had hoped to send too: he was getting a manual 991 RS to join his fleet of manual 911s, whether Porsche wanted him to or not.