Lately, I’ve been obsessing over a new kind of racing, which involves content creators competing against carmakers for people’s online time, even when the topic seems impossible, like, say the Porsche 911 GT3. You see, with the German carmaker set to introduce the 992.2 facelift within the next twelve months or so, how could “somebody on the Internet” come up with a GT3 matter that would seem as hot? Well, a little adventure on YouTube seems like the perfect answer to that—Mat Armstrong has fixed the crashed 992.1 GT3 that used to belong to Adam LZ, all with some help from Tavarish!
Even since the days of the first GT3, the 996 of 1999, this badge has stood for a naturally aspirated beast that’s equally suitable for drive-through and track day content. The outgoing 992.1 GT3 is no exception of course, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the extra hardcore approach brought by the generation change a few years ago (e.g. double wishbone front suspension, massive aero addition and others.).
In this world of turbocharged engines and car dealer inventory shortage, GT3s are hard to come by. Sure, the “used” market always has something for Porschephiles. But with the average 992 GT3 trading hands at $250,000 these days, that’s quite a burden compared to the $161,000 MSRP of the thing—nobody buys them new for that, as Porsche’s optional extras are a whole other universe, of course.
A Chevy Silverado crashed into Adam LZ’s GT3 last fall
American YouTuber and drifter Adam LZ used to have this 2022 Porsche 911 GT3 in his collection. Alas, back in September 2022, a Chevy Silverado crossed out of its line in a tight bend, hitting the Porsche.
At the time, Adam LZ was driving the machine on the Tail of the Dragon in the Smokey Mountains with his girlfriend Colette Davis riding shotgun, and none of them was injured in the accident.
The car, however, took serious damage, with all the airbags going off. And that was the end of the line for its place in the vlogger’s collection. Subsequently, Adam LZ also sold his 992.1 911 Turbo S and got a 992.1 GT3 Touring with just 550 miles on the clock, which he still enjoyed at the time of press.
Adam LZ has repaired the GT3 with help from Tavarish
The crashed GT3 ended up on Copart and was picked up by YouTuber Mat Armstrong three months ago. However, since the Brit won the Copart auction S(sight unseen), he still needed help in America—as YouTuber Samrac (Sam Gordon), who is no stranger do DIY-fixing exotics, explained to Mat, he had to get a car via a broker—this varies according to each state’s law. So U.S. vlogger Tavarish (Freddy Hernandez) assisted him, while also offering his garage for Mat to fly in and work on the car with his dad. Yes, this is the man who’s currently attempting to revive the Hurricane Ian-flooded McLaren P1.
Now, as you may remember, earlier this year, Mat and his father finished rebuilding a Porsche 718 Cayman S, which received a bit of a GT4/GT4 RS makeover that got purists mad, especially since the YouTuber’s car beat a factory GT4 at the track.
However, the British YouTuber, who has been rebuilding performance vehicles for three years now (DDD), has run into a bit of trouble regarding the GT3, as Porsche of America refused to sell him structural parts—a dealer informed him the carmaker only allows those bits to be fitted to the car via a certified shop.
From buying parts in the UK and flying them into the U.S. in his luggage to push-starting the 525 hp 4.0L flat-six of the car—as one can do with chain-driven timing engines and manuals, in second gear—there’s been quite a bit of improvisation required to bring the ex-Adam LZ GT3 back to the road. However, in a video released some hours ago, Mat Armstrong shows us the first drive in the Porsche following the crash.
The damage on the rear-engined machine was quite extensive. So, on the surface, the affected parts involved the front bumper, front fender, hood, A-pillar, door, and one of the headlights. However, Mat also replaced front suspension components, as well as one of the HRE center lock wheels ($6,000 apiece), while painting all four in a shade of gold that reminds one of champagne. Of course, the airbags (driver and driver’s knee, passenger, side, and curtain) were also replaced.
And while Mat didn’t find as many parts bin shortcuts as he did when reviving his Lamborghini Murcielago, he was still able to pull off stunts like buying a VW/Audi pyro fuse off eBay for $18 instead of getting the whole fuse box from Porsche, which would’ve cost him $384—this is the fuse that cuts power to after an accident to avoid a short or fire, hence why they had to push start the thing on their first attempt.
And the repairs weren’t always super-complicated (e.g. the fuse box of the 992 is at the bottom of the dash, below the center console). Sometimes, dealing with a small cut that was “confusing” a wheel speed sensor helped the aficioandos clear some of the seemingly infinite error codes on the dashboard.
Where is the ex-Adam LZ 911 GT3 going now that Mat Armstrong fixed it
There are still a few things Mat needs to cover before we get to see if Tavarish, who once claimed the car was worth $325,000 before the accident, buys it. Of course, Mat could always take the thing home, but the value of this left-hand drive Porsche would arguably be diminished in the UK.
Plus, Mat doubles down on transparency for the vehicles he revives by having them inspected by an official dealer once the job is 100% done. So, once he shows us what kind of custom exhaust ends up on the vehicle, we can expect an official Porsche report on this GT3—we’ll update this story as new details arrive.
Of course, Mat Armstrong isn’t the only social media enthusiast racing an automaker as mentioned in the intro. For one, German enthusiast Marco Lima (aka raiju1337) is giving a genuine R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R an EV swap, which, as recently announced via official channels, is also what Nissan itself is doing, albeit probably in a different way. Oh, and Marco is also working on the car with his dad!
Update: Mat Armstrong added a JCR titanium exhaust to the ex-Adam LZ Porsche 911 GT3-if you remove the factory exhaust valves of the GT3, as Adam LZ had done, the car will give you an error code. To fix that, Mat installed a valve delete kit, which includes hardware that can be plugged into the exhaust wiring harness and make the error code go away. Also, since the OPF (Otto Particulate Filter) that became mandatory in Europe for Euro 6c emission standards back in 2018, is not required in the US, there was no need to address this missing part.
Mat then took the car to Champion Porsche in Florida so he could complete the repairs. By Porsche’s sky-high standards, the dealer evaluated the 992 GT3 at 8/10 and now the vehicle is ready for a new life. And, given that missing OPF, we believe Tavarish will buy the 992 GT3 or at least the vehicle will stay in America.
