Why Richard Hammond Is Glad His Porsche GT3 Could've Caught On Fire

By  Raphael Orlove

Top Gear's Richard Hammond is glad his brand-new 911 GT3 had to be recalled because other GT3s were catching on fire. And maybe Porsche should be, too.

Among the buying public, Porsche has a reputation of solidity, of mechanical endurance. Among the enthusiasts who actually own these cars, Porsche has a reputation of very expensive engineering mistakes, all of which end up with the customer getting shafted (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5).

So it seemed like more of the same when the GT3 got recalled for catching on fire when the cars were only just shipping out to customers.

Now the cars have all had their engines replaced and are going back to their owners again. Richard Hammond sums up why the recall might not be a bad thing for the brand.

Yes, Porsche has made a killing on the reputation of its cars being hard to handle and deadly. The current 911 Turbo, for instance, is about as idiot-proof as you could imagine, but it still has a dangerous air about it, passed down from the original "widowmaker" 930 Turbo.

It's in this backwards world of Porsche that GT3s catching on fire might boost the car's reputation rather than hurt it. But only time will tell.

Photo Credit: Canton of St. Gallen Police Department

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