Revell 1:24 Porsche GT-1 EVO Texaco/The History Channel

The Porsche 911 GT1 is a car designed and developed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG to compete in the GT1 class of sportscar racing, which also required a street-legal version for homologation purposes. The limited-production street-legal version developed as a result was named the 911 GT1 Straßenversion (Street version).

With the revival of international sportscar racing in the mid-1990s through the BPR Global GT Series (which then morphed into the FIA GT Championship) Porsche expressed interest in returning to top-level sportscar racing and went about developing its competitor for the GT1 category. Cars in this category were previously heavily modified versions of road cars, such as the McLaren F1 and the Ferrari F40. Porsche originally modified the 993 GT2 into an EVO version and homologated it as a GT1 car, but it proved to be uncompetitive against the other cars its class.

Towards the end of the 1996 season, Porsche made revisions to the 911 GT1 in preparation for the 1997 season. The front end of the car was revised including new bodywork which featured headlamps that previewed the all-new generation of the (996) Porsche 911 which would be unveiled in 1997. The revised car was known as the 911 GT1 Evo (or Evolution). The car had the same engine as the 1996 version, but its new aerodynamic elements allowed the 1997 version to be considerably faster than the 1996 version with improved acceleration, the top speed was still around 330 km/h (205 mph) on the La Sarthe Circuit (in the race, the GT1 Evo attained a top speed of 326 km/h). At Le Mans the works cars led the race but did not last the full distance; a privately entered 1996 specification GT1 managed 5th overall and third in the GT1 class.