This Carrera GT From Porsche Academy Is A Full-Scale Classroom Tool

Back in the day, Porsche's Carrera GT was the daddy of mid-engine supercars. Unveiled as the Carrera GT concept at the 2000 Paris Auto Show, Porsche began production of its ultimate grand-touring sports car in 2004, and the world has never been the same.

Now, it's hard to think of Carrera GT as 'vintage' or 'classic' despite its analog roots, but it's a rare sight. Porsche only sold 1,270 units of the Carrera GT from 2004 to 2007, with only 644 units sold in the United States.

With its fantastic V10 engine and six-speed manual transmission (with an ultra-lightweight yet unbelievably expensive twin-plate carbon-ceramic clutch, a first for a production sports car back then), the Carrera GT requires careful (and periodic) maintenance like most exotics.

Especially if you drive it hard, and drive you will. The Porsche Carrera GT's mid-mounted 5.7-liter V10 motor produces an astonishing 603 horsepower, and it goes from zero to 60 mph in 3.5-seconds and has a top speed of 205 mph.

The Carrera GT you see here is unlike any you've seen in magazines, web pages, and even in real life. Porsche calls it 'King of the Classroom,' but we like to call it progenitor. This Carrera GT has undergone close to 80 re-assemblies and dis-assemblies in its lifetime. And it's doing it in the name of education.

When you think about it, wouldn't it be awkward if you – in this case, a Carrera GT owner – arrives at a dealership to have your car serviced and ultimately denied since nobody knows how to fix the darn thing? Porsche knows this well and is why it had to ship a 2004 silver Carrera GT to the Academy Aftersales Training division of Porsche Cars North America in Atlanta, Georgia.

"I was there when it came off the Lufthansa 747 cargo plane here in Atlanta in 2004," said Bob Hamilton, the only person who teaches the Carrera GT course and has been doing so for the past 18 years. "We put it in a flatbed and drove it to Phoenix Parkway, where our old training facility was located."

The vehicle now resides at One Porsche Drive. However, it still enters service between two or four times a year to 'facilitate' the Carrera GT course, a grueling four-day class which involves deconstructing and reconstructing the vehicle by every graduating group, said Porsche.

There's no doubt this Porsche Carrera GT is the ultimate classroom car, and it also ensures the remaining examples are kept alive and kicking for many more years to come.