Handing somebody the keys to a Porsche Carrera GT requires a healthy amount of trust. Jay Leno apparently has plenty of it, because he recently let a friend experience his 2004 example from the driver’s seat.
That friend wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with special cars. Wilhelm Schmid, CEO of German watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne, is a Porsche enthusiast who owns a 1966 911 2.0 S and a 1959 Porsche 356 Roadster.
He had never driven a Carrera GT, though. In fact, Schmid said he’d never even seen one being driven on public roads back home in Germany.
Leno changed that on some wonderfully empty roads above Los Angeles. After handing over the Carrera GT, he later put Schmid behind the wheel of his 1963 Porsche 356 Carrera 2 and asked him to choose between the two.
The Carrera GT Made Quite An Impression
Leno bought his Carrera GT when it was nearly new and described it as a one-owner car before his purchase. Its naturally aspirated V10 produces 605 horsepower, paired with a six-speed manual transmission and the famously small ceramic clutch that helped Porsche mount the engine low in the chassis.
Schmid immediately praised its steering, engine, and straightforward instrumentation. As the drive continued, his reaction became even stronger.
“I think it’s the best modern car that I’ve ever driven,” he told Leno. Schmid particularly appreciated how much involvement the Carrera GT demands, arguing that its analog nature gives the driver sensations that can disappear in newer, faster machinery.
Then Leno Handed Him Another Carrera
After returning to the garage for a lengthy discussion about mechanical watches, the pair headed back out in Leno’s 1963 Porsche 356 Carrera 2. This time, Schmid was sampling a dramatically different interpretation of the Carrera philosophy.
The four-cam 356 impressed him with its nimble handling, steering feel, and mechanical character. Leno explained that Porsche specialist John Willhoit had built the car decades ago before selling it for $16,000 to help buy a house, with Leno eventually acquiring it from a later owner’s family.
Schmid already owns a 356 Roadster, so the older Carrera wasn’t entirely foreign territory. The Carrera GT, on the other hand, was something else.
There Was A Clear Winner
Asked which Porsche he’d take, Schmid didn’t hesitate: the 2004 Carrera GT. “I think it’s the best car I’ve ever driven in my life,” he said, later adding that the experience exceeded his already high expectations. The V10, manual gearbox, and feedback ultimately put it miles ahead of the older 356.
Leno may have intended the drive as a comparison between two generations of Carrera, but he appears to have created another Carrera GT convert in the process. By the end, Schmid admitted he had a new dream car.