Leaked pics of the new Porsche 991 GT2 RS are currently doing the rounds online ahead of the car’s official release, which apparently is happening this weekend. Presumably that will be at Goodwood.

Some people get very excited about new top-end Porsches. While the car looks great, I see what happens with these cars after they are delivered and a life of rarified storage is nothing to freak out about. For a few months after launch, journos rave about them, snappers glorify them, magazine readers drool over them but what does it all add up to? Ultimately this is just another quick Porsche in a world of quick Porsches and most will never go far.

I know a couple of people who buy these things and drive the crap out of them (fair play, and I look forward to the passenger rides), but it’s also the case that lots of the people who manage to acquire one of these upper-atmosphere supercars tell me they are ultimately bored by them. Once they’ve had it delivered and done a few miles, they are just new cars with too much driver-isolating technology to be consistently interesting at regular speeds. Hence all the low mileage examples sitting around in showrooms five years down the line.

Much of the time, the thrill was in the chase: getting one’s name in the order book. The car eventually arrives, sits around going up in value and comes back to the market at double the price, then another manufacturer releases their latest and greatest new model, prices for the older toys start to go soft and the whole game starts again.

Some people eventually get fed up with it and want to get off the dealership treadmill. It’s a bit like the iPhone upgrade cycle. Eventually the gains are so marginal and the upshot in ownership experience so minimal that you just stay where you are, or maybe even go backwards. Dump the new tech for old tech: Apple Watch goes for a Rolex, GT2 RS gets sacked for an early 911 instead.

I get regular emails asking about the ideal spec for a light, fast, no-frills early 911 and am currently involved with a 911 hot rod build for a chap who has owned just about every hypercar you can imagine. He has all the money a person could want – certainly much more than I would ever want – but finds nothing in new cars to hold his attention. Now he just wants something with character and an old Porsche is the ideal first step. After that it might be a trick little Alfa, old BMW or maybe an E-Type with muscle car running gear.

The true thrill of driving does not need a new GT2 RS. A person can find it in plenty of other places without needing to do the order book rain dance. But as there is no doubt that it is a badass automobile, here are some pics!