Porsche's Carrera GT never raced, but it was born from racing in a more direct way than most cars that do. The car born from the death of the 9R3 LMP1 car, with a V-10 derived from a program meant for Formula 1, became one of the greatest supercars ever and Porsche's iconic flagship of the 2000s. It is only fitting that this particular Carrera GT was owned and driven by Jenson Button, an icon of Formula 1 racing in the same era.
Button was the original owner of this particular 2004 Carrera GT, which he would have ordered in the earlier years of his long career at Honda's Formula 1 program. The listing does not clarify if Button still owned the car during his season at Brawn GP, but it is nonetheless the personal hypercar of the 2009 Formula 1 world champion driven while he was racing for wins in Formula 1.
The listing at Collecting Cars notes that less than 10% of the 1270 Carrera GTs built were optioned in Seal Grey, the color of this particular example. Both the paint and terracotta-colored interior are in exceptional shape, as one would expect for a car with the equivalent of just over 5,000 miles on the odometer. Extensive service records show that the car has been consistently driven a few hundred miles every year, with a 2,500-mile spike between the first and second services showing the only signs of consistent use.
The car sold for just over $970,000 on Sunday, a relative bargain in comparison to a similar car listed at $1.4 million in Los Angeles. With the additional provenance of Button's ownership, this could eventually become one of the more valuable individual Carrera GTs in existence.
