A street-legal racing car in the truest sense, the lineage of the Porsche 911 GT2 can be traced through a series of Stuttgart’s ultra-high-performance models all the way back to the hallowed 911 Carrera RS of the early-1970s.

The model takes its name from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile’s (FIA) GT2 class of production sports car racing, of which its homologation requirements necessitated production of a certain number of road-going examples.

Initially introduced in 1993 within the 993-generation of the fabled 911, the GT2 made the jump to water-cooling with the 996-generation in 2001 and then to 997-era specifications in 2007.

As if the standard 997-generation 911 GT2 was not fast enough, Porsche decided to give the model one final send-off before the introduction of the 991-era car.

To celebrate the model’s conclusion, Stuttgart paid homage to the heady days of 1970s road racing and bestowed the new GT2 with the RS, or RennSport, nomenclature.

To start, the 997 GT2 ...