ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS
Porsche’s legendary designer of the 993, Carrera GT and GT1 answers questions on his remarkable 30-year career at Weissach
To meet him, Tony Hatter appears like any other ordinary gentleman There’s no entourage, no ego and no guard when talking about the inner workings of Porsche. And yet what Tony has achieved across three decades at the company is extraordinary. The Englishman has given us the last air-cooled 911, the race car that returned Weissach to the top at Le Mans in 1998, and in the Carrera GT, penned the first Porsche supercar since the 959.
Much of this was covered in Total 911’s interview with Tony in 2021 (issue 209), where editor Lee Sibley asked the questions. This time though, we passed the privilege on to discerning enthusiasts to ask the questions on the cars you love and own, to the man who designed them.
This special question and answer session took place at the 9WERKS Awards, where Tony attended as Guest of Honour. The questions were asked by attendees at the event before the main prize-giving ceremony, where excellence was rewarded across nine different categories. For more information about the Awards and 9WERKS, visit 9werks.co.uk. Now, on to the questions, asked by you…
Lee Sibley: As an Englishman living in Germany, where is home for you?
Tony Hatter: At the moment, it’s definitely in Weissach because that’s where I’ve been for the past 30 years, and where Porsche is. When I go home to my mum in Harrogate in Yorkshire, it’s nice to be there; however, it isn’t where I was brought up. I was brought up in Tadcaster and then mum moved. So for me, Weissach is my home.
Andy Brookes: When you look back at your career at Porsche, you designed the last aircooled 911 and the Carrera GT, which is a halo car for so many enthusiasts. What are you most proud of?
TH: I think probably the Le Mans car, actually! That was the thing in my life which was the best: three years doing three GT1s in ’96, ’97 and ’98. That was unbelievable. It was unparalleled to any automotive design feel that you get on the job. I got that job late in the summer of 1995 and was told that someone was going to call me from the race department. The call came and it was regarding the 1996 GT1, which turned into the 1997 Evo, complete with the carbon fibre monocoque, which went on to win Le Mans and I was a part of the racing team at the time. I couldn’t believe it. As a youngster I was inspired by the film Le Mans with Steve McQueen and went to Leeds on the bus with a friend to watch it and there I was, in the team that won the race in 1998. It was the pinnacle of my career.
Andy Brookes: Once you designed the car, your job with the GT1 wasn’t over. I heard that Porsche had you working at Le Mans for the weekend…
TH: I think I was there for about eight days in total, and every car had around four front
