[champignon]

As an update it is looking like I might be buying a 1999 996 Carrera 4 from an enthusiast collector on the Porsche forums. We had a very long conversation last evening about his car, which appears to be in really good condition and well cared for, with under 59K miles. He has purchased an E39 M5, which is on the way, and also wants to get a Porsche convertible or an M3 convertible rather than have a coupe, which is why he is selling his 996. It only has slightly under 300 HP, but is the 4WD version. The IMS bearings used in the '99s were the double row bearings with only around a 1% failure risk, as opposed to the single row bearings used in 2000-2005, which are the ones most associated with catastrophic failure.

997.2 prices have gone totally through the roof, and have been pulling the 997.1s up with them.

If this deal does not go through than I will resume looking in May after I get back from a lengthy trip.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!

Further update 3/30/2017: The deal for the 996 is off, it was just logistically impossible to pull off in the limited time I have before going overseas in less than 2 weeks. There are a couple of 911s that have cropped up locally and I'm going to have a look at them over the weekend and see if there is a deal to be made there.