97 first year of the ITR
97 only 317 examples brought in
97 only came in Championship White
97 has different front and rearend
97 has no rear wiper
A/C was optional
Interior was a bit different (no faux cf, different shift knob, etc.)
For the most part you are right it’s the same. but, the subtle differences, the fact that it was the A version of that generation, and this car was considered more raw than the others makes it pretty desireable. i personally love that front end, but like the 98+ rearend better.
You had to be on a year or two long waiting list to purchase the 97 and 98’s. where-as you could almost walk into the dealer and pick up a 00 or 01. often times it was hard to get those as well.
however, at this time without winning the lottery i wouldnt buy this car for $28k. id try and pick up a very clean example of a '97 that has 110k miles going for $10.5k instead.