January 2019 has been a busy month for Porsche insurance valuations and market discussions activity. Porsche 964 prices have popped up in conversation several times. As serious buyers seem to be gathering data and preparing to compete for what pops up for sale during 2019 and insurance valuations for standard Carrera 2 models in good order now touching £60k, this year could be an interesting one for 964 prices.
Porsche 964 Production Numbers
Manufactured from 1989 to 1994, the Porsche 964 had a comparatively short production life versus its predecessors. The model years spanned a global recession, so sales were relatively low. The German publication, Deutsche Autos seit 1990 (Eberhard Kittler) gives global Porsche 964 production totals for volume models as follows:
Model
Total
964 C2 Coupe
18219
964 C2 Cabriolet
11013
964 C2 Targa
3534
964 C2 Cabrio Turbo-Look
1532
964 C2 Speedster
936
964 C4 Coupe
13353
964 C4 Cabriolet
4802
964 C4 Targa
1329
964 C4 Jubilee Coupe
911
964 Turbo 3.3
3660
964 Turbo 3.6
1437
964 Carrera RS Coupe (3.6)
2282
A document put together in the early 2000s by the Porsche Club Turbo Register of the time is said to show that just 130 RHD 3.3 Turbos and only 42 RHD 3.6 Turbos were sold in the UK. I have not checked this data but it would not surprise me, given the scale of the recession at the time and the astronomical cost new of the Turbo models.
However, with both 964 Turbo and 930 prices retreating from the highs of 2015/16 and no sign that values have settled as yet, buyers are wary of these models. Instead, most potential buyers I speak with are considering standard C2 and C4 Coupes. Good examples of both are in short supply.
Pistonheads currently has 96 ads listed under the heading of 964 for sale. Removing the non-964s and silly POA ads gets us down to 64. If we look solely at narrow body cars being sold in the UK with an advertised asking price, then here is a summary of what is available as at January 30, 2019:
Porsche 964 C2/C4 Cabriolet (manual plus Tiptronic)
13
Porsche 964 C2/C4 Targa (manual plus Tiptronic)
4
Porsche 964 C2/C4 Coupe Manual
8
Porsche 964 C2/C4 Coupe Tiptronic
3
Distilling the stock available on what is probably the biggest advertising portal for these cars in the UK to solely non-RS narrow body 964 models, we end up with a total of 28 cars, less than half of which are Coupe models. Just 8 of the 28 cars are Coupes with a manual transmission and several of those cars are either modified or optimistically priced, such as the 66k-mile C2 Coupe for sale by an OPC at £80k. This reduces the choice even further.
The low supply creates a problem for buyers. Low supply pushes prices up, but the general market trend is still downward, as the investors who were fuelling the spiralling prices cool their spending or spread their asset portfolios across other brands or hobbies and the classic Porsche market unwinds due to lower demand.
Potential buyers are therefore faced with a gamble on what the future holds for 964s. Will low supply and persistent demand keep things as they are, or, faced with an entry cost already higher than other air-cooled options, will buyers eventually move on to different 911 model lines including well-priced 997s, causing the micro-market to capitulate and bring 964 prices down with a bump? Hence the conversations this month with potential buyers and a number of potential sellers.
If a 964 Coupe is your must-have 911, then you are not alone: many others share your desire. While the supply of air-cooled cars in January tends to be lower than later in the year, there is a marked preponderance of soft tops and Tiptronic Coupes amongst the available stock. This is probably a true reflection of what is available in the UK and may not shift to any great extent as the season gets started.
As the low supply supports Coupe prices (within reason) – particularly for the holy grail of a low mileage 964 C2 manual Coupe – buyers will have to decide whether the 964 is ultimately worth the current premium over a well preserved 3.2 Carrera Coupe or a nicely priced 993.
No doubt the 964 makes a fun car to drive when modified in the usual ways, but the £55-60k start price on a decent 964 Coupe is a fair chunk of cash for most of us. I can’t say that I would opt for an average 964 at this price point given the available alternatives if investment was a priority, but it will be interesting to see how 964 market trends play out through 2019.
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Getting back into the blog flow for 2019 was not helped by the failure of my much-loved Macbook Pro last week. If you know someone who can pull email folders from an encrypted SSD with a damaged operating system, drop me a line. Apple’s Support team say it can’t be done but a local data recovery place managed to get 300GB of data off the drive this morning. Sadly no email folders as yet, but some clever person must exist who can do this.
Anyway, while I was off-blog waiting for a new Macbook Pro to arrive, we had some notable Porsche sales with lots of interesting data: more of this later. One sale in Phoenix, Arizona set a new world record for the 2010 Porsche 997 Sport Classic, when RM Sotheby’s relieved a lucky buyer of half a million pounds ($654,000) for the privilege of owning a 150-mile example.
Half a million pounds for a Sport Classic will leave a lot of people scratching their heads. Yes it is rare, and this was low mileage, and prices at the first Porsche sales of the year are often a little bit barmy, but that sort of money buys a lot of Porsche alternatives that can be driven. Odds are this purchase was to bolster an already substantial collection.
What is a Sport Classic?
First shown at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Porsche 911 Sport Classic was one of several limited edition models built on the Gen 2 997 platform (Speedster being another). An upgraded 3.8-litre engine with Power Kit equipped the car with over 400 horsepower to offer to the road gods through a six-speed manual transmission. The 250-unit Sport Classic edition also featured Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes and PASM as standard.
Several styling features set the Sport Classic apart. These included a Double-Dome roof, a ducktail engine cover and that evergreen Sport Classic Grey paint. The wheels were replica Fuchs (cast in a factory in Italy if memory serves). The Fuchs people told me that they were a bit ticked off that genuine forged Fuchs alloy wheels were not part of the recipe for maximum Sport Classic authenticity and that it was all down to price.
I was not that enthralled by the Sport Classic when it first came out and didn’t chase a test drive. The closest I ever got to driving one was in a feature on a replica that myself and Alisdair Cusick were commissioned to write for a 911 magazine sometime in 2010. Built by a Porsche place in Essex, the conversion was based on a well used Gen 1 997 C2, so not the widebody shell that the real one was built around. Thus the Sport Classic wheels (bought from Porsche) did not quite fit the arches properly and the bubble roof was a bit of a challenge. It had the right look side-on from a hundred feet away, but each step closer made it slightly less convincing, until you were standing next to it and looking through the window at tired leather and a Tiptronic shifter.
However wide of the mark that replica was, at least the owner drove it for a few thousand miles, which is more than the owner of the nigh-on brand new Sport Classic sold by RM Sotheby’s did. With just 150 miles on the clock, the car had been stored in California all of its life, so was offered in pristine condition. It sold for $654,000 including premium: a figure which made at least three people very happy. If you were thinking you might fancy a Sport Classic some time, you are probably not one of the three.
The star attraction of the GP Ice Race for air-cooled Porsche enthusiasts will almost certainly be Otto Mathé’s Fetzenflieger single-seat race car with its spiked tyres and succession of Porsche racing engines.
If there was a top ten list of people who embodied the “cult of Porsche” concept, Mathé would be close to the top. His name has popped up on this blog more than once and I never get tired of dipping into Mathé’s history and imagining what life must have been like for this true-blue Porsche enthusiast.
Period photos of Mathé (and his story as a whole) calls the late John Surtees CBE to mind. Surtees was the only man to ever win world championships on both two and four wheels and Mathé’s early life involved racing motorcycles. An accident in 1934 caused the loss of his right arm and motorbikes were out from then on. Rather than being chased away from motorsport, Mathe turned his considerable engineering ability to other forms of racing.
Mathé owned a filling station and was fascinated by lubricant development. As World War 2 drew to a close, Mathé developed an additive that improved the performance of racing engine oils. At a time when Porsche recommended oil changes every 3,000 kms, Mathé is said to have ran his engines for 100,000 kms without changes. Mathé passed his lubricant business on before his death in 1995 and Mathé Universal Lubricant products are still available to buy today.
1952: Fetzenfleiger is born
Switching from two wheels to four after his accident, Mathé’s car racing career went from strength to strength until, in 1952, he unveiled the car which would cement his place in history. Built to Formula Two regulations of the time, the car raced on asphalt circuits, sand and ice, and it was the latter where Mathé truly established his legend. In 1952, Mathé’s special won twenty out of twenty races and he claimed the Austrian championship.
Otto Mathé’s special features handmade bodywork on a tubular frame chassis. Constructed from Porsche, VW and Kubelwagen parts with a super-low centre of gravity, the car weighed less than 400 kilograms. Sources differ on the original power unit: some say 1100cc, others 1500cc, but they agree the engine was Porsche. Mathé mounted the engine in front of the rear axle, fitting a left hand gearshift to overcome his disability, changing gears in corners by moving his body and holding the wheel with his torso.
Fans soon christened the car “Fetzenflieger”. This is hard to translate into English directly, with various attempts relating to Scrap Flyer or Spark Flyer. The nickname comes from the spectacle of the car’s textile side engine covers, which would burn from the flames spitting out of the exhausts, sending sparks and embers flying. It must have been an incredible sight.
Quickly coming to terms with his creation and taking it to win after win, Mathé later upped the ante by fitting a 550 engine with Spyder wheels and brakes in 1955. Some historians believe that this car was subsequently run at Silverstone in 1956 fitted with a JAP engine. Whether or not this is true, it certainly got about, running as an “intertyp” in both Formula and Sport Car events with various parts added or deleted as appropriate.
The Otto Mathé collection at Hamburg Automuseum PROTOTYP
That Mathé managed to race after losing an arm is one thing. That he managed to race and win is another, but to outperform everyone – literally single-handedly – is something truly inspirational. The “Ice King” and his racer went on to win four of the “Prof. H. c. Ferdinand Porsche Memorial Race” events, in 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1959. The car was towed by a spectacular collection of Porsches, many of which were also raced. Mathé’s collection can now be seen in permanent exhibition at the Automuseum PROTOTYP in Hamburg.
The collection includes the MA-01 “Fetzenflieger”, the Cisitalia D46 race car, with which Hans Stuck won the first official German circuit race at the Hockenheimring in 1947, the Delfosse DVD electric racing car, Mathé’s VW T1 “Bulli” as well as the Porsche Type 64 (No. 2) “Berlin-Rome-Wagen”, rebuilt by the Automuseum PROTOTYP on original parts, his DKW Monoposto and his JAP F3 car. Anyone looking for a road trip destination this year would do well to add Hamburg to their list!
photos courtesy of Automuseum PROTOTYP and Porsche AG via GP Ice Race
Flat-out racing on ice and snow returns to Zell am See in Austria this month, when the inaugural GP Ice Race is run on January 19th and 20th. A contemporary re-imagining of the spectacular ice races held in the region from 1937 to 1974, the event is the brainchild of Vinzenz Greger and Ferdinand Porsche, great-grandson of Dr Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1951).
“For more than forty years, spectacular car races on ice as well as skijoring (skiers towed behind cars) fascinated the people at Zell am See,” notes Ferdinand Porsche. “Even before World War I, there was an ice race for motorbikes on the lake. During the 1950s, the event evolved into what we today think about, when we hear about skijoring.
“The first skijoring competition in remembrance of my great-grandfather Dr. Ferdinand Porsche took place on 10 February 1952. Four years later, the event was renamed “In memoriam Prof. Dr. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche”, now featuring ice races for motorbikes and cars. The event was not won by a Porsche – but by a DKW. In a couple of weeks, we will bring back this legendary event from obscurity, newly interpreted as “GP Ice Race”.”
Porsche celebrities from far and wide will attend the event, but, in keeping with the original ice racing ethos, there is no special treatment for the big names. “There are no VIP tickets for paddocks and boxes only for privileged visitors,” said Ice Race ambassador and motorsport legend, Hans-Joachim Stuck. “At our event, the ticket is also really close to the action and the stars.”
Other big names from racing and rallying include Walter Rörhl, Richard Lietz, Marc Lieb, Romain Dumas, Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Jochi Kleint. The two-day program features show rides of celebrity riders, traditional skijoring, where skiers are pulled across the snow by racing cars, the competition of current racing and rally vehicles and demo rides of historic motorsport cars such as Otto Mathé’s original Furhmann-engined “Fetzenflieger”, now owned by the Hamburg Automobile Museum PROTOTYP.
Automobile Museum PROTOTYP founder and director, Oliver Schmidt, will be piloting the Fetzenflieger on the demanding track and is already looking forward to the race: “Otto Mathé won this event four times with his famous monoposto in the 1950s, so of course expectations are high! Whether I can equal the performance of the true “Ice King” will be seen at the show rides on Saturday and Sunday afternoon but either way it will be a lot of fun for everyone!”
Zell am See: GP Ice Race Event Schedule
Saturday January 19 2019
11:00 AM Opening event area
12:00 AM Start of the event
1:00 PM GP Ice Karting, Qualification & Day final runs
4:00 PM Show races & specials
4:30 PM Qualification & Day final runs
8:20 PM Show races & specials
8:50 PM GP Charity Ice Karting, Qualification & Day final runs
10:00PM Pit Lane Night
Sunday January 20 2019
7:30 AM Opening event area
8:30 AM GP Charity Ice Karting, Qualification & Day final runs
15:10 PM Show races & specials
15:40 PM Day final runs, Final runs & Award ceremony
A quick surf through eBay last night showed some cheap classic Porsches for sale including this 1984 Porsche 911 Turbo (930) for under £50k at £47,500. There were several more expensive cars, and dearer ones often make more sense based on the cost to professionally restore rough examples, but if you’re a DIY restorer looking for an apparently complete example to play with, this one may be worth a look.
While there is no real detail in the ad other than it is an American import of an originally German-market Porsche 930 from January 1984, and some of the pics show it needs cosmetic assistance at the very least, it seems a complete car in running order with an MOT, the correct Recaro sports seats and all the right bits apparently intact.
Porsche 930 asking prices soared well over the £100k mark for cars like this in good condition during the market boom of 2012-2015, but they have eased in recent years. Of course, a spotless and unrestored 930 in original condition still commands serious money and is a wonderful thing, but the perception that a 4-speed 3.3-litre 930 in honest condition should command a price equivalent to several similarly well preserved standard 911s of the same vintage was a bit of a worry at the time. It’s good to see prices edging back towards reality and keeping these cars accessible for people to use and enjoy.
Having driven many standard and modified 930s over the years, I lean towards the upgraded cars, as a modern turbocharger, new CDI box and updated fuel injection with the right changes to the chassis and running gear bring the car to life. That said, getting a 930 or later 964 Turbo running properly is really the key to maximum enjoyment, so it is critical to get these cars to a K-Jet expert.
Only those with a detailed knowledge of this system who have the specialist equipment required to properly diagnose K-Jet injection should adjust the system on a 930 or 911 SC of the period, where the running condition is critical to avoid engine issues. I don’t work for JZM Porsche, but, if K-Jet was a concern, I would send my car to Steve McHale at JZM. Steve’s expertise on K-Jet systems and the workshop diagnostics going back to the early days of Bosch injection is second to none.
Anyone looking for a spotless 930 with mega provenance to cherish for posterity is not going to be interested in something like this. But, at under £50k and assuming the shell is not a disaster, this Porsche 911 Turbo for sale on eBay could be the base for something special without paying silly premiums for a car you ultimately want to chop and change.
The price, LHD and current GBP exchange rates may make this attractive to European buyers, but we will see how long the ad lasts before coming down. The ad text is below – I have nothing whatsoever to do with this other than it popped up on my radar and was worth a mention. The car is in Preston, UK.
1984 Porsche 911 930 Turbo for sale
Guards Red with black leather. Electric windows, sunroof. Registered January 1984. US import originally built to German spec. MOT until September 2019. US CarFax report available. Porsche spec printout available. Very solid car which requires some cosmetic attention. Trade Sale.
I’ve been keeping tabs on a Porsche 911R hot rod build by Tim Walker out in North Carolina via email for the last few months. The project flightpath is pretty cool: having bought a 959 replica unseen and found it wanting throughout, a fortunate fender bender offered Tim the opportunity to put things right. Here’s his story:
“I bought the car in January 2016 on Auto Trader. Advertised in Idaho, the car was listed as as a 1984 Porsche 911 (959), but it turned out to be a 1971 911E. Auto Trader’s listing tool does not allow a year older than 1984, so that’s why the age was posted incorrectly. I swapped a few phone calls with the vendor and we agreed a deal. I then had the car shipped to my house in North Carolina.
“I drove the car for about two weeks after it arrived. It was horrible: the oversteer was the worst I have ever experienced. The 959 body kit was really heavy, especially in the rear. I wasn’t sure what to do about it. While considering my next step, a friend asked if I could take him and his young daughter to a father/daughter dance and give them a grand entrance. It sounded like a fun thing to do, so I had the car cleaned and filled it up with gas. On the way over to pick them up, I was cut off and hit a car that had turned in front of me. That was the end of the dance ride, the end of the 959 and the start of something else.
“The obvious decision was to bring the car back to its narrow body days, but little did I know what horrors lay beneath the 959 body kit. At some point the car had been slid into a pole, so the chassis was seriously bent. The torsion tube was cracked, the passengers inner rocker was way out of shape, floors were surprisingly rust free but they had suffered years of neglect. The whole front end of the car was so poorly repaired that I ended up replacing both inner front fenders.
“Taking the 959 stuff off and repairing the damage left us with a lot of panels to replace. The upside was we had a blank slate to work with. I liked the early look, so I decided to do a 911R recreation. That allowed me to use a 1972 oil tank in the quarter panel: we just had to cut the hole and extend the oil tank filler neck, modifying the passenger rear quarter panel to house the proper sheet metal to hold the oil console.
“All the undercoating was removed by hand with a wire brush, and the chassis was repaired on a jig to make sure it was straight. I’m happy that the car is 100% rust free. I put a lot of hours into the preparation, but I also have to send a big thanks to my friends at Carolina Coach Crafters in Mooresville, North Carolina for great work on the body.
“Another company I had read good things about was EB Motorsport in Barnsley, England. Their products are distributed by Rothsport Racing in the USA: another very respected shop. I chose to use EB’s Porsche 911R panels to give my R the authentic look. We used the bonnet, bumpers, front wings, doors and engine lid from their range.
“It took a while to decide on a colour. The original factory colour was Albert Blue, but I wasn’t sure that would be right for a 911R. Everyone paints them white, so I wanted something different. When a Porsche 356 came to the paintshop finished in an optional colour – Continental Orange – the decision was made. The body was painted and I think it looks great.
“The 911E came with its original transmission and a twin-plug 2.7-litre engine from a 1975 Carrera. Running on Weber carburettors, that was serviced and left alone, but we refurbished all the suspension, brakes, steering and so on. I was planning on refitting these parts myself, but the shop gave me a good price to get it back on its wheels, so I let them attend to that before it was trailered home.
“The finishing touches such as refitting the glass and doing the interior – including fitting some restored hardback Recaro sports seats I managed to find – is all being done at home. We’re more than 90% of the way there now so it is all nearly done. I just love how it looks and can’t wait to drive it!
Share your Porsche Project
Have you got a Porsche hot rod in build that would make a cool story? Send us some details and pics. Email mail@ferdinandmagazine.com 👍🏻
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