by John Glynn | Dec 18, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
Had a good chat with Robert this morning about an insurance valuation for his Porsche 911 SC. Robert has owned this Porsche 911 SC since it was a year old! The car is now thirty-three years old, so Robert has owned it thirty two years: absolutely brilliant.
Many classic Porschers dream of achieving long term ownership: the joy of a bond stretching through a significant proportion of life and its experiences. Owning a car thirty years through raising kids and maybe starting a business, building a house, owning a succession of faithful dogs and so on – it can make an old Porsche harder to part with.
Thing is, older cars get harder to live with as age creeps in. Ongoing injuries make unassisted steering a pain to live with. Low seat height plays havoc with the hips, and cramped cabins put strain on the knees in undignified egress. We can all come up with our own aches and pains.
Churchill said: “To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often.” If you’ve had your Porsche for less than thirty years and feel the need to own something different (perhaps more modern), don’t feel bad. Chase Churchill perfection, move on and enjoy life!
Share stories of your lengthy Porsche ownership with us via email: I’d love to document a few long term Porsche stories in Ferdinand Magazine.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
by John Glynn | Dec 12, 2013 | Porsche News, Market & Prices
Esteemed friend and colleague, Leonard Stolk from Twinspark Racing, runs a Gen 2 Porsche 997 GT3 as his daily driver. Leonard recently drove its successor at the Amsterdam Porsche dealer and reviewed the Porsche 991 GT3 drive on the Twinspark Racing blog.
“I put the PDK in automatic to see how that would work out. At 100 km/h you do not hear the engine. Boring as hell. If clients test drive this car without manual function engaged, pulling 7-8,000 revs, they will never know how this car differs from the standard Carrera. To enjoy the GT3, you need big revs: the payback comes from a sense of what historic Porsches feel like.
“The 991 GT3 feels even stronger than its already excellent predecessor. The sound experience is even closer to the historic racing engines I’m used to, and that sort of sealed my verdict. The PDK set up is brilliant and I can imagine people liking manual shifting, but to me this is just the next evolution of the mighty 911 and the PDK is progress! I was used to the shift system in a few minutes and wouldn’t hesitate for a second to buy the car as-is.”
Talking to another 997.2 GT3-owning friend in the UK last night, recent discussions with his official Porsche centre suggest 991 GT3s have not sold in droves. While waiting list spaces are said to be rare, he’s still getting sales calls three months after the 991 GT3 launch. OPC bids for his Gen 2 997 GT3 trade-in have risen ten grand since their first offer.
“The OPC guys say that 997 Gen 2 GT3 values have come up as much as £10k since the 991 launch, but then you know what happens at the dealership: they knock an excellent condition car the cost of a front-end respray, a bit of prep including skimming the discs all round, and then want at least six grand margin for resale. When the cost to change from 997 to 991 is £40k or more, who would get out of a low-mileage Gen 2 997 GT3 that does everything perfectly well?”
Just as current owners are staying in their Gen 2 997 GT3s, used buyers who have deferred a Gen 2 997 GT3 purchase, expecting prices to fall with the 991 GT3 launch and who can wait no longer may be the force driving prices upward. Gen 2 997 GT3s retailing at circa half the cost new of a reasonable spec 991 GT3 are reportedly selling well.
UK dealers are having no problem finding buyers for good examples of Gen 2 Porsche 997 GT3 RS: the low-mileage Grey and Red one above with some very nice options recently sold for just over £100k in less than a day. This black Gen 2 997 GT3 Comfort for sale with just 6,700 miles from new is a beautiful car, and seems well priced at £77k including full warranty.
I heard a rumour the other day (via someone I trust to have a clue) that 3,700 991s came into the UK in 2012, but the number imported was less than 1,000 in 2013. No idea how accurate that is – I’ll have a look at the sales figures. All very interesting.
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by John Glynn | Sep 24, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
The Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Club Sport Coupe formerly owned by Porsche author and historian, Gordon Wingrove, found a new home a few days ago, when a Scottish enthusiast journeyed to Autofarm in Oxfordshire and had a test drive with Josh.
You might remember I blogged about this car a while back, soon after the well-known Porsche author became ill, when it was decided that the car should return to Josh at autofarm and be sold to a deserving buyer. One lap of the Autofarm block was all it took to convince the new owner to part with the asking price.
The Club Sport – one of just 53 RHD examples – was not cheap, but as one of the best examples I have seen for sale in a rather long while, it was money well spent as far as the buyer was concerned.
Fingers crossed we get a few pics of the car in its new home. I was telling the new owner how much we all enjoyed the Porsche Panamera Diesel launch up in northern Scotland. I covered it as a freelance alongside my MSN mate, Ian Dickson. Very good times!
About the Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera Club Sport Coupe
Removing luxuries from the standard 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 took an estimated 40kg off the car’s overall weight. A blueprinted engine and reworked mapping took the rev limit to 6,840rpm, but Stuttgart remained tight-lipped on overall power, and I never saw a Club Sport make huge numbers on a dyno.
Values for the Club Sport (do not call this a Clubsport) track higher than the standard 3.2. Only 53 RHD models were manufactured and it is not certain how many are left, but collectors value these cars most highly. Expect to pay more than £100.000 in today’s market (June 2014) for a Club Sport Coupe in original paint with matching number and low mileage.
by John Glynn | Sep 18, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
Porsche mate Justin was visiting London from Sydney last week. On Friday, Justin caught the train up to Banbury and we scampered around some local Porsche hot spots, to catch up on the news here and there.
First visit of the morning was to Autofarm, where a flock of oversexed 911s had descended on the car park. In amongst them was this B-reg 930 in Black with red leather: a proper 1980s throwback.
I’ve done a few Porsche 930 insurance valuations so far this month and there’s no doubt retail asking prices have risen sharply through 2013. What’s not risen is the average condition of the cars on sale. A Porsche specialist friend went to inspect a 911 Turbo for sale at the heady price of £60k last week and rang me after leaving to describe the “painted wreck”.
Values for good impact bumper 911s are coming on strong. When you can spot a good one from the dross that will always be available, it’s important to do a quick deal and snap it up before you miss it. He who hesitates is definitely lost in the current air-cooled market, but equally he who jumps too soon can soon be broke.
I didn’t spend a huge amount of time looking at this 911 Turbo, but it seemed smart enough. Prospective buyers could easily stick the Porsche on a ramp and have a poke about. A little bit of top end noise and tiny wisp of smoke from cold start could be something or nothing, but the asking price of under £30k gives leeway for some work versus current asking prices elsewhere.
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by John Glynn | Jul 17, 2013 | Project Cars, Market & Prices
This interesting Porsche 997 Carrera 2S is currently for sale. Hard to believe perhaps, especially as it looks so good riding on black-centred Fuchs alloys worth over £3,000! The matching Carrera S side stripes add to the look.
First registered in November 2004, this Arctic Silver 911 benefits from many driver’s improvements including a brand new engine fitted by Porsche in the last 31,000 miles. Black leather sports seats surround the all-important 6-speed manual transmission shift.
The cabin has Bose sound, with heated seats, PCM navigation, and Sport Chrono Package Plus. It’s got PSM stability management, PASM active suspension, Xenon lights. Elsewhere is a full set of Bilstein B6 front and rear shock absorbers, uprated rear control arms and carbon fibre headlight surrounds with carbon rear spoiler lip.
Ignoring all the cringeworthy acronyms, it’s basically a hoot to drive. Custom Bilsteins, Xenons, good seats and a 6-speed gearbox are all you need to have fun in a Porsche. If carbon trim is not your thing, then stick those bits on eBay and put the rest to standard, or give it a Gen 2 GT3 look:
Anyone looking for a sorted 997 to drive and enjoy on fine driving roads in the UK and Europe, or track days anywhere within motoring distance should check this one out. The sum of its parts could be just what you’re looking for.
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by John Glynn | Jun 20, 2013 | Classic Porsche Blog, Market & Prices
My good friend Richard is selling his Porsche 944 Turbo S Silver Rose. Manufactured in 1988, only seventy Silver Rose models came to the UK, and some specialists estimate that just a third of those still exist. This car has a huge spec, so difficult to get it all across in a simple classified ad.
“The Silver Rose brings all the best bits of the previous year’s 944 Turbo Cup cars together, making a finely balanced package,” says Richard. “There’s a unique Silver Rose exterior colour, and unique Burgundy Plaid interior trim with 8-way power seats. The cars have no sunroof, but do have A/C. Although my car’s A/C is currently removed, the wiring is all there and my specialist estimates six hours to replace.
“Front brakes are from the 928 S4: 300 x 32mm discs with bigger 4-piston Brembo calipers and ABS. Wheels are the lighter, wider forged alloy wheels: 7/9 x 16” sizes in the Club Sport design (not to be confused with the much heavier, later D90 design).
“The drivetrain has a bigger k26/8 turbo (also adopted on all later 250hp cars), LSD with 40% lockup, M030 suspension option, consisting of Koni adjustable shocks front and rear, with ride height adjusting threaded collars on the front struts, stiffer springs and torsion bars, larger hollow rear anti-roll bar, harder durometer suspension bushings throughout, larger 26.8mm hollow anti-roll at the front.
“It’s got chassis stiffening brackets in the front frame rails, factory rolled front and rear fender edges to accommodate larger wheels, the 5-speed manual transmission (case code designation: AOR) with a higher friction clutch disc setup, and an external transmission cooler.
“I bought my Silver Rose from one of the mechanics at JAZ Porsche in Wembley and it has been looked after by JAZ during my approx 2 years of ownership. As a Porsche mechanic’s car, it benefitted from engine, suspension and brake rebuilds. The spec includes a rebuilt k26/8 turbo, new Lindsey Racing dual-port wastegate, stage 2 intercooler and 3-inch exhaust, Bailey dump valve, new Siemens 55lb injectors, fuel pressure regulator and pressure gauge, Greddy electronic boost controller, head studs, head gasket etc.
“Maintenance on the car in my ownership has included recovering the driver’s seat bolsters, and I now have nearly three metres of the Burgundy plaid material that will come with the car. I was lucky to find this, as people are now asking silly money for it. I have enough to just about retrim the whole car if it’s needed in the future.
“It’s had two scheduled services completed at JAZ Porsche, with the most recent service this week. I’ve also had a rolling road ECU remap by Wayne Schofield: Wayne knows these cars inside out, having spent days mapping them for racing in the late 1980s. The remap concentrated on drivability with the best torque curve, and resulted in over 300hp and 327lb/ft of torque (dyno graph available).
“It’s had the timing belts changed, an exhaust side engine mount replaced by JAZ in September 2012 and follow up inspection/adjustment in January 2013. I fitted a new front windscreen in 2012. It has new Bridgestone N-spec SO2s (245/225): less than 1,000 miles on the fronts and 3,000 miles on the rears.
“Body-wise, Nottingham Coachcraft in Caterham stripped, repaired and repainted the driver’s sill, all wheel arches and the rear of the driver’s front wing. It’s had new quarter window seals, new driver’s wiper control arm, new driver’s electric window motor, new temp sensor and other similar sundries. The wheels have been refurbished in Porsche Meteor Grey.
“I have a few spares like another intercooler, crossover pipe, D90 and CS wheels and two complete fog/side light units which can come with the car by negotiation. MOT and tax run to the end of August 2013. It’s HPI clear with eight previous owners. The car comes with limited service history as it was a mechanic’s car, but you can verify its bona fides with JAZ Porsche.
“There is a Momo steering wheel in the car, but the original wheel comes with it, as do the original amber indicators. The car also has the OE 10-speaker stereo with an Alpine DVD/CD/touch screen head unit with ipod connection and there is Bluetooth for phones.”
I do love a good for sale ad, and this is a nice one to share. Richard’s got it up for £11,500, which sounds like all the money, but “regular” 944 Turbos have been known to sell for more and this is a very collectible Silver Rose model. The tuning is well thought out, so this is going to be a very capable car on road or track and a pretty good investment. I’ve definitely talked myself into this one – where’s that Barclaycard?!
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