Following a retreat from the peak prices of 2015/16, the classic Porsche market worked hard to regain some momentum and settle back into a groove through 2017/18. Auction results for the last twelve months show how few really rare Porsches came to market through 2018, as many sat on their collections awaiting a more optimistic picture.
The truth was that things were not all bad and the lack of product may have helped what was offered for sale to do well: surprisingly well, in some cases. Here are the top five results from auction sales in 2018.
1: Porsche 959 Dakar – sold for $5,945,000
It’s hard to believe that the ex-1985 Dakar Porsche 959 was the headline auction result for the entire Porsche marque in 2018. This car was one of the first factory Porsche race cars I truly got close to, as it lived at Tuthills when I bought my first 911 and began spending time there. I enjoyed many hours in and around this factory rally car back in the day.
The car was offered at RM Sotheby’s groundbreaking Porsche-only sale at the Porsche Experience Centre in Atlanta. Truly selling to the converted, the Dakar 959 blew pre-auction predictions to pieces and sold for almost twice the low estimate, coming in just under $6 million including premium. A superb result for a factory rally car that failed to finish the Dakar.
Porsche 550As dominated the big-money Porsche sales through 2018. With Le Mans competition history including fifth overall and second in class and a class win at the 1958 Nurburgring 1000kms, chassis number 550A-0145 was one of the most desirable examples ever to come up for sale.
Offered by Bonhams at its 2018 Scottsdale sale, the car sold to an American collector for a world record price of $5.17 million including premium.
pic courtesy of Bonhams
3: 1957 Porsche 550A – sold for $4,900,000
Number three on our list of top five Porsche auction sales in 2018 is another 550A, this time from 1957. Chassis number 550A-0116 was offered by RM Sotheby’s at the 2018 Monterey sale and a substantial Californian heritage did it no harm at all.
Leaving the Hollywood heart throbs to one side, Jack McAfee may be the number one name in vintage California Porsche history. McAfee’s Burbank dealership was home to an SCCA-winning 550A and this car was sold through the hallowed doors in February 1957. It was subsequently owned by several big names until a Freisinger restoration in the mid-1990s. The seller is hopefully delighted with a sale result of just under $5 million: within reach of the world record price set by chassis 0145.
4: Unraced 2007 Porsche RS Spyder – sold for $4,510,000
A fine Porsche RS Spyder race car sold by Goodings at its Pebble Beach sale took full advantage of the model’s exceptional profile in American racing history. RS Spyder 9R6.706 was the last of six carbon-bodied Porsche LMP2 prototypes manufactured for racing in 2007. Supplied new to a race team on the US east coast, the car was subsequently not raced by its Floridian buyers. Instead, it made its way into private hands.
The unraced prototype was one of three RS Spyders owned by the seller and was the first RS Spyder ever to be offered at auction. Few true Porsche rarities have emerged in the 21st century, but there can be no doubt that this is one of them. It sold for $4.51 million including premium.
pic courtesy of Gooding and Company
5: 1955 Porsche 550A – sold for $4,455,000
Last but not least in our run down of top five Porsche auction sales results for 2018 is this 1955 Porsche 550A, sold by Gooding and Company at its 2018 Pebble Beach event.
This 550A had been with its owner for more than twenty years and was offered as part of an impressive collection of highly original sports cars. Chassis 550-0053 was a matching numbers example with plenty of history including a recent visit to four-cam guru, Jeff Adams. Presented in beautifully sympathetic condition, it sold for $4.455 million including premium.
pic courtesy of Gooding and Company
The best of the rest – and what’s to come in 2019
Only a handful of Porsche cars broke the $3 million barrier in 2018 and there was a sizeable gap from the headline sales to the best of the rest. It’s clear that storied race cars pre-1970 remain of interest, including 550s and 718s, and there is also a market for low mileage rare 911s.
What will tickle the market’s fancy in the twelve months to come? There are some trends at work right now that should continue through 2019. The lowest mileage air-cooled road cars – rare ones, mind – are likely set for a safe run this year. Front-engined cars have softened a touch in recent months, but the nicer models are probably also good news.
The lion’s share of what does well this year will hinge on what collectors decide to send to market. It will be interesting to see what happens at this year’s early sales: roll on Amelia Island.
In usual reflective mood during the seasonal downtime, I’ve been looking back over some of my GT Porsche magazine columns from the last twelve months and checking where my head was at through the year. My first magazine column for GT considered the launch of the 911 Carrera T and what effect it might have on the Porsche populus.
2018 Porsche 911 Carrera T spec
370bhp/330lb ft turbcharged 3.0-litre engine as in base Carrera
Sports Exhaust and PASM as standard
7-speed manual has Limited Slip Diff and shorter final drive
PDK has no LSD
Reduced sound deadening
Thin windows and pull straps in doors
Rear seat and PCM delete (No Cost Option to put back)
Weight in standard form circa 1425kg
Many of the old guard treat new 911 models with a degree of suspicion, as it often feels like models are being released just to give magazines something to write about. This is most especially true when Porsche disinters old model designations. The 911 T was a good example.
Just 20 kilos lighter than a standard Carrera with similar equipment, the T didn’t seem to bring much to the party, but it was still likely to get a few writers excited. Most old hands were reserved in their reviews of this subtle run-out upgrade to the standard Carrera.
“Unfortunately, Porsche has somewhat mis-sold the T as a sort of hardcore, purists’ missile rather than embracing its true purpose as a cracking all-rounder in the best tradition of low-level 911s,” said Richard Porter in The Sunday Times. “It gives you a few extra tasty treats such as the trick suspension and diff that make it nicer to drive, without any trinkets you don’t need. It’s not sparse, but there’s a pleasing simplicity to it, right down to the seats that are wrapped not with leather but in cloth, striped like a 1980s banker’s suit. It’s all you need, and nothing you don’t.”
“If you were hoping the Carrera T would be a mini-me GT3, look away now,” wrote Andrew Frankel in Autocar. “But that’s not to say there’s nothing interesting going on. Before Porsche’s T-squad laid a finger on its flanks, the 911 was by some distance already the most desirable and effective performer in its category. The T is a car with just a little more edge.”
Porsche 911 Carrera T investment prospects
The 911 Carrera T rang a bell with buyers: latest UK registration data suggests that 219 Carrera T models were put on the road in 2018, with a 2-to-1 bias towards the manual.
The seven-speed gearbox in the 991 was widely viewed as inferior to the sweet six-speed fitted to Caymans, but as early reviews suggested the car was a 991 GT3 for £30k less and given the spec difference from manual to PDK, most Carrera T buyers/investors were obviously going to pick the manual. The residual premium could take a decade to materialise a la 997 Carrera GTS, but it was the one to have.
Residual values for the 911T (which sold with a cost new some ten percent higher than a standard Carrera) have yet to find their groove, but 219 RHD cars registered year-to-date does not make them super-rare amongst the 2018 911 cohort. That said, in a year-to-date figure of over 11,000 registrations up to the end of November and against a whole-life registration total for RHD 991s, 200 is a fairly small number and should help this model car to build a bit of a following.
Apologies for the lack of blog content in recent weeks: it’s been a busy summer of projects that I am not allowed to talk about! Alongside those activities, I’ve been busy with many other interesting things. One side that has taken a step up of late is car finding and marketing: helping people to refine their car collections.
I have just collected this Porsche Panamera V6 PDK for sale on behalf of a good friend. You may know someone who is in the market, so get in touch if you would like to come and see it. The asking price is £22,995, which is well below similar cars for sale.
2010 Porsche Panamera V6 PDK for sale
Owned by a good friend who is currently travelling the world, this 2010 Porsche Panamera V6 PDK is in very good order throughout. Finished in Carbon Grey Pearl and trimmed in full black leather, it has a great options package which cost over £7,600 when new, including:
Steering Wheel Heating (with heated front seats) £178
Wheel Centres with Coloured Crest £107
Universal Audio Interface £75
This beautiful car also benefits from full colour Porsche sat nav with the additional colour display in the speedo cluster, usual high-spec communications management, Bose hifi and so much more giving the car a truly luxurious specification. As the photos show, this car is in very nice condition with only minor marks on the bodywork, appropriate to the age, mileage and build quality.
With 300 bhp on tap from the 3605cc V6 engine, it is a wonderful car to go anywhere in and cossets the occupants like few other machines. The 4wd system makes it perfect for year-round use. I am told that it easily achieves over 30 mpg on average and costs £315 per year to tax. All good news for the lucky next owner.
Porsche Panamera Service History
Supplied by OPC Colchester and first registered on October 31st, 2010, the Panamera has covered just 46,800 miles from new and has a full Porsche service history from its supplying dealer up to 39,000 miles, with a recent service by independent specialists, Tuthill Porsche in Banbury at 46,000 miles on July 26th. The book is stamped as follows:
22/10/2010 – OPC Colchester – 19718 miles
21/10/2013 – OPC Colchester – 24504 miles
18/08/2014 – OPC Colchester – 29379 miles
07/08/2015 – OPC Colchester – 36315 miles
07/09/2016 – OPC Colchester – 38989 miles
26/07/2016 – Tuthill Porsche – 46188 miles
The MOT has over ten months remaining and is valid until August 29, 2019. The last test had advisories on both rear tyres wearing close to the limits, so we have allowed for this in the price, which is less than a third of the original cost new and cheaper than other cars for sale at the minute, some of which have much higher mileage. It is priced right for a quick sale as part of an overall reduction in cars owned by the household, so they are not looking for offers or part exchanges at this time.
Price and Payment/Collection
The car is located just outside Banbury and is available for inspection on weekday mornings, Monday to Friday, and all day at weekends. I am happy to work with independent inspectors if you wish to have it inspected. Payment will be by bank transfer to the owner.
Our nearest train station is Banbury and nearest airport is Birmingham, which has direct trains every hour to us. Feel free to fly in and drive home – the car is absolutely ready to go anywhere.
RM Sotheby’s has announced that the only works Paris-Dakar Porsche 959 rally car in private hands will be offered for sale in its Porsche 70th Anniversary Sale at the Porsche Experience Centre Atlanta on October 27th. Driven by René Metge in the 1985 Paris-Dakar Rally, the car failed to finish, but that’s another story.
I have spent a little bit of time with this car over the years, as it was previously maintained by Tuthill Porsche and supported by the team on appearances including the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
I first met the 959 on an early visit to the Wardington workshops in 2004. My 911 SC Cabriolet had been in with Francis for a service and I had a nose around the barns when I came back to collect it that evening with two year-old (now 16 year-old) Ciara in tow. As a Porsche rally freak, it blew my mind to see the Dakar 959 sitting in a corner under the cover. How crazy to think my humble SC was being worked on under the same roof: that was a pretty cool thing.
Paris-Dakar Porsche 959 up close
The Paris-Dakar Porsche 959 was a constant presence through my early years of working with Tuthills. I never used it in a magazine feature, but Chris Harris drove this car back-to-back with a roadgoing 959 for GT Porsche magazine in September 2006. The original Paris-Dakar car featured a lightweight 3.2-litre engine with a close ratio gearbox versus the road car’s 2.85-litre twin-turbo flat six, but the 959 as tested by Harris was running a magnesium-cased 3.5-litre engine producing 350bhp, to safeguard the 959’s original engine. Despite this, Chris was effusive in his praise for the 959 Dakar’s high drama.
“The car is brutally noisy. In fact, it sounds so intense that the sensation of speed is heightened because you can’t believe that such a racket could ever be produced unless the sound barrier was imminent. It chomps through the close ratios faster than I dare use the uprated 915 gearbox and like any rally car on the road, it feels completely detached because so much of its suspension performance isn’t being used.
“It rides quite beautifully – better than the road car – steers like you’d expect given that it isn’t hampered by hydraulic assistance and the brake pedal takes a decent prod to have any effect. Driving through rural Oxfordshire, its remarkable to think that this car was capable of 140mph over boulder-strewn African tracks.”
No doubt this is a wonderful 911: a real piece of history that would certainly spice up any serious air-cooled Porsche collection. I’m intrigued to see where the bidding ends up and who it passes to.
Coldplay bassist, Guy Berryman is about to start the 2018 Coupe des Alpes in his 1967 Porsche 911S, which was recently restored at Tuthill Porsche. The star is a confirmed classic car obsessive, with a serious collection of notable classics, mostly European sports cars from the 1960s. After several months on the hunt for the right car, Guy found his S in the USA a few years back and shipped the car to Tuthills for a closer look.
No one knows precisely how many S models were built for the 1967 model year but, according to Paternie and the Early S Registry, it is circa 1800 examples. “The 911S models were included in the same range of serial numbers as those listed for Coupes and Targas,” says The Little Red Book. “The ‘S’ designation will be stamped after the serial number on an S model. Early 911 records contain a number of inconsistencies, so it is difficult to present an exact production count.”
What we do know is that 911S models are rare and finding the detailed trim parts for these cars is a job in itself. Guy’s S was almost complete, but much of the metal was missing due to rust. Tuthills carried out a thorough restoration, keeping what they could and buying genuine parts to fill in the blanks. The finished car is a period Porsche tour de force and it’s great to see Guy enjoying a Porsche: we’re more used to seeing his Ferrari collection.
1967 Porsche 911S insurance values
Hagerty’s online valuation tool suggests that a 1967 Porsche 911S in concours condition is currently worth $138,000 (£103,000), while a running and driving project base is just under $50,000 (£34,000). These values are clearly too low. If you have a 1967 911S and your car is valued at market or agreed value in this sort of ballpark, then you need to fix that problem.
I value several early pre-1973 911S models at porschevaluations.com. My own feeling is that UK prices for running and driving left hand-drive SWB S models in need of attention should start north of £60k. Insurance values for concours low-mileage examples should exceed £200k for a car in the right condition matching the Porsche CoA (Certificate of Authenticity). RHD cars with known provenance carry a premium.
@RoadRatMagazine
Guy’s affinity with classic cars and the stories they tell began in adolescence, when his Channel Tunnel engineer father would work on classic sports cars at weekends and invite Guy to assist. Their shared interest encouraged a vast archive of motoring books and magazines, and that passion for period motoring reportage has now led to the creation of a brand new magazine and online media stream: Road Rat Magazine.
My friend Peter has asked me to help him to sell two of his Porsche 911s. First to be offered for sale is this stylish RHD 1988 Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera, finished in Guards Red with black sports leather trim piped in body colour and excellent red carpets trimming the floor pans and door pockets.
Originally registered on August 1st, 1988, this 911 has covered 96,275 miles from new and has an MOT until December 6th. A former PCGB concours competitor, it is in nice condition throughout. The previous owner had it for eighteen years and kept it in very good order. As a 1988 model, it has the sought after G50 transmission and other late 3.2 improvements, including the bigger dash vents.
Being a former concours car, it has not been messed with, so the bodywork and mechanicals are all to original specification. The correct Fuchs alloy wheels are in good condition, wrapped in recent Continental ContiSport tyres. The wonderful 3.2 sports seats with those shapely side bolsters are electrically adjusted and also heated: a rare option on air-cooled 911s. Other nice additions include the electric sunroof, front foglamps and rear wiper. It also has the three-point rear seat belts fitted for junior Porsche enthusiasts.
The majority of maintenance since 2001 has been carried out at Tuthill Porsche. I have a lever arch of service history dating back to 1994, including almost every MOT from new, which shows that it has been well maintained over the years. Over £5,000 has been spent on mechanical work in the last three thousand miles alone, including the fitment of the sleek Porsche Classic stereo with sat nav and bluetooth, and maintaining the Waxoyl underbody protection to keep rust at bay.
Tuthills carried out a major service at the start of last year to include spark plugs, all fluids and filters and valve clearance adjustments and the 3.2 has covered just a few hundred miles since then. Both front brake calipers have been replaced with reconditioned units, as the originals can get sticky with age. The DME and crank position sensor have both been replaced as one would hope at this age and mileage. The clutch was changed by a previous owner and the G50 transmission shifts perfectly.
We have set the asking price at £40k for a quick, no hassle sale. That’s well below the average asking price for apparently similar cars, but this is not a cheap Carrera. This is a very nice car in great condition, priced to sell to a serious buyer who has seen enough average examples. Nothing needs doing to this car and it is ready to be used and enjoyed. Air-cooled Porsche 911s of this calibre do not grow on trees and are a great place to put money; values are pretty stable and the ability to enjoy one’s investment portfolio does not come much prettier than a classic Porsche 911.
Please get in touch if you are a serious buyer keen to inspect a good car. The 911 is located near Banbury in Oxfordshire (straight train from Marylebone or Junction 11 of the M40) and available for inspection on any weekday morning, Monday to Friday.
Update: This car is now SOLD. Many thanks.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
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