As April draws to a close and we put the first proper month of the season behind us, the shape of the 2018 classic Porsche market has begun to emerge. While high-end 911s with low mileage, low owners and all the right spec are still enjoying some demand, only the bravest observer would describe things as buoyant at the lower end of the market.
The long cold winter across Europe was definitely felt in Porsche showrooms and what little fever there was around air-cooled classics towards the end of last year has not increased. This has tempered sentiment towards the most populous production models including all turbocharged 911s. This trend is shared across the pond: bids on two apparently nice 93os offered at the recent Amelia Island sale fell well short of bottom estimate, but the cars were sold nevertheless. The softer demand also seems to have spread to average 996 and 997 Turbos unless very well priced or gifted with excellent spec.
Normally-aspirated air-cooled 911s have not escaped the softer conditions. While the number of late-eighties Carreras offered to market in recent months has been lower than expected, prices for average examples are off the boil. 911 SCs in A1 condition have been holding up well, as the numbers are lower and demand for chrome-trimmed ’70s 3-litres remains healthy when the cars are priced right.
A quick look on Pistonheads shows the state of supply in the UK right now. Searching for air-cooled 911s up to 1983 listed by UK sellers brings up 96 results. Roughly 20% of those cars are listed as POA, with several listings detailing cars coming up for auction in the next month or two. Looking specifically at cars offered below £50k, there are just eight air-cooled 911s available in the UK and only five of those are SCs.
Looking at 1984-1989 911 Carrera 3.2s on sale for less than £50k in the UK right now, there are 24 examples listed on Pistonheads, with prices starting from £25k for a project and ending at top whack for a 150k-mile 3.2-litre backdate. Twenty four cars is six times the number of SCs up for sale on this site in the same price range. Eight 3.2s are listed from £50-70k and there are a couple more over that, making more than thirty cars available.
Porsche 911 supply dictates price limits
Supply of these cars is a big part of price. When there are more cars than buyers, anyone looking to sell will have to be competitive on the condition of the car they are offering and its asking price. While buyers are still out there for the very best cars, air-cooled 911 owners considering a switch into water-cooled during 2018, or away from air-cooled 911s altogether would be well advised to sharpen their pencils and spend some money putting their cars beyond reproach.
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One thing I won’t be doing on my upcoming fiftieth birthday is driving a Porsche, as I recently sold the Cayenne. It was just at that point where the condition was still pretty good, mileage was highish but not unacceptable, there were few good examples available to buy and I was satisfied that my Cayenne itch had been scratched.
As the snow fell across England, I put it on eBay as a ten-day sale with a set of good pics and a decent description, including the long list of all the things I had done to it in my five years of ownership. The ad generated an excellent response and brought in good interest from genuine buyers, which reached a crescendo as the end of sale approached.
A local motorsport specialist came round to see it on the final morning, we had a good drive and he placed a strong bid in the final minutes of the sale. However, the auction ended with a buyer in Essex claiming the Cayenne for just over £6k. I had quite a lot of spares and accessories that I planned to offer the buyer first refusal on, but the final price was the most I have seen an ’04 with similar mileage sell for on eBay, so I just put everything in the boot and sent the new owner off delighted.
A few friends who I spoke with after the sale end seemed to have the impression that I regarded the Cayenne as some sort of burden, with parts being changed on a monthly basis and me basically rebuilding the truck while I had it. This is not the case. I did have to go through a long-winded gearbox rebuild, but that would have been sorted much quicker and less painfully had I just taken it to a decent gearbox specialist right from the start.
Elsewhere, there were new parts for the heating and fuel supply systems, a crank position sensor change, bits and pieces for various MOTs and so on but, other that that, it was relatively easy company over five years and 50k miles, with no particular appetite for oil, tyres or brakes. Would I recommend a Cayenne as a used purchase? For sure. I particularly like the later 957 GTS models, but they are still big money, so an upgrade was never on the cards for me. I wouldn’t go into debt for a car that was still depreciating and I have better things to spend money on than a luxury daily driver.
A fortnight after the Cayenne’s departure, I don’t miss it too much, but there is nothing that can really hope to replace it. I’ve been looking for another Subaru Legacy estate, but my ideal spec is a needle in a haystack that has not come on the market in the last twelve months. So I’ve bitten the bullet and switched back to my 2006 Honda CRV: a good example with all the toys and one previous owner that’s been more bulletproof than a riot van over the two years I’ve owned it. It’s comfortable to drive and easy on the back, so I’ve added a Stag Q-Next LPG conversion to bring the fuel costs down to acceptable levels, which essentially bolts me into the CRV for the next three years.
Gas will save at least £1000 a year in running costs on this car – it saved twice that per year on the Cayenne – so is a no brainer. The main downside of the (grey) CRV is the absolute blandness of the exterior: it won’t upset anyone and that is one thing I will really miss about the curvy Cayenne. There’s also an hint of “I’m borrowing my wife’s car” about using the CRV, but passing fifty allows one to be increasingly less concerned about this stuff.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
One bright spark in my inbox this morning was this nicely preserved Porsche 550A Spyder, which is heading for the Bonhams Scottsdale auction in January.
There can’t be too many 550A Spyders left with the provenance of this one. Apparently the penultimate 550A Spyder produced, chassis number 0145 began its racing life in the 1958 season, including taking part in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, where it finished 11th. Eleventh was also last place but owning an ex-Grand Prix Porsche is a good story.
Going by some online detectiving, this particular 550A has been with the current owner since 2013, and appeared back on the market in 2015 with Fiskens at Retromobile Paris. Offered for sale at $6.5 million back then, it subsequently popped up again at Goodings Pebble Beach sale the following year, with an estimate of five to six million dollars – quite a bit lower. No estimate has been placed on 0145 for Scottsdale just yet, so Bonham’s sense of where the market might be for the car will be interesting. My own feeling is that they will match Goodings’ guidelines at 5 to 6 million dollars.
Porsche 550A Spyder race history
One previous sales text for the car says it was a works race car, competing at four events through 1958 before passing into private hands, but another text tells a different story, with the car being bought by privateer Count Carol Godin de Beaufort from new and raced all over Europe, including Aspern-Vienna airport, Nürburgring 1000kms, Dutch Grand Prix, Le Mans 24 hours, the 12 Hours of Rheims, Zandvoort NAV, Trento-Bondone hillclimb, 10 Hours of Messina, Zandvoort, the Rheinland Palatine Prize, Nürburging Grand Prix, Karlskoga Grand Prix, Goodwood, Innsbruck and more.
After Count Carol sold the car, it spent time in Canada and then sold into America, where it raced extensively. It came home to Germany in the early 1990s and then moved to Italy in 2002, with an owner who campaigned it on ten Mille Miglia reruns. Good times! Now it is back up for sale.
Scottsdale is always an interesting auction. It takes place at the start of the year, when many classic collectors may be feeling less certain about how tastes have changed through the end of the previous year. Some come into the new year feeling upbeat about prospects but hanging back on bidding just to see what their rivals think. Other buyers will be looking to score a bargain and this can encourage some competitive bidding up to a preset maximum, usually well below the reserve. It is then up to the auctioneer to keep bids coming in, with the backroom team trying to make a deal happen if the car fails to sell on the block.
550 Spyders are often a good signpost on high end collector sentiment. A nicely patinated but unraced 550 was offered at Goodwood Revival in Sep 2016 and sold for £4.6 million – just over $6 million at current exchange rates but well short of the £6.2 million top estimate. How this is estimated and what it actually tops out at (or sells for) will set a tone for the start of 2018. All very interesting.
Photos by Bonhams/P. Litwinski
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
There’s been good interest in Porsche tractors at auction all year, so it will be interesting to follow this 18hp Allgaier Porsche tractor through the auction at Brooklands Historics on November 25th. Porsche tractors are a fascination to me and, while prices have still not gone crazy, their simple, honest and ego-free nature makes them a superb place to put a bit of cash in my view, especially if you have a bit of land to enjoy them on.
Having kicked off the people’s car concept with the VW Beetle, Porsche turned its focus to the land, creating a range of strong and reliable tractors for the masses. The first designs were registered in the early 1930s, but after WWII, only companies that had been making tractors before and during the war were allowed to produce agricultural machinery. So Porsche put its clever designs up for licencing and partnered with two companies: Allgaier in Germany and Hofherr Schrantz in Austria.
Produced as “Porsche System” products, more than 125,000 tractors were built under this arrangement from the 1950s until 1963. The old Zeppelin factory was used by Mannesmann, who took over Allgaier production from the mid-1950s.
The Brooklands tractor is an 18 hp, two-cylinder model from 1957. Originally supplied to an estate in the south of France, it eventually passed to a Belgian doctor in 2009, who restored it to immaculate condition and stored it in his drawing room. It was later sold to an historic racing driver and is now coming up for auction.
Brooklands estimate the tractor at £10-15k, which sounds about right to generate interest. The end result probably depends on how much activity it attracts amongst European buyers, so it could even go higher that that. I spoke to my friend, Michael Hodges, at Brooklands and got his take on the current classic market, which is broadly in line with how I am finding things.
“Things remain buoyant as far as historics are concerned, with a consistently high sales ratio. Last sale was a little down, but the market has hardened. As you know, the market has been high for a very long time. We find that classic Porsches remain good when realistically priced, but some sellers have unrealistic expectations.
“Some market commentary – generally from the less informed – is not helpful, nor accurate. Certainly, at the high end of the investment market, buyers are more cautious but it’s inappropriate to suggest that’s representative of the market as a whole.”
I am hoping to make it to Brooklands and watch the tractor go through. With 140 lots including 44 vehicles consigned for this sale, there are a few more interesting cars open for bidding, including a LHD Gen 1 GT3 in Viper Green with 39,500 kms, which is estimated at £115-140k. The sales results will make interesting additions to my Porsche Valuations database. More news from Brooklands later.
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
One of the rare RHD Porsche 964 RS Touring models has just sold for quite strong money at the Silverstone Auctions Porsche sale, creating an interesting data point for my Porsche-centric classic car insurance valuation service.
Everyone knows how the 964RS was the first 911 to sport the desirable RS designation. Like the 2.7 RS, the cars developed from racing and were available in two model specifications: Lightweight and Touring. Most 964RS models were Lightweights, with just a handful of RS Tourings being built.
I’ve come into contact with the RHD Tourings several times in the past through dealer clients and RS-owning friends. I value a couple for insurance, and it was one of my valuation customers who emailed me from the sale to let me know how things were going.
The RHD Porsche 964RS Touring just sold at auction was chassis number 491385. Built in early 1992, the spec included black paint with black trim, sports seats with the tri-colour inlays and a sunroof. The RS was sent to JCT Brooklands and – would you believe this – did not sell until September 1993. The consigning entrant was owner number five, who purchased the car from Josh Sadler at Autofarm in 2002.
There’s a bit of paperwork with the car, which presumably confirmed the declared mileage of just 51,000, albeit that confirmation is not mentioned. It had some mechanical work at 46k with my former clients JZM Porsche, who fitted an upgraded exhaust . The RS then had a thorough inspection at 51k miles, with full service, four new tyres and chassis alignment carried out by the guys at RPM Technik in Buckinghamshire.
“Early lots failed to hit their bottom estimate,” reported my source at the sale. “I think they over-egged the estimates, so some of the sellers might be disappointed. I was surprised at the [high] prices of the front-engined cars, though.
“The RS shot up to £185k very quickly, so it was obvious that many people had come specifically to bid on this 911. The pent-up demand released and then bidding began to slow down. It finished at £195,000 plus commission and VAT, which totals to £219,375.”
This tallies with what I was expecting the rare RS to achieve: not quite £200k, but not far away from it. I have updated my RS data accordingly – just goes to show what difference rarity with low mileage can make in what is currently a very slow market for ‘regular’ Porsche sales.
Pics from the Silverstone Auctions website
Ferdinand blogs my freelance adventure with Porsche at the centre. To support the blog or engage with me in other ways, you can:
My friend Paul in that there Essex has decided to offer his Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera for sale. I know the car quite well and it is a great example of a modified 3.2 finished to a very strong level. This car is worth your attention if you’re in the market.
He’s just sent me a slightly ‘Friday night’ description, which I will attempt to decipher. Let us begin:
I bought this car over ten years ago with 75,000 miles on it. It came from a well known independent dealer and was my first 911. Straight after my purchase, I fell in with the impactbumpers.com crowd, which led to many road trips and track days all over Europe and the UK.
The most recent of these road trips was in September, to the Race de Remparts in Angouleme in south west France. The classic race weekend in the sunshine reminded me that there are still many classics to own and enjoy, so I have decided to offer the Carrera for sale and see whether it might find a new home.
I have developed and upgraded the car throughout my ownership, so it is now a superb example of an air-cooled Porsche 911 prepared for track days, fast road and touring use. It had a detailed restoration in 2012, when a highly respected Porsche bodyshop (Sportwagen in Great Wakering) took many monies from me and handed me back a beautiful car in near perfect condition.
The complete restoration was documented in detailed photographs. During the restoration, the sunroof, side repeaters, fog lights and headlamp washers were deleted, with the usual rust removal from the kidney bowls and other rust traps. The driver’s seat rails were removed and a lower set fitted to accommodate a taller driver. All rubber trim (except bumperettes) was replaced during the rebuild. We also fitted a new windscreen. All of the car is steel, save for the ducktail and Ruf 935 mirrors. It weighs in 1120 kilograms with a quarter of a tank of fuel.
Soon after purchase, the top end was rebuilt by Autowerke in Norwich at approx 76k miles. It now shows 122k miles and runs better than ever. It has a custom Steve Wong chip, stainless steel Cargraphic silencer with stainless steel Dansk heat exchangers and crossover pipe. I keep it well maintained and the engine power figures show just how strong this particular flat six is, with the most recent dyno run showing 278.5 bhp (LSV in Wellingborough).
Everyone who rides in this car comments on how quick it is. It revs freely to the 6.8k limit, and the low weight of less than 1100 kilograms means it can easily match more modern machinery on track. Being a 1987 model year 911, the transmission is the sought-after Getrag G50. I have fitted poly mounts for even slicker shifting and the clutch is less than 5k miles old.
Handling is super important to me, so the dampers have been upgraded to Bilstein Club Sport spec. Anti roll bar and rear arm bushes are poly, while the torsion bars and anti-roll bars themselves are stock. The car benefits from an expensive Centre of Gravity suspension setup and corner balance. It is fitted with a set of genuine 7 and 8 x 16″ Fuchs alloy wheels, with a set of replica 7″ and 9″ Fuchs with track tyres available as an option. Brakes are standard with upgraded pads. There is no issue with standard brakes and bars on a lightened 911.
The cabin is a nice place to be. I went for a mix of light weight while retaining some comfort for touring, so it has Recaro SPG XL race seats, custom trimmed in leather and Pascha. There is also a rear seat delete and Club Sport carpet setup, but you could reinstate rear seats for kids if you needed to. RS style door cards, a Momo 07 steering wheel and genuine Cocomats add to the ambience. It has an AVO bluetooth stereo, and the main fuseboard has been replaced with a Classic Retrofit blade fuse board incorporating upgraded headlamp relays.
Most of the original lead weight soundproofing has been removed and replaced with Dynamat. The car makes a noise, but in a very good way. Earplugs are not required for long drives! It has a full MOT, immobiliser, loads of paperwork and is ready to go.
I may end up with the car here at mine for viewings and inspections, but there is no room for the minute. Interested parties may contact me and I will put you in touch directly. It will also be up for sale on my Porsche 911 forum at impactbumpers.com and on a few other platforms.
Considering the money invested and recent sales of similarly modified cars, this one is priced at £49,995 for a quick sale – the body restoration alone was a £25k bill so there is value here. Consistently impressive dyno results over the last ten years suggest there is more to this engine than a standard 3.2. Serious buyers are welcome to arrange a pre-purchase inspection.
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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