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Valuing a Porsche 911E isn’t really that hard, in the grand scheme. The middle child of the 911 lineup, a quick check of Hagerty’s valuation tool has the average value around $78,000 right now, with a high of $144,000 and a low of $52,500 for a “fair” example. While the 911 market has flattened or cooled slightly, they’re still quite valuable cars. Valuing historic race cars can be more difficult, but as vintage racing is currently in vogue right now, they’re many times more expensive than their road-going counterparts if they are properly sorted factory cars. Figures close to a million dollars aren’t unheard of for the right racer. But the most difficult to value are the non-original, modified racers run by privateers. Sometimes they have a very interesting history, such as this ’71 E does:
I have a strange fascination with the Sportomatic and find myself drawn to them as I keep coming across them in interesting colors and options. Not that I don’t see the same with the much more standard manual-transmission equipped 911s of the day, but the Sportomatic almost strikes me as a rare option that I should give attention to and I find myself featuring them. I suppose what confounds me is that I’d likely never consider purchasing one unless I was in a position of having a thorough collection and wanted one for its engineering and place in Porsche’s history. The transmission itself seems like the answer to a question no one was asking at the time, yet was quite prescient in its desirability. It was just way before its time. They are rare. They are also interesting. But are they desirable? Well, they’re definitely less expensive than comparable manual 911s and that probably shouldn’t surprise us. The one we see here, a Gold Metallic 1973 Porsche 911E Targa located in Atlanta, makes for an interesting case as it presents with quite a few cosmetic flaws, but comes in a unique period-correct color and has that aforementioned marvel the Sportomatic.
In many ways this Porsche 911 possesses a lot of what makes me love these cars so much, but which has seemed to be unobtainable as prices for these early cars have elevated. It’s a mix of original spec and modifications, but it doesn’t stray far remaining true to that original design but still possessing some nice upgrades. It’s neither pristine nor a dog. This is all to say that there is just something about the general ethos of this 911 that draws me in. Here we have a Beige Grey 1973 Porsche 911E Targa, located in New York, with, the seller assumes, around 149,000 miles on it. While Beige Grey sounds about as boring as is possible it does actually look very good, and even if it’s not Tangerine or Viper Green – colors that would really attract our notice – it is still a nice alternative and gives this 911 a gritty feel that works well with its overall aesthetic. I even like the contrast of the Minilite wheels at the rear!
Last month’s unrestored Green Metallic 1970 Porsche 911E targa is back up for auction after, I assume, the previous winning bidder failed to meet the seller’s payment terms. The previous auction was bid to $75,100 and had met the seller’s reserve so that should give us an idea of what we can expect here. For anyone who may have had an eye on this 911 and missed out the first time around, you’ll now get a second chance.
The below post originally appeared on our site February 27, 2016:
The very eye-catching Signal Green 1969 Porsche 911E Targa we featured in early January remains up for sale. In our original feature the reserve on the auction was met and it seemed like sensible minds would prevail over previously failed auction attempts that did not meet the reserve. However, the seller ended the auction early and it appears there was no sale as it is now back up from the same seller. Bidding is now falling well short of its previous highs and well short of the seller’s asking price of $89,900. This is a wonderful example of one of these early pastel 911s, but the seller may need to blink.
The below post originally appeared on our site January 7, 2016:
