Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
As counter-intuitive as it might seem, Porsche made a bunch of automatic 911 Turbos. Specifically automatic 911 Turbo Cabriolets. Why? Well, that is what their buyers want. I know we are all dyed in the wool enthusiasts obsessed with heel toeing and nailing the perfect shift, but there are a lot middle-aged dentists out there who want a convertible Porsche to drive to the Daily Queen on Sunday evenings with their midsize dog in the back seat. Thus, we have a glut of 911 Turbo Cabriolets.
Last week I took a look at a very interesting 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo that garnered some discussion and even some people saying they really like it. Outside of the optional and very expensive carbon ceramic brakes, it looked like a pretty standard 997 Turbo. Then you peeked inside the windows and knew this wasn’t your typical example that dentist in the nice part of town leases every three years. No standard black leather here, this was Palm Green. Granted, a very subdued green, but still not something you’ll see everyday nor, for that matter, almost ever. Personally, I loved it. Give me the slightly-wild color combos everyday.
Wouldn’t you know, our friend at Switch Cars just happened to have another 997 in a seemingly restrained exterior color but a wild interior. Brace yourself, this one is a little bit more loud than Palm Green.
I’m never one to overlook a car with a seemingly tame exterior, but in some cases when you open the doors you wonder if there was a mistake at the factory. I’d love to have a conversation with a production scheduler to figure how and why, outside of customer requests, crazy color combinations get made. If you haven’t caught on where I’m going with today’s car, let me explain.
This 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo, a fine car in its own right, is finished in Arctic Silver Metallic. Outside of plain black, this is surely one of most common 911 colors. Open the door however, and you are treated with a full Palm Green leather inside. Palm Green seats, Palm Green carpets, Palm Green dash, Palm Green everything. Dare I say I really like it?
In terms of value in the Porsche 911 world, where the “value” is a little bit of misnomer, I personally think the 997 is in a wonderful spot. You have a respectable amount of safety and performance, the unmistakable looks of a 911, all while not needing a six-figure income to buy or maintain. Yes, some of the more special 997s still bring huge prices, but for the more common 997s, its one of those or a new Honda Accord. The early Carrera and Carrera S cars are particularly appealing to me, especially when equipped with the 19″ lobster claw wheels. As luck would have it, this is what we have today in this 2006 Carrera S up for sale in California. The thing is, it isn’t equipped with the traditional six-speed manual transaxle, but rather the last of its kind five-speed automatic. Is this a deal breaker?
Last week Porsche announced the new 992 Turbo S and of course, the stats were bonkers. All you really need to know is that it does 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds and will top out a little north of 200 mph. Much to no one’s surprise, it will be an 8-speed PDK gearbox with almost zero chance of a 6 or 7-speed manual gearbox given that the entire 991 Turbo generation did not offer a true manual gearbox. I totally get why, and you can’t blame Porsche for not offering it. First, the majority of 911 Turbo buyers don’t want a three pedal car, and if they did, as soon as they smashed the throttle in first gear, they’d be banging it off the redline. As much as we like to think we are all amazing drivers, your dentist Gary is not. That means if you do want a 911 Turbo with a 6-speed manual gearbox, you have to venture all the way back to the 997 generation.
This 2012 911 Turbo up for sale in New York is just 1 of 163 examples produced for the North American market with the 6-speed compared to the significantly more PDK cars. That means finding one is very a tough task to say the least. Finding one in Carrera White with a Carrera Red interior and just 6,000 miles? Bring your checkbook.
