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Let’s go back to the 993 because this one, while not one of those wonderful Turbos, has its own fine qualities and a price that, like the Turbos, seems like it isn’t too bad. The 993 never really seemed to come down in value the way earlier air-cooled models did, but while the classic 911s showed steep increases (which have since regressed) the 993 stayed more or less where it was, rising more gradually. Here I’m speaking about the standard Carrera since, as usual, exceptions can be made for particularly rare models or extremely low-mileage examples. It’s still tough for us to say that the 993 has come down in value, but it does feel like we’re seeing more interesting examples pop up for the sort of asking price we used to see for a much more standard example. Like this paint-to-sample Ferrari Fly Yellow 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe, located in Pennsylvania, with 39,638 miles on it.
We’re approaching the winter auction season when we’ll see a few of the bigger auctions take place and I always find it interesting to take a look at some of the cars crossing the auction blocks during this part of the year. In some cases these auctions will set the stage for market shifts that we’ll see over the course of the coming year, and in almost all cases we’re likely to see cars that we see almost nowhere else. Such as the example here: a Jade Green 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa with Cinnamon interior and 58,949 miles on it. This is said to be the last ’74 Carrera Targa produced for the U.S. market, coming in at no. 246 of 246, and it will be up for auction Saturday January 14 at Mecum Auctions in Kissimmee, FL.
The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places, in so much that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.
The best part of 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Plutarch questioned at what point an object began to lose its “originality”. You’ve heard the story many times, probably as the hyperbolic ‘Washington’s Axe’ parable. But though it’s been two millennia since Athenian thought led the world, the question remains applicable today.
Take this Porsche 911S, for example.
Could it be that there might actually be some value to be found on the 993 Turbo market? It has seemed like an impossible dream for a while as prices continued to elevate, but as I look around now I’m starting to wonder if there’s been a shift. Granted, we’re still not talking about inexpensive cars; after all north of six figures remains the norm. But we’re getting closer to crossing that magic barrier. I first had an inkling of this last summer when I featured this 911 Turbo and thought all things considered the price wasn’t bad. It wasn’t cheap, but it felt like prices had moved down a step. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but I think now we need to give them a little more attention. The two we’re going to look at here aren’t the only two Turbos on the market right now, but they’re two that stood out to me the most. I’ll begin with the cheaper of the pair: a Black over Tan 1996 Porsche 911 Turbo with 80,533 miles on it located in Denver.
I want to start the New Year off with a car that’s quite special and one of the rarest models Porsche has ever produced for the 911. We’re all quite familiar with the legendary 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS. What most are much less familiar with is the precursor to those great machines. Prior to production of the RS the car needed to be homologated – this was the whole purpose of building the model in the first place – after which a few creature comforts would be added to bring the RS to either the Lightweight or Touring spec that became the typical production models. However, 17 owners chose to leave the cars as is, adding none of the options and built based off of those homologated models. These 17 were dubbed the RSH. They were very spartan lacking clock, radio, soundproofing, even the glove box lid and as such tipped the scales at a mere 935 kg, making them even lighter than the RS Lightweight. The RSH takes one of Porsche’s truly special cars and raises the stakes even further.
