Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Continuing on my run of interesting 996 Porsche 911 Turbo cars, I came across a very nice example up for sale in New York finished in Carrara White. Not only is it in a desirable color in my eyes, but of course it has a bunch of extra goodies like the aero kit, sport seats, matching center console and gauges, and the always desirable X50 powerkit. However, there is one big problem for some. The same problem as the Miami Blue 997 I looked out last week.
The aura of the 911 is so thoroughly encompassing it overshadows nearly every other Porsche model conceived and constructed, but especially this seems to be true of the 1970s. During that time Porsche launched groundbreaking models like the 924 and 928; generally, both very unappreciated compared to the air-cooled siblings. But the 914 seems nearly forgotten despite its similar engine behind the driver and atmospheric cooling setup. Why? Well, it’s not the prettiest Porsche design, it’s true – but presented properly it is still quite neat.
The most collectable are the original 914-6s, but of course the low cost of ownership for some time meant there are a lot of motor-swapped 914s cruising around. Some are better than others and not all are desirable – I’d take an original and clean 914 over a poorly swapped car. But some really grab attention, as this Signal Orange 2.2-swapped car did to me:
The 964 Porsche 911 RS America has all the ingredients of being a highly coveted 911 with its low production run, driver-focused options (or lack there of), and clout for wearing an RS badge. Prices have reflected that with some examples hitting $150,000 for the absolute best ones you can find, but on the other end of the price range you could argue that it is really good value. Never one to overpay for something, I wanted to look at this 1993 up for sale in Florida that has a few modifications, and which also has over 81,000 miles. As track-focused as these were, many buyers keep these as the weekend toy that doesn’t move much, so seeing one with that many miles is a little bit of a surprise to me. Is the buy in worth it given the above average miles? I’ll at least try to make some sense of it.
There are rare Porsches, and then there are rare Porsches. The 968 Turbo S is a car that very few will ever get to see and a fair amount of Porsche enthusiasts in the U.S. don’t even know exists. The ultimate streetable front-engined Turbo coupe from the end of the run, the Turbo S took the old 2.5 8V turbo inline-4 to new heights of power by utilizing the newer S2/968 3.0 block with the earlier 944 Turbo S bits on top. Power reached over 300, a healthy bump over the existing 944 turbo and 968 16v. But there were only a handful made – around 14 between racing and street versions, making it one of the rarest Porsches ever made. This means you’re not likely to see one anytime soon – making the prospect of owning this replica much more appealing:
When it rains, it pours, I suppose. A few weeks ago I took a look at a 2005 Porsche 911 Turbo S that featured a paint-to-sample exterior and a Porsche Exclusive interior. Those words sound fine as your read them, but when you actually see the color combo that was picked, it might be a different story. Surprisingly, a fair amount of people actually like it and more power to them, it was different, I give you that. As luck would have it, another 996 Turbo S with a Paint-to-Sample color and a CXX interior popped up for sale, this time in Germany. As you can see, this one is a little more on the conservative side, but even more brilliant in my eyes.
