If I’m honest, I was a bit disappointed with the Larz Anderson Auto Museum German Car Day. The main reason why was that in some ways it turned in to a new car show, with basically brand new models turning up on the lawn. As an enthusiast, I’m torn in two different directions by this. The positive side of me says that I should embrace all enthusiasts irrespective of their origin. After all, if I walked in to a dealer today and purchased a brand new M4 I’d feel pretty proud of it too. But the cynical side of me says sure, but I can drive down the road to the dealership an see the exact same car. It wasn’t just BMWs, though – there were brand new Audis, Volkswagens and Porsches present too. In fact, the number of new or very close to new cars seemed to outweigh the number of cars more than 10 years old. Am I just a curmudgeon? Perhaps, and considering I showed up in a relatively new car maybe its hypocritical of me to question other’s presence there. But it seems as though, in part, the generation of enthusiasts that is currently emerging in this soundbite, disposable world is just looking for what is newest and flashiest. Want to go fast with the top down? It doesn’t come much flashier than the 911 Turbo Cabriolet.
But I’m not talking about this 2009 Turbo Cab. No, I’m talking about the brand new 991.2 Turbo S Cabriolet. With 580 horsepower on tap, there isn’t much outside of a S1000RR that can keep up – and if you’re in launch mode, you can leave the bike behind off the line. It’s full of technical highlights and gadgetry that will make any silicon valley executive proud to call it their ride of choice. But there are two very big reasons why I’d choose this older 997 model over a brand new car. First is the price; with no options selected, the base Turbo Cabriolet stickers at $170,000 with the S commanding a further $30,000 premium. Despite nearly new condition, this 997 is available at half that rate as it’s no longer the biggest, baddest or newest stick on the market. But the second reason has more to do with that stick.
You can’t get a manual transmission.
Much has been made of this and truth told the newest automatics truly are amazing. But as the classic Porsche mantra has been driver engagement, and it’s hard to claim a manual is less engaging than an automatic no matter how quickly it shifts. This car may not be the last turbocharged drop-top from Porsche, but it does seem to currently seem to signal an end of an era at the company, and if history has told us anything about the cars from Stuttgart it is to pay attention to those changes:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2009 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet at Sun Valley Autos
Year: 2009
Model: 911 Turbo Cabriolet
Engine: 3.6 liter twin-turbocharged flat-6
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Mileage: 4,408 mi
Price: $94,995
We have a pinnacle Porsche cabriolet for sale in our showroom. What makes it a pinnacle Porsche? The fact that it is the last dry stump, twin turbo, six speed cabriolet produced. Many enthusiasts assume Porsche will never make a car like this again. And that makes this a true collectable. We have been trying to locate some production numbers for a manual turbo cab. All we could find was a sales press release from 2009. Porsche reportedly sold 551 Turbo cabs for the year. Considering Porsche only builds about 10% of their modern cars with manual transmissions it is safe to say this is a very rare car. And then this car is spec’d out with the optional LSD with torque vectoring. With 480 horsepower and 500 foot pounds of torque this is a super car dressed in sheep’s clothing.
With 4,408 miles from new this car is in showroom condition. Starting out life in Portland Oregon this 997 has lived its entire life in the North West of the USA. It changed hands in the spring of 2015 and was brought to a Porsche collector’s garage here in Ketchum Idaho. It was sold as a Certified Pre-Owned Porsche. That means this 997 received a full inspection and major maintenance by Sunset Imports. We have the records. Presented in a handsome Meteor Gray Metallic over Black leather interior you will not be able to find a flaw on the car. The car has been tastefully optioned with the following;
Painted side skirts
Painted center console
Sport seats with painted back
Porsche crest headrests
Silver stopwatch face
Porsche Torque Vectoring with LSD
Heated seats
Power sport seats
Multi function steering wheel
Bluetooth
Sport chrono dial
Floor mats
Universal multimedia interface
Watch our test drive video and then give Shep a call at 208-721-1973 or Max at 208-720-8854.
The Porsche grays are always handsome and this is no different, so though it’s not an adventurous color like some it will be appreciated by a very large swath of the market. Few would be able to tell this car from brand new despite the 7 years accrued; few miles and near perfect condition are the highlights, and since it’s pretty new it still has a lot of grunt. Granted, it won’t keep up with the newest 991s, but with close to 500 horsepower it’ll run with just about any sports car you can come across and the clever chassis dynamics eliminated much of the typical Cabriolet faults so these 997s are just as fast as the coupes. It’s hard to predict where the market will go on these cars, but given the limited production and end of an era build specification, it’s a safe bet to say there will be a crowd who appreciates these cars in the future even if they’re not brand new.
-Carter
