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I sort of don’t know what to make of this 911. I like the look. I was drawn to it immediately. I like the model itself: a 2005 Porsche 911 Carrera S Coupe with around 85K miles on it. Originally it was Seal Grey, now it wears a red full-body wrap. In general terms, the model itself is a fairly desirable one when considered for performance per dollar. But as should be entirely apparent it isn’t original. Nor are its modifications of the sort that I would think would really attract other buyers.
So I’m curious. I’m curious where bidding will take it. Like just about any modified car of this sort, in order to reach its asking price the right buyer – someone for whom these modifications are just right – will need to come along. Could you buy a similar 997 and perform these modifications and come in under the asking price? Probably not. Could you find a less expensive Carrera S Coupe that remains unmodified and is a lot of fun to drive? Certainly. It all comes down to what these modifications mean to you.
This 911 brings with it a nice confluence of attributes that should make it quite desirable. Assuming, of course, you’re seeking out all of those attributes. Here we have a 2005 Porsche 911 Turbo S Coupe located in Knoxville. It has the desirable 6-speed manual transmission and has done 61,419 miles. It also is equipped with the very rare Turbo Aerokit. We saw this aerokit recently on a standard 996TT and on that car it created quite a juxtaposition between the exterior and interior aspects of the car. On this Turbo S, there is no juxtaposition. It’s full menace and the aerokit simply provides an additional dose of aggression. In all black it may not turn heads, slipping by almost unnoticed, but for any driver it’s sure to leave an impression.
A couple weeks ago I featured this Speed Yellow 2005 C4S Coupe. It appeared to be an exceptional example of what is a generally unloved model. I stated in that post that I think bright colors really work in the 996’s favor when it comes to maximizing the attractive qualities of its exterior. However, not everyone wants a brightly colored exterior and Speed Yellow is about as bright as they come. Also, as much as I liked that C4S it was very expensive with a price well into good 996TT territory.
Here I hope to remedy those two problems. This is the same model 911, from the same model year right at the end of 996 production, so you get what is for me a better looking 996 and the sort of usability that always has made the C4S a worthy candidate for daily driver duties should that be your desire. Obviously it’s nearly the polar opposite in color. I’ll admit I could do without the tint, especially of the rear lenses, but otherwise where a Speed Yellow 911 will turn every head, this black one should allow you to cruise by (mostly) unnoticed. At 20,086 miles, the mileage is still quite low but it’s priced almost $20K less. That’s a lot of money for Speed Yellow and a few less miles.
A funny thing has been happening recently: I’ve begun to be attracted to the 996. The general design is one I never was a fan of during production and I can’t say those feelings ever changed. Yet here I am unable to take my eyes off of another 996. I do think there are some caveats. It is the slightly altered bodywork of the Turbo, the C4S, and the GT3 that I find very good looking. The standard 996 design still leaves me cold. And the interior is still mostly terrible. But I do find the peculiarities of the design and the way those come through on certain models to be quite alluring. They aren’t clean lines and I actually like that. The 997 certainly fixed much of this, and the 991 extended that even further, but perhaps it all became too clean. Perhaps following upon the beauty of the 993 Porsche thought they needed to make things a little uglier, a little more interesting. I don’t know, but I’m starting to think it worked.
Earlier this week I checked out a 1994 Mercedes-Benz E320 Cabriolet with just 6,700 miles on it with a price tag on it that had me running the other way. Today, we have another low mileage Mercedes, but this one is a little different style and a lot more power. This is a 2005 E55 AMG for sale in the Bay Area with just a little over 21,000 miles. It’s painted in the awesome Midnight Blue with black leather interior and my favorite trim, Birdseye Black Maple. Now that most of these W211 E55s have passed their 10th birthday, these supercharged sedans haven started to get really cheap compared to their original $75,000 price tag when new. But as for this car? Sadly you won’t be able to snag it up for $11,995. Not even close.
