Go big or go home, right? Just when I thought the $442,540 Porsche GT2 RS I looked at back in May couldn’t be top, someone tried. This 2018 GT2 RS Weissach up for sale in Toronto, Canada went totally crazy with a Python Green Chromoflare finish and an interior to try to match. I hope Santa brings you a truck full of money this year, because that is what you’ll need to take this one home.
As we near end days for gasoline-powered vehicles, I think we are going to look back at the first 20 years of the new millennium and say to ourselves, “They put what in what?!” Even in the days of $4.00 a gallon for fuel, V12-powered vehicles were in no short supply. All the German marques, with the exception of Porsche, had 12 cylinder vehicles in their line-up and most of them were equipped with a pair of turbochargers. The big sedans and coupes? Sure that makes sense. A lumbering hulk of a SUV that has been in its same body since 1991? Come again?
Somehow, someway, AMG figured out a way to squeeze the M275 twin-turbo V12 into the G65 and boy did it not disappoint. Despite weighing over 6,300 pounds, a G65 AMG would get to 60mph in 5 seconds. That is scary. Even scarier? The price tag. These started at $215,000. Just to compare, the little brother G63 AMG was $150,000. Was the extra four cylinders worth another $75,000? I mean, if you play in the league of six-figure SUVs, why not?
I think the Porsche GT3 RS vs. Mercedes-AMG GT R debate is a pretty cut and dry one. One is like going to the symphony, while other is going to a rock concert. Both have their places and can be highly entertaining, and neither is in any way not a totally fulfilling machine. Of course the RS is the symphony with its precision skills and nearly flawless execution of nearly everything you can throw at it. While the GT R is the rock concert with its thrashing handling, roaring sound, and wildness that will keep you up to the edge and maybe even over it if you aren’t careful. Which would I chose? Oh man.
The winter months are here for some of us, but that won’t stop the seemingly never-ending offerings of Porsche 911s in wild colors. This 2018 Carrera 4S is finished in the slightly lighter hue of Riviera Blue with the matching brake calipers for extra points. Unlike Miami Blue that is an optional color on the 991 generation, Riviera is only reserved for the paint-to-sample program, so that means tack another $7,000 or so to the sticker. Of course, why stop there when it comes to the options, so a $112,000 base price for a Carrera 4S is now $156,970 when it is all said and done with the options. Now just 6,800 miles later, it is up for sale.
Another day, another classic Porsche color. This 2018 911 GT3 is finished in the historic color of Gulf Blue. I literally mean historic, as it was the main color the John Wyer-Gulf Oil Porsche 917 race cars that have become legendary not only for their performance on the race track, but the names that own the cars now some 50 years later. It was only offered as a production color on the 911 from 1972-1975 and that has been it until recently put in rotation in Porsche’s paint-to-sample program, which explains how this 991.2 GT3 wears it. Usually anyone who orders a Gulf Blue car starts finding little other things to paint orange, and this is exactly what happened here with orange calipers, rear wing script, and roll bar. However, this GT3 also has another thing that makes it unique, and surely explains why it is so cheap compared to other 991.2 examples.
We here at GCFSB are fans of colorful rides. And we’ve certainly seen our fair share of Porsche PTS rides or BMW’s Individual paint work. Audi even comes to the pages occasionally with its Exclusive program, or Mercedes-Benz and its designo tones. But if you’re a VW fan? Well, until recently, you were pretty hard up. But in 2018 Volkswagen announced it would do fans a solid and offer its range-topping Golf R with their Color Spektrum Program which would give you the choice of not one, not two, but some 40 different shades.
Of course, there’s a catch. The Golf R is already pretty pricey at $40,000 with few options. Tack on the Spektrum option and you’re paying another $2,500….and…..waiting. Few of these cars were ordered, meaning that if you really want one you either need to pony up or be very lucky. But an ’18 in the fetching but oddly-named ’91 Blue’ came up for auction with a seemingly very low entry price. What’s the rub?
After last week’s adventures in Paint to Sample, where a surprising number of people actually liked the color combo, I thought I’d go a little bit more traditional. As far as sports car tradition goes, it really doesn’t get more classic than British Racing Green, although it’s on a German car. This 2018 Porsche 911 Turbo S is not only a street legal rocket ship that is capable getting to 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 10.7 seconds, but also tame enough to be driven early single day. It also somehow manages to look like a 911, even though according to those numbers it has to be some kind of space rocket. What isn’t to love here?
I know I just said that we were on Passat overload, so why are we here again? Well, I certainly haven’t written up many newer Passats. And, truth told, while competent the U.S.-specific B7 Passat hasn’t really given many reasons for fans to celebrate. Instead of leading the market, VW chose to give consumers what they thought consumers wanted. They reacted….sorta. B7 sales spiked with its introduction in 2012 to 125,000 until in the U.S.; respectable for what has always been a slow seller for the company. That was more than the B6 ever sold in a single year by a factor of 2.5, for example. But every year since has been a downward slope; 110,000 in 2013, 96,000 in 2014, 78,000 for 2015, 73,000 in 2016, 60,000 for 2017 and just 41,400 for 2018. Sure, sales of normal sedans are slipping all around. Compare that to the Honda Accord; a popular, “sporty” alternative, and it’s drawn into sharper contrast. In 2018, Honda sold 291,000 Accords. And that was an uncharacteristically bad year for the model.
So to help prop up sales towards the end of the B7 run, Volkswagen introduced new trim packages – no surprise there. And one came out in 2018 called the “GT”. Now, traditionally VW hasn’t done a stellar job on its GT packages, but hear me out on this one – because it’s pretty special. Outside, the Passat GT distinguished itself with red-trim grill like the GTI, blacked out roof panel and big dual exhaust. 19″ ‘Tornado’ wheels filled the lowered arches; the GT was a bit over half an inch lower with stiffer shocks. Inside, contrasting stitching and two-tone sport seats were met with carbon-like and aluminum trim. But the real news was what made this car sing; under the hood was the 3.6 liter DOHC 24 valve narrow-angle VR6 rated at 280 horsepower and barking through that big exhaust. Shifts were handled solely by the DSG 6-speed dual-clutch box, meaning lightning-fast changes and a manual mode. While VW has seldom given you something for nothing, the Passat GT also rang in as one of the cheapest 6-cylinder cars you could buy last year – base price was $29,995, making it one of just three sub-$30,000 sixes on the market. But today, you can grab one a whole lot cheaper:
I’m a huge “Why buy this, when I can buy this for the same price?” kind of person. Very much so when it comes to cars. Obviously this can go very wrong when you need to spend $20,000 on a mini van for your family and you come home with a 2004 Maserati Coupe Cambiocorsa with the clutch hanging on for dear life. The next thing you know your writing a Craigslist ad with the first words being ***MUST SELL*** while calling your insurance company back to take the car off your policy. This kind of thinking isn’t so bad when it comes to cars that are meant to be cars that you aren’t hauling around your family to your mother-in-laws house. Case in point, Porsche 911.
The 991.2 Carrera 911 T was a car that Porsche certainly didn’t have to build. I went over the specifics of them before when I looked at one back in February, but the short of it is the car is mash-up for parts across the 911 range meant to be an “enthusiast option.” It slots in price wise between the Carrera and the Carrera S, and when looked at on paper, is a ton of a value when talking about new 911s. However, new 911s are still $100,000. So that brings me to never of ending question of do you buy this, or a boat load of other cars for around $100,000? Tough call in my eyes.
Last week I took a look at a paint-to-sample Porsche 911 that was finished in one of the wildest colors I’ve ever seen. There was no mistaking its flat out pink appearance and you weren’t fooling anyone if you tried to say it had a tint of red or purple in it. Today, I thought I’d check out another 911 in a paint-to-sample color, a 2018 GT3 Touring up for sale in Wisconsin. This color was the standard fee of what Porsche charges for custom colors of $12,830 only to have lots of other people decide they want to paint their GT3 this shade as well. What is this color? Viola Metallic. It is very much a silky looking purple that is very light unlike Ultra Violet. So while not off the charts crazy, still pretty wild. You in? If so, bring your checkbook.
