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There is always something fascinating about “time capsule” cars, even on stuff that isn’t all that old. I know the car I’m talking is far from new, but it is hard to believe the newest Porsche 996 Turbos are 14 years-old now. These cars were incredibly tough and more than reasonable to use as a daily driver, so that is what people did. I think from the 993 and prior, if you bought a 911 Turbo, that was a car that wasn’t leaving the garage on a Tuesday morning in November to drive to work when it was raining. In the 996 Turbo, go for it. And people did, lots of these have a healthy amount of miles and them and honestly, good for them. However, it looks like one example was spared to rain, along with basically everything else.
This 2003 up for sale in Florida has just 963 miles on it. Thats it, 963. How and why? No idea. If you want, bring a check with six-figures on it.
About a month ago, I came across a really nice 2002 Porsche 911 Turbo painted in Orient Red Metallic with just 9,900 miles on the odometer. Of course, it looks like it sold for $55,100, which I thought was a good buy, but then was relisted shortly after and was only bid to $44,000. Such is life trying to sell an expensive car on your own in 2020. As luck would have it another 996 Turbo in Orient Red popped up for sale, although this one has 72,000 miles and is a 5-speed Tiptronic, not the the 6-speed manual transaxle. What does that do for the price? Not much it seems.
Thinking back about last weeks 2002 Porsche 911 C4S and the reaction it got, I thought maybe it would be interesting to look at the other end of the 996 range for about the same price. The C2 was literally as basic as you could get with the 996 911 with the narrow body and rear wheel drive. At the time, maybe a bit boring, but now it seems to be a thing to have a basic, rear-wheel drive 911, and I even think Porsche realizes this too with their 911 Carrera T. Sadly, most of the C2s are well-used by now and often are found in disheveled condition. However, this 2004 up for sale California has thankfully be well-preserved. So is it this, or the C4S?
In my opinion, in terms of dollar for dollar value, there is no better Porsche 911 than the 996 Carrera 4S. It has all the looks of the 996 Turbo, but for about half the price. In terms of reliability, as long as you take care of the boogie man IMS bearing, these cars are solid. Inside, you can go as tame or as crazy as you want, as the “special requests” just started to gain traction with the rise of the interior in the early 2000s. Today’s car, a 2002 up for sale in Miami, is just about perfect in terms of the whole package. Arctic Silver over black, full carbon fiber trim, and some H&R lowering springs to get rid of the pesky wheel gap. Sign me up.
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I suppose you find what you look for, but it seems like I’ve been finding a whole slew of interesting 996 Porsche 911 Turbos of late. Case in point, this 2002 up for sale outside of Boston is finished in the not-so common Orient Red Metallic paint. Inside, it’s equally not as common with Natural Brown leather and the Light Wood trim package. Yes, it is a 6-speed manual gearbox car thankfully, and the best part? Just 9,800 miles. Now we are talking.
