Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
When it comes to the argument of which Porsche 911 is the king of the hill, you won’t see me dismiss the 997 GT3 RS 4.0. Porsche and the GT team basically did everything they could to crank 500 horsepower out of a flat-six squeezed in the back of the 997. At the time, this was supposed to be the last GT car with a true six-speed manual. So when these dropped, all 600 were jumped on like wild dogs on meat. Now ten years later, double the MSRP and you can take one home. Fair deal?
I had a dream that one day I’ll own a Porsche. Well, to be fair, I have dreams that I’ll own a lot of cars. But a Porsche is definitely on the short list of “top 1,000 potential cars”, anyway. It probably won’t come as any surprise that I’d like to own something not quite like what everyone else owns. And that brings me to today’s car.
The 997 Turbo was introduced in 2006 and, once again, redefined and raised the benchmark for performance in its category. With the best part of 475 horsepower on tap, it produced nearly 10% more power out of the box than the X50 package had only the prior generation. Porsche being Porsche, that was not enough; in 2009, the car was redesigned and the lighter engine was now up to 493 horsepower. And in 2010, Porsche kicked it up another notch with the introduction of the Turbo S.
The Turbo S had all of Porsche’s cutting-edge technology. Carbon-ceramic brakes, the PDK transmission, torque vectoring; if you could name it, it was on the Turbo S. These cars had 520 plus horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque; pound for pound, these cars were quicker than the supercar Carrera GT had been just a few years earlier. Today, pricing has come down as they’re not the biggest and brightest star anymore, but they still seem pretty special – and this one is just plain gorgeous to me:
The 997.2 Porsche 911 Targa was the last of the sliding roof versions that started with the 993 and ended with the intro of the 991 generation that got extremely complicated. Without looking close enough, you can assume that they are just regular coupes and maybe that is what Porsche was going for. If you happen to see one, they are rare. Only about 3,000 997.2 Targas were made, as compared to the 10s of thousands in the regular coupe bodies. This 2009 for sale in Washington is finished in the classic Carrara White with the Cocoa special leather. The perfect daily driver?
One of the crazier things I’ve ever seen in the car industry is the Porsche 911 Turbo S 918 Spyder Edition. If you don’t know the back story, lets settle in for a very quick story.
When Porsche was selecting their very best clients to purchase the upcoming 918 Spyder for $845,000, they decided to offer a 911 Turbo S called the “Edition 918 Spyder” to those same buyers. It was a 997.2 Turbo S finished in either black or silver with acid green accents to match those of the 918. Each one was “numbers-matching” to their 918 and rumor has it every 918 owner took up Porsche’s offer on these, although that is disputed in some circles. The price? $160,700 for the coupe or $172,100 for the convertible. Nothing like a good old fashion upsell to the tune of six-figures. Over the years, these cars have parted ways with the matching 918 given they made 918 of them in total. Naturally, these pop up for sale every once in a while and oh boy, they are not cheap.
Last week I took a look at a very interesting 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo that garnered some discussion and even some people saying they really like it. Outside of the optional and very expensive carbon ceramic brakes, it looked like a pretty standard 997 Turbo. Then you peeked inside the windows and knew this wasn’t your typical example that dentist in the nice part of town leases every three years. No standard black leather here, this was Palm Green. Granted, a very subdued green, but still not something you’ll see everyday nor, for that matter, almost ever. Personally, I loved it. Give me the slightly-wild color combos everyday.
Wouldn’t you know, our friend at Switch Cars just happened to have another 997 in a seemingly restrained exterior color but a wild interior. Brace yourself, this one is a little bit more loud than Palm Green.
