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I’m not exactly breaking any news here, but we are 25-years deep and then some on the 993 Porsche 911 chassis and it is aging extremely well. All the way from the base Carrera 2 up to the Turbo S and GT models, the models are desired and are probably going to stay that way. Naturally any starting point when dipping your toe in the 993 world is the Carrera 2 as it offers all the purity of the rear-wheel drive air-cooled 911 without spending over $100,000. This example up for sale in North Carolina is exactly that.
Earlier this week I came across a Porsche Cayman S finished in the wonderful Forest Green Metallic. As much as I wanted to jump all over it, a bunch of things added up that probably had me passing on it. As luck would have it, a really early 996 happen to pop up for sale in upstate New York that of course had me taking a closer look. It is your typical 1999 Carrera 2 with the “fried egg” headlights, orange taillights, and maybe not the most opulent interior ever. Still, the value you can get from a 996.1 is there, so why not make the best of it with one in a good color combo?
Two decades in, is it finally time for the 996 Porsche 911? Personally, I think so. Our negative feelings on things generally seem to wane over time, and after 20 years, that seems to be the case for the 996.1. Are we looking at 964 and 993 levels of appreciation? Of course not. But I do think that these will slowly become less of a black sheep of the 911 family and more of just an entry-level into the 911 family.
Today’s car, a 1999 up for sale Nebraska, looks most certainly to be one the prime examples to snatch up. It’s classic Arctic Silver Metallic over a Boxster Red special leather interior, and just to top it all off, it has just 29,000 miles. This one will be a fight.
The 997.1 Porsche 911 is probably my favorite “budget” 911. I wish I could put “budget” in size 82 font quotation marks given we are talking Porsche here, but in the grand scheme of things where a new base 992 C2 is $100,000, your buck doesn’t go very far these days. Now you are probably saying, “What about the 996?” And yes, you are right. But given the very small price difference between the 996 and 997.1, I think it is the perfect sweet spot of having a modern 911 without spending over $50,000 just to get a seat at the table. Today’s 997 has my favorite Lobster Fork wheels and isn’t a boring color. There’s only one problem though – the transmission.
The 1989 model year was the final year of the torsion-bar 911, and only 1,156 US-market Carrera coupes were made. If that number seems low, it is because the 1989 was a split model year, as the 964s were also sold as 1989 models. Given that the 911 basically looked the same from 1974 to 1989, I can’t imagine it was a fun job trying to sell these 1989 911s when new when totally new 964s were sitting in the showroom. Now some 30 years later, most seek these out for the G50 gearbox and special options like the sport seats. They bring a slight premium over the older 911s with the 915 gearboxes, but at the end of the day its all about condition, mileage, and options. This example caught my eye up for sale in Idaho is finished in classic Carrera White with matching Fuchs and blue interior. A fairly nice spec on its own. Mileage? Just under 121,000. So a potential nice driver-quality 911 for a decent price, right? Not so fast.
