Warning!
We have 15 years of archives. Links older than a year may have been updated to point to similar cars available to bid on eBay.
This site contains Ebay partner affiliate links, which may earn us a commission at no additional cost to you.
We’re experiencing some uncommon December warmth here in the Mid-Atlantic (and hopefully elsewhere as well) so why not reinvigorate our senses with a Cabriolet. Here we have a Slate Blue Metallic 1983 Porsche 911SC Cabriolet, located in California, with 116,526 miles on it. 1983 was the first year a true convertible was offered for the 911, a point that is somewhat surprising given Porsche’s penchant for producing sports cars featuring some form of open-top motoring. While the Soft-window Targa provided a nearly identical airiness it’s very limited production run – only produced from 1967 to 1969 – tends to set them apart from the rest of the 911s leaving us with only the standard Targa, with which we are very familiar. Granted, for a sports cars the lack of a Cabriolet isn’t necessarily a significant negative, but beginning with the 356 Porsche had demonstrated an ability to craft quality sports cars that were excellent performers even without a roof. Perhaps they felt the 911 was a different animal; perhaps they were concerned about increasingly stringent safety requirements – these had lead to their production of the Soft-window Targa in the first place. Whatever the reason the 911 was around nearly twenty years before a Cabriolet was produced and since that time they’ve always been with us.
It might not be the exact time of year one thinks of buying a convertible, but those of us living on the east coast of the United States experienced a bit of a warm snap in November. A welcome relief for those of us used to dealing with piles of snow. Time to buy a drop top, then? Maybe. If it’s a bit of the 1980s you’re looking to revisit, it doesn’t get much better than the iconic BMW E30 Convertible. This 1988 325i Convertible for sale in California is mostly original, looking sharp in the popular Zinnoberot over black leather, mated to what many consider to be one of the smoothest manual gearboxes in the business.
I’ve been on a little bit of a convertible kick this week – probably just wistfully imagining summer weather before winter fully arrives. Why not continue the trend with this Black on Black 2005 Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet, located in Florida, with 52,526 miles on it and the very desirable 6-speed manual transmission. The 997 sits in a really nice spot on the market these days, especially when considering these earlier examples. Porsche listened to many of the complaints regarding the 996’s design, particularly with regard to the headlights, and with the 997 we have a shape that is unmistakably a 911 when viewed from any angle. Admittedly, the 997 is not as curvy and sexy as the 993; on the 997 the lines have been smoothed and refined, but even if it doesn’t have the pure beauty of the 993 we’re a long way from the classic design. That’s not a knock on the classic design, but next to these modern 911s it is clear from which era each came. Add to the refined shape a 3.8 liter flat-six delivering 355 hp through a 6-speed transmission and you get a potent mix of performance and allure, but all for a price that is much lower. I would suspect given its asking price that this Carrera S would likely sell for less than the ’87 Carrera Cabriolet I featured on Monday. There are very good reasons for those price differences, but if you’re looking to drive the darn thing then the bang for your buck here is undeniable.
It is getting increasingly difficult to find reasonable values on the air-cooled 911 market and in some cases that requires we stretch our meaning of the term reasonable. Many would probably say we are long past the time when reasonable value could be found. When viewed strictly from a straight line performance standpoint there is some truth to that, but driving always has been about more than horsepower so I think we can still find options that connect and exhilarate. For many the appeal of open-top motoring only enhances the joy of driving so even though much of the country is rapidly slipping into the winter months we should still give a good Cabriolet our due consideration. I don’t know whether this one will end up as a reasonable value; at its current bidding it certainly qualifies as one, but as we saw last week asking prices have begun to get a little crazy for the 3.2 Carrera. But the mileage here isn’t ultra low so perhaps everything will come together nicely for what looks to be a good example of an early 911 Cabriolet. Here we have a Grand Prix White 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, located in Michigan, with Burgundy interior and around 75K miles on it.
It’s pretty remarkable that over a four year production span, just under 13,000 Porsche 968s were ever produced. You would think such a well-balanced, good looking sports coupe would have been more popular, but the limited production is a part of the 968s appeal these days, adding to its collectability for those looking for a less expensive air-cooled 911 option. With the introduction of the 944S2 Cabriolet in 1990, open-air flexibility was added to the equation; a tradition the 968 carried on with the car we see here, the 968 Cabriolet. This example for sale in New Jersey has just 53,000 miles on the clock and is equipped with the more desirable 6-speed manual.
