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Week after week, Porsche prices seem to climb further and further, with no end in sight. What is it that makes the vintage Porsches so popular? Is it the performance? The engineering? Maybe because people are nostalgic and want to get away from the bloated models like the Cayenne and Panamera, as good as a drive they may be. One Porsche that seems to be holding the line a bit when it comes to values is the 968. But even these sports cars are starting to climb their way up the value ladder, like this well preserved 968 Coupe for sales in Pennsylvania. Equipped with the desirable 6-speed manual in Guards Red, this takes me back to the good old days when I still wanted a Porsche new out of the box from the showroom floor.
Here’s something kind of rare. And I mean that not necessarily as referring to this car in its own right, but rather as a rare appearance on our pages. For a variety of reasons we don’t feature the 996 very often outside of the 996TT and the GT2. That’s in part due to some of the reliability issues that have plagued 996 engines and in part (truthfully, in large part) to the incredible performance value that those two models, especially the 996TT, represent. But the 996, even in standard form, is itself a bit of a performance value when compared to its air-cooled predecessors so unique examples should still attract our notice. Any quick internet reading will tell all that most need to know about potential reliability issues of the 996, especially of the earlier examples like this one, but it’s not as if every 996 is a time bomb waiting to go off. So they should be approached with caution, but for the right price not outright ignored. Here we have one in a fairly interesting and rare color combination: a Mirage Metallic 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Coupe, located in New York, with a Boxster Red leather interior and 37,000 miles on it.
Many will correctly credit cars like the Boxster and Cayenne for giving us the solvency of Porsche and the more exotic models we love to look at daily. But back up to the 1980s, and while SUVs were popular unless you bought a Geländewagen your 4-wheel drive truck wasn’t coming from the Vaterland. The 1980s were just seeing the reemergence of the convertible, too, and the popular roadster concepts from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche were still a decade off (excusing the Z1, that is…). So how did Porsche manage to survive the 1980s? Well, they had some star power with the 928 and the 911 and 911 Turbo models were still popular, even if at the time everyone admitted they felt pretty ancient compared to the competition or even Porsche’s own lineup. No, what made Porsche successful in the 1980s was the 944. It’s hard to conceptualize how relatively successful it was, but especially considering the relatively high entry price and exclusivity of Porsche cars in general, it was positively a blockbuster. Porsche shifted a total of just over 113,000 944 models between 1982 and 1989, and nearly exactly half of them sold here in the United States. Today it’s not unusual to find a 944 still kicking around as a daily driver; solid build quality, reasonable fuel economy and relatively inexpensive repairs thanks to the more pedestrian inline-4 means that quite a few are still living today. Let’s also not forget that these were expensive and treasured items for many. Even so, few examples turn up for sale today in anywhere near the shape of this 1987 example at Sun Valley Autos:
Some cars just kind of smack me in the face with their beauty. Porsche’s 356 Cabriolet almost always is one of those cars. They possess a beauty that is very hard to find in modern machinery, while also showcasing the charm of a vintage automobile. The 356 Coupe calls to mind much more the shape of the 911, if a slightly overweight version (though it’s not overweight at all). They have a somewhat bulbous look. However, chop the top and suddenly the 356 is transformed into a lithe and elegant automobile that promises to treat you to the best of open-top cruising. It’s no wonder that the 356 Speedster was so initially popular for its combination of open-top appeal with a pared-down structure best suited to weekend racers. The 356 Cabriolet brings with it the usual refinements that the Speedster did without, but we still get a fairly simple machine with graceful lines and, in this case, a beautiful and vibrant red paint. The example here comes from just toward the end of the model’s production: a 1965 Porsche 356SC Cabriolet, located in North Carolina, with a reported 63,020 miles on it.
A little under a year and a half ago I took a look at one of the last vestiges of affordable classic Porsches – the “Poor Man’s” 924. This Bahama Blue Metallic example had covered a scant 39,000 miles under one claimed owner in its lifetime, but also showed a fair bit of age and had some non-original, incorrect paint work. At $6,500 in October 2014, it was too rich by my measure and it appears that I was right, as the car has re-emerged with a slightly lowered $6,000 asking price. Although the market has warmed slightly to the transaxle cars over that time, I still think this is a hard sell but it is a pretty cool alternative to similarly priced Volkswagen Rabbit or early Scirocco models.
The below post originally appeared on our site October 27, 2014:
