Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Hard to believe we are here, or maybe not, but the best of the best 996 Porsche 911 Turbos are transacting for over $100,000. I suppose it was inevitable as rising tides lift all boats, but I didn’t see it coming this fast. Keep in mind I’m talking about the standard 996 Turbo, not the GT2 or GT3, as those are already well into their own categories of crazy growth. Still, would you take this over a classic 930 Turbo? I’m not sure.
In terms of pure value for money with the Porsche brand, the 944 S2 is way up there if you are hunting for a car that doesn’t cost $60,000. A half-decent coupe can still be acquired for $15,000, and the cabriolets are even a little cheaper. Even though these cars are going on 30 years old, they certainly aren’t slow. A healthy example can still put down a 0-60 time in 6.2 seconds, and even more surprisingly the can muster up a top speed of 150 mph. Yes, the maintenance can be pricey, especially when it comes to the timing belt service, but you wanted a Porsche, right?
Today, we are looking at a 1992 944 S2 coupe up for sale in Norwich, England, although I’m scratching my head at the model year. My understanding is that the production was done for all 944 models in 1991, so it’s likely this dealer is going by the registration date rather than the production date. Whatever the case, it is finished in the very rare color of Maritime Blue and has a matching shade of blue on the inside as well. What’s not to like?
Have you ever wondered what a 986 Porsche Boxster would look like as a Cayman? Well, here we go. What we have today is a 2002 Porsche Boxster S with a Z-Art Zeintop hardtop. Normally, the 986 Boxster hardtop mirrored the shape of the soft top, but the aftermarket Zeintop added a hatch component that actually looks really nice. Naturally this isn’t something you pop on in 10 minutes, but once everything is bolted up, it seems to look pretty slick.
It is hard to believe that the original Porsche Boxster is turning 25 years old in 2022. When the concept was pitched back in the mid-90s, lots of people thought it was going to be a modern 550 Spyder, but in reality it was more like a 914. Performance was extremely lacking and the styling that was shown during the concept ending up getting beaten to death by the engineers and accountants when it was all said and done. Now 25 years later, the Boxster is a serious performance car with the GTS 4.0 and the 718 Spyder hatched by the GT department. Of course, Porsche never being one to pass up a special edition, they launched the Boxster 25 Years. Yeah, that is the name.
Just 1,250 will be made in either GT Silver Metallic to mimic the original concept, as well as Jet Black and Carrara White. All have the gold wheels and gold accents, and the interior can either be black leather or the Bordeaux Red. From there, go nuts with your typical 718 options – although the carbon buckets aren’t offered. For the powerplant, they went with the 4.0 from the GTS, not the 4.0 from the GT4/Spyder. Still, that is absolutely nothing to complain about with 394 horsepower and 309 lb-ft of torque, along with a 0 to 60 mph time in 4.1 seconds with the PDK gearbox. That is really fast. Starting price is just over $100,000, which is just $2,000 more than the 718 Spyder if you can believe that. This example up for sale in North Carolina with just 36 miles? We might have a new leader in the clubhouse for mark-up.
By the back half of 2004, Porsche was full steam ahead with the launch of the 997 chassis for 2005, but they still had some unfinished business with the 996. Mainly this amounted to getting rid of all the leftover body shells and throwing all the parts bin stuff at the cars for high MSPRs to squeeze the last drop of juice out of the chassis. The 2005 model year for the 911 is hell for basically everyone having to deal with them as you could get a C2 cabriolet, Turbo, and GT3 in the 996 body as a 2005 model year, but the rest of the model range was now a 997. Even stranger was that if you wanted a 2005 911 Cabriolet, the base Carrera was a 996, but the Carrera S was a 997. Try having to pitch that as salesmen to potential buyers. Today’s car, a 911 Turbo S Cabriolet, was a full on “throw all the options on it to clear out the space we need in hopes someone buys it for a margin” kind of build. This car carried an MSRP of nearly $160,000 and was not shy about going a little over board equipment. Now? Not much of a discount, honestly.
