gnosis

Greetings all,

I'm interested to know who in the world bought the last new 968. This car won't be the last serial number, because some cars would have sat at a dealership for some time before being sold. But someone out there must be able to confirm the very last original purchase and delivery date of their 968. All the better if they were the one that actually made the purchase and the car is still in their possession.

I know there was a new 968CS in Australia that was bought from a Porsche dealership in May 1996. I can confirm this with certainty because the buyer was me :-) As far as I am aware, this car was the last new 968 to be sold in Australia, the remaining one being a high kilometre demonstrator that was being driven daily by the owner of a Sydney Porsche dealership (which in my opinion counts it out since it already had its first owner).

Is there anyone who can make a claim for a date later than May 1996?

There's a claim in the May 2003 issue of Excellence magazine that a bloke called Rich Tillotson bought what is apparently the last 968 sold in the US. He makes the claim that all non-standard colours were made after the run of standard colours. That's all well and good, but the article doesn't say when exactly the car was delivered to its first owner. Since it had to roll off the assembly line to be painted by special order, it was probably delivered very close to the end of the manufacture date of the last few cars. But this leaves all those cars out there that were still sitting in dealerships waiting for buyers. I figure there would be quite a few of them.

If anyone has the lowdown on this subject I'd love to hear it. I'd love to find the very last 968 sold, wherever it may be. And I'd really love it to be mine! (fingers crossed).

Cheers,

Clayton

Damian in NJ

I was told my car was purchased in June of 96, IIRC. I guess if I really had to I could contact the original purchaser. Do I win a prize if I can document this??

gnosis

Well I think the prize of having the very last 968 sold in the whole world is a prize in itself. And if you're right then I'm out of the running already :-(

It's apparently possible to get a Certificate of Authenticity from Porsche Cars North America, and I assume other countries' dealer networks too. I will do that for mine soon, and I'd recommend that you do it too if you want to find out the real story behind your car.

It would be very interesting to see if your car is later than the one in the Excellence magazine, wouldn't it?

Clayton

Damian in NJ

The Cardex doesn't give the 'sold' day, only the build date. (Or at least it doesn't on the three Certificates I've had for my 944, my first 968 coupe and now the cab).

I have called the previous (second) owner, he's out until tonight. He'll be able to confirm the sold day to me I think. If not I'll try and get the information out of the dealer that sold the car, maybe they know. Is the first registration date on a Carfax? Next time someone has an open account we could all run our cars and see when they were first registered.

gnosis

Is Carfax only good for US registrations? It won't accept my VIN.

As for the Cardex not listing the sold date, I guess that would be recorded by the dealer or the factory if was possible to buy the cars directly from the factory. I would have thought Porsche would keep a record of all new car sales, but maybe that's asking too much.

Knowing the last build date would be good too.

Clayton

Damian in NJ

Ust checked, the build date is not on the Cardex. I'll check the build date on the chassis tomorrow.

gnosis

I guess we have three different things here:

1. Highest VIN
2. Latest build date
3. Latest new sale date

It'd be a nice thing to have in a 968 register.

My build date is September 1994, and the plate below that in the engine bay has a date of 2/95 along with the VIN, which is WP0ZZZ96ZSS815236. I presume this date was stamped when the car was delivered to Australia.

Clayton

Damian in NJ

My vin ends in 840 144.

gnosis

And it's an S series, right? The last S series Cab number is 366.

Clayton

jeff968

Clayton, Hi, my name is Jeff Coe and I'm the 968 historian for the PCA 968 register. I currently have a database of over 300 968 cab VINs I have been collecting over the years. As for your question, I have a document from Porsche somewhere that shows the US 968s sales. Sure enough, there were a handful of 968s "sold" in the US in 1996. I don't really think there is any additional collector value for a the last car sold. I have a friend who has a 1997 Prowler which he purchased and has yet to register. I know of a dealer near me where the owner has a 1989 Saleen mustang that is new and they are still holding on to. Have either of these cars been "sold"? To me, the one with the most collector value are the cars with the interesting VINs. Last year, at our hershey meeting the 2nd to the last 968 cab sold in the US was in attendance. The last car would be worth some extra money as well as the first couple of cars. These cars usually have some interesting history around them (factory/dealer demo cars). All the 968s are unique but some are very unusual because of colors or options. Those attributes add value. I know the car you are talking about. The yellow car from Florida? His car is very strange because it has a VIN which is higher then the published US sales. I have never seen the car but if it is legit, then the color and the VIN add more value.

Damian, all you have to do to answer your question is call Porsche customer service and ask for the in-service date. They have this info on file as that is when the warranty started. They'll also tell you the dealer that sold the car new. I remember that Bob didn't have much history on the car. Maybe if you contact the dealer they might have some.

gnosis

Hi Jeff,

When it comes to collector value, I want to see all of our 968s go up! I think the best way to achieve this is to maintain and publish an accurate register, not just for the US, but for the whole world. This is especially important for revealing the little oddities that have occurred, such as the yellow car in the magazine, if they are verifiable.

I know www.968.net has a register, but after four attempts to get my car added to it, I've given up. I'd be happy to maintain an online register where people from all over the world can submit their entries, unless one already exists. If so, can someone point me to it?

Clayton

Damian in NJ

Clayton, my buld date is 5/94. The Porsche Club of America does have a 968 register, btw.

Damian in NJ

OK, here goes. My car was dealer prepped for sale on 5/18/96. First 2,500 mile service was in 98! Two years from build date to sale date, guess no one wanted a Speed Yellow cab back then!

jeff968

Clayton, It takes some efforts to keep my registry database going and I have just about enough time for the US cab DB. I have started a coupe DB. I agree, a worldwide DB would be great, I just don't see those cars here in the US. Porsche does have this information but they are sharing, yet. I think they all have some collector value some day but the unusual ones with interesting history will have more.

Damian, my car is similar in the mileage story. It had only 16K miles on it when it was turned in from the lease by the original owner. Maybe a mileage limit?

Jeff

grants_968

Don't exactly recall the date. I bought mine in 1994, and then encouraged a good friend to buy one. My friend subsequently bought a black 968 cab knowing the 968 had gone out of production, and as the Boxter was being introduced. At this time it only has 23K miles on it. Don't look for it to be offered for sale.