H2

In 5 years, I've only seen three other 968's on the road. Admittedly, I live in a rural area but I do travel to a lot of big cities in my work. Are we so few that 968's are a dying breed?

Anyone know how many were imported into the US? How many might be licensed (don't know how we'd find that out), how many might have been wrecked, and, ultimately, how many are left on the road.

Anyone know anything? Have a guess?

Harvey

potent951turbo

According to wikipedia here are the production numbers:

Model Year Production Rest of World US Notes
1992 5353 3913 1440
1993 3783 2701 1082
1994 2484 965 1519
1995 1156 532 624
Total 12776 8111 4665 4389 cabriolets, of which 2248 to US

*sorry about the numbers being bunched together, it won't come up spaced out like I had it before posting.

I would like to think that they were made in such low numbers that you just don't see them as much. I have seen several over the past few years out driving. I think a lot of the owners tend to have them as a toy, unlike so many 944's that get driven as DD's. Unfortunately, I am sure there have been a number of them totalled, parted out, and some turned into race cars. On the other hand there seems to be plenty for sale on autotrader when you do a total search, and they pop up regularly on ebay and other misc. sites. I am always keeping my eye out for one. So I think the main reason you don't see a lot of them is because of the low production numbers, and that owners tend to not drive them all the time.

SDDave

According to one of the charts I've seen, there were 2417 coupes and 2248 cabs imported to the US over the 4 years of production, for a grand total of 4665 968s in the US. At a little over a thousand a year average, that gives us exclusivity levels that rival most rare supercars...

There are a couple of registrys that try and track how many are still around- you can give them a try and see what their numbers are at the moment.

I can personally say that I'm in San Diego, and I've only seen one 968 on anything near a regular basis (saw the same guy a few times on a commute), and only MAYBE 2 or 3 others on the road once a piece. I'm not in all parts of San Diego all the time, obviously, but I can tell you that means there can't be THAT many here!!!

I wouldn't necessarily say the 968 is a "dying breed", just one that wasn't re-produced enough from the beginning to leave a very big legacy!!



Dave
San Diego

H2

As 968s in this small a number wear out or get totalled, the scarcity goes up. That's not many cars when you think about it.

Harvey

josephsc

'jeff968' has been diligently keeping track of 968 cabs based on things he sees on eBay, forums, etc, etc... The last post I saw (in August 2006), he had collected 550 unique VINs -- so I'd say the survival rate is above 25%.

User 41221

It amazes me when I hear folks talk about not seeing 968's in CA, as I can't imagine a better place to own one, particularly in San Diego, with the weather y'all have there.

I can personally think of nine 968's that I know of in the KC area, and at least three or four others in St Louis. And there's at least 5 or 6 that I have seen but not recognized the owners of.

Regards,

josephsc

I live in NorCal but work in SoCal -- and you definitely see greater preference for newer cars in SoCal. I think people in NorCal don't mind older cars as much, but people in SoCal has got to have the newest cars.

In Berkeley, I regularly see two other 968's (not including Rennlisters), a bunch of 944's and quite a few 914's and older 911's. In SoCal -- only Boxsters and water-cooled 911's. Maybe a 944 if you're in the dodgy neighborhoods.

Lord_Galva

There are 4 of us in Vacaville, CA. 2 coupes 2 cabrios. All are blk/blk except the other coupe which is dark blue. I wave and flash but they usually ignor me.

Renalicious

Apparently there are quite a few 968s here in vancouver (at least 10 or more), even then seeing one is rare. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one driving one around town. I see more Boxsters and 911s than any 944 / 928 / 924.

VGM911

Our own "sightings" (or lack thereof) are not reliable indicators regarding the number of 968s still on the road. As an example, here in New Jersey (which is a high per capita income state, having people who can afford expensive cars), I rarely see any Porsches of any type at all - yet that doesn't mean that Porsches are dying out. It only means that I don't see many.

The best source for determining how many 968s are on the road would be canvassing each state's motor vehicle department records. Anything else (even Porsche club membership lists, registries, etc.) would not be as accurate.

Then there's the matter of how many Porsches there might be that are used for track purposes and aren't registered for use on the road....

SDDave

I don't know, I think that's kinda like saying "Well you can't positively determine that there's a BUTT LOAD of Hondas on the road just because every other car you see is a Civic..."

I think it's VERY representative that you don't ever hardly see 968s on the road. Can you find the exact number by counting them that way... obviously not. But you can't determine the exact number of Ford Mustangs in your area by counting them either, but you CAN safely say that there are far too many of them on the road!!

Scientific... hardly. But the fact that I never see a 968 anywhere tells me that they are very rare, indeed.

Oh, and one place you can look to see how many 968s AREN'T left on the road is places like 20th Street Auto, and PartsHeaven. Every time I go to their site, it seems there's at least two or three poor 968s in their "recent wrecks" sections. If you figure two or three every couple months, that's 10-20 968s out of circulation every year... and that just counts a couple of the major Porsche-parter-outers!


Dave
San Diego

rpm's S2

At least 4-5 968s here in Raleigh. Suffice it to say that they are rare. Perhaps they cluster for safety?

Funny fact - Raleigh and eastern NC is a mecca for the 928. We have at least a dozen in the local PCA region. The main reason for this is a couple of local enthusiasts who buy, repair and sell them. While it is hard to find a good shark mechanic most places, around here it is easy. I have thought of buying one just because of the local support system - oh, and that 32 valve V8!

H2

Concerning 928s, cars in pristine condition keep coming out of the woodwork, cars that the orginal or 2nd owners only drove on sunny weekends, therefore great condition and low miles. Part of this is that the cars cost so much in the beginning. Cost for maintenance was not an issue for early owners but is today. Good cars surfacing.

On 968s, I'm not sure how many have been or still are "garage queens." That may have something to do with the number and condition of cars found today.

Both these cars were nice enough that owners went out of their way to baby them.

When I first got my 928 I tried the area mechanics and gave up and trailered my car one-way 300miles to a known acomplished 928 mechanic! That convinced me to start doing my own wrenching.

Because of the large number of 944s, there are some pretty good 968 Porsche mechanics running around. I would only have to drive 95 miles one way! They mostly deal with 911s but have done enough 944s so they know what they're doing....although it's claimed that the 968 is (what?) 80% new from the 944?

Harvey

Lemming

4-5 968's in B'ham that I see.