Air Cooled Prices Through the Roof - Panorama
 

Great article by Pete Stout in the new Panorama about air cooled Porsche pricing and where the ceiling might be. The Amelia Island RS car for $1.4 million looks like a copy of Seinfeld's "Dead Man's Car" (Comedians in Cars getting Coffee).

It's been enjoyable sharing some of my thoughts on this with Pete over the past few years. I had a 997, 997.2, 997 GT3, and in the end went "backwards" to a 993 C2S as my "keeper". I wanted a visceral car that I shifted myself and the 993 is the last of that breed.

The theoretical question of where the pricing ceiling is will continue to be debated for a very long time. When I purchased 3 years ago the pricing was pretty stable but trending up. A "base" car that might have been $50,000 then is $75,000 today (actual selling price). Asking prices for this "base" are pushing toward $100,000 already. While many see this as crazy, I understand it. For $100,000 you can get a CPO "modern" Porsche or you can get an "as new" 993 C2S. How "retro"! And if the purpose of spending $100,000 on a hobby car is to enjoy the experience, I suggest you would get as much enjoyment out of a 1990s air cooled 993 as you would out of a 997 or 991.

Well done Pete!

It becomes quite entertaining for those fortunate to be owners for sure!!

...comparable c4s was about 46-48k 2 years ago, 48-50k 1 year ago, 50k 6months ago and 52k 2 months. Yea sure some dealers got greedy and marked up their 993 WBs from 50 to 75, but those are dreams, when you can get 997 turbo for that money. What did amaze me is that 1 year ago there were about 120 993's listed on cars.com, today it's 60 and only one turbo (for $150k). So prices will continue to slowly tick up as many asset prices keep going up (houses, stocks etc.)

Not at all actually. If i wreck my 993, it will be very hard to replace it in this market without being out of pocket

With all the new 991 cars I see driving around these days that cost well north of $100k... $100k for as new 993C2S does not seem bad considering it will remain the same value or possibly increase, while the 991 with depreciate maybe 50% of the next 5-6 years.

On the flip side, people that can pay over $100k and not get hurt on a depreciating asset probably don't give a damn.

And I believe there are a good people that don't give a damn about cars that are buying the classics as collectables, further driving the market on aircooled cars.

+1

You know, I don't look at this as good on any level. I didn't buy the car as an investment, I bought it to enjoy it. Because the value is rising I have to think more about insurance, pay higher premiums for higher coverages, be more concerned about theft, etc. And our sport / hobby is being negatively impacted and the barrier of entry is higher, keeping more enthusiasts out of the market. All for what - so some speculators can score or investors / collectors can add one more car to their private rarely driven or seen stable?

I always loved how up until a few years ago anybody with $15-20k could buy and enjoy an air cooled "driver"...

**ignore

Enjoy but don't wreck you car doing it!!

Definitely agree with this assessment of C4S pricing.

964 C2/C4 manual coupes are going up even more dramatically. People are buying sight unseen and often without inspection.

I do agree that it is a shame. The 964 and 993 are special cars that should be enjoyed without worrying about value.

Why is everyone so totally obsessed with wrecking their car? Most of our cars' values come in a little north of the Accord/Camry/Maxima range. It's just a car. Drive it. It's not like you will lose your home if it gets dinged.

Ok mr. high roller, it costs more like 2 accords. I have no problem driving mine, but I don't have unlimited resources to spend on cars.

I'm happy that the value has gone up since I bought mine, which has NEVER happened when I've bought anything other than my home. It's a nice feeling to know I'm not really losing any $, just have to have my collector car insurance policy adjusted to match current market values :)

haha, trust me, I enjoy mine more than many on this forum :icon107:
I'm inspired by Rich's 300k mile cab...but it will take me 50 years to get to that level.

My thoughts exactly...I saw 993 as an entry point into Porsche/911 because I don't have 100k to spend on a new one. I can't even get the collector insurance because I drive too much.