These cars (996) are still 911's. They will grow in value as every previous version has. They are unique. They are Porsche 911s.

 

Cheapest Porsche I ever bought was an ‘89 C4 back in early 2K, when that car was being ridiculed to scorn by the PCA “purists”.

MY1999 is the exact same thing. Probably even bigger.

And to say the 996 3-pedal Coupe will never be collectible was ignorant in 2017, but it’s downright absurd now as they’re already being collected.

 

There are many six-figure+ classic 911’s that are not Turbocharged. Probably more than are.

[QUOTE=joseph mitro;17504199]the garden variety non-Mezger[/wQUOTE]

 

I used to think that 996's were never going to be collectible until I noticed the examples for sale in Ontario up here in the great white north. Looking at Autotrader, I see:

1) As of today, there are only 2 996's for sub $30K CAD and they are both auto, one is a convertible, and they have driver mileage. When I purchased my car for $21,000 CAD, you could choose from a list of sub $30K 6 speed coupes.
2) When you get into $30K plus, all the examples are rebuilt, convertible, or auto until you come up to a $38K twin of my car. The car has 100K miles and someone swapped out the front amber lenses (rears are still on at least). My car had 60K miles and passed the PPI with flying colours and I paid nearly half.
3) Once you hit $40K you get into some hard top 6 speeds sharing space with 997's. The market has changed so much. Most of the quality examples are above $50K and are being sold by local Porsche dealers with additional fees attached (one has a $999 certification in addition to the listed price).

Out of all the sub $40K cars, there is only one 6 speed coupe I would consider seeing and it has $100K miles on it. Even the more expensive listings are mostly convertibles with just a few 6 speed coupes listed province wide spanning $40-$60K. This is one of the reasons I do not regret over-maintaining mine and opting for a elective FSI.

Fact is, quality 6 speed coupes are becoming increasingly rare and purchasing one of the cheap examples, such as the one listed on Jalopnik above, may turn into a game of hot potato, passing a car riddled with problems on to the next sucker.

 

Markets are unpredictable. All you can say is that thing that everybody already knows is not likely to move the market. Example: Too many 996's were produced therefore they will not become collectible. This is not information. The best definition of information is 'surprise'. Keep an eye out for that.

 

Sometimes I stop by the 997 forum, they like to completely skip the 996. From the 993, right into "the 997 is the last raw Porsche", disregarding that even low option no-nanny 996's are starting to command big money. Just something I find interesting.

 

Everyone's definition of what a "collectible" car is will vary, along with other estimations, such as rarity, desirability, etc. I don't have a hard number on what constitutes "rare", but if I can open up Craigslist in a midsize metro and regularly find that car listed, it's probably a good sign that it's not rare, or collectible.

People collect Corvettes too, and they're not worth anything.

 

Well, the reality is that the 996 has firmly entered 997 territory and is creeping up slowly into its higher price ranges. They don’t really need to acknowledge it... it’s already fact. I have a similar amount of people on the road chasing me down to give me a thumbs up or tell me nice car in my base 996.1 C2 as I did with my 997.2 C4S.

 

LOL! I collected comics as a kid and was always justifying it by quoting prices from the Guide. About 40 years ago my Dad gave me the simplest and best advice about determining the value of something you want to sell - It's only worth what someone will pay for it.

Any opinion about rarity, desirability, collectibility, etc. is pointless - emotion drives too many purchases and things no "experts" every thought would be worth anything become valuable because some celebrity bought one, wore one, ate one, etc....I mean c'mon, corvettes were driven by astronauts!

 

Some Corvettes are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. And many 996’s will be worth more than that. GT1’s already are.

 

The point is that most of them are worth nothing, the same way that most 996s are worth nothing.

The GT1 is a 993, not a 996.

 

Actually GT1 was homologated on two 911 model types.

The first was the Type 993 that DNF 1997 LeMans, for mechanical reasons.

The second GT1 was Type 996, that won Overall at 1998 LeMans. For mechanical reasons.

There are I believe 23 of those 996’s licensed for road use. All now worth more than twenty million dollars. Each.

FWIW there is no Corvette ever that won Overall at LeMans. Or that is worth anywhere near even one million dollars.

 

 

What dollar amount to you is worth nothing verse worth something? There's been plenty of $40k+ examples sold, and now breaking into $50k. Any clean, well documented example, is going to bring a premium now. The same thing goes for any older or newer Porsche, surely you can find a 964 or 993 for around $40k but it may not be completely sorted, the very nice examples bring in the big dough.

Maybe I'm an outlier but even $25k is hardly a "worth nothing" number, which those days for nice 996's are slipping away quicker and quicker.

 

Well, I think at least we can agree that those are worth something.

A market like this pulls along all sorts of garbage when money has nowhere else to go. The chaff gets picked last, and dumped first. In the end, most 996s will never appreciate like you think they will (that doesn't mean that prices will not continue to go up. If they do, it will not surprise me one bit).