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Rare enough. But occasionally you meet another one out there. When you figure out how rare, let me know.
You bet. So far I've gone through the first 100 records . . . this will definitely take some time. I figure I'll break it up in stages. Might take a few months, but my curiosity is getting the best of me.
I found it odd that an overwhelming majority of cars ('06 C4S Coupes) that I've looked at so far are Black with Sand Beige full leather interiors. And they were all optioned exactly the same (MSRP of $102,080). I wonder if Porsche, at the beginning of their production run, decided to build a bunch of the same exact car to introduce the new model to the market (2006 was the first year of the 997.1 C4/C4S)
I found it odd that an overwhelming majority of cars ('06 C4S Coupes) that I've looked at so far are Black with Sand Beige full leather interiors. And they were all optioned exactly the same (MSRP of $102,080). I wonder if Porsche, at the beginning of their production run, decided to build a bunch of the same exact car to introduce the new model to the market (2006 was the first year of the 997.1 C4/C4S)
They are called launch models. The '09 C4S launch model was particularly interesting as they were loaded and included pdk and the carbon bucket seats. I think it was Porsche's way of hinting that pdk is the way to go for those interested in tracking their cars
No, I can't get to the build sheets anymore without a username and password. I guess I will never know how many '06 C4S are out there that came with the X-51 and aerokit option. I can say there were none in the first 100 records I checked. But then again, most of them were the same "launch" vehicle as previously described.
A few months ago when the build sheet link was posted, someone predicted it would not be too long before Porsche took it down. They were absolutely right.
Seems odd --
Spend money to wall off something that costs you (essentially) nothing to maintain...
That is useful / interesting only to brand loyalists and enthusiasts....
And represents no threat to your intellectual property or business operations.
I also recently got a 2006 C4S black/beige with the "PAG code - Launch Code" under the additional equipment and started thinking about how many of these are out there.
These are the ones with MSRP $102,080 as lots of people have mentioned.
I read on this thread that at some point in January 2006 there were 64 new ones available.
It is also mentioned that in 2006, 1,064 C4S were imported in the US.
Of course, this number includes all the different 997 types (C2, C2S, C4, C4S, Turbo, Turbo S, GT2/3, etc.).
The important clue is that at minimum there is 1 of them built for each dealership in the US (I think they might have got 2 if they visited Germany or sth). That said, according to this, there are ~190 dealers in the US.
So, normally one would expect let's say ~200 launch 4S cars in the US.
From the 1,064 C4S imported in the US in 2006, which looks normal compared to the 12k models sold that year (there are 5x - 6x more S models that 4S), ~200 should have been launch cars (18%), i.e. 1 out of 6 C4S in 2006 were launch cars.
However, if you consider that in the following 2 years (2007, 2008), there were no launch cars, then this drops down to 5-6% of the 997.1 4S population.
2. CONCLUSIONS
This is not rare (<1% of population), it is however nice that you can find a decent number of cars in that year with loaded options and which typically are obtained by early adopters and are in some cases very well maintained.
Looking around on the internet, I could actually spot 6 of these cars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).
This is also the reconstructed MSRP:
Last edited by nikandriko; 06-19-2015 at 02:14 PM.
I also recently got a 2006 C4S black/beige with the "PAG code - Launch Code" under the additional equipment and started thinking about how many of these are out there.
These are the ones with MSRP $102,080 as lots of people have mentioned...
This is not rare (1-2% of population), it is however nice that you can find a decent number of cars in that year with loaded options and which typically are obtained by early adopters and are in some cases very well maintained.
Looking around on the internet, I could actually spot 3 of these cars (1, 2, 3).
This is also the reconstructed MSRP:
Totally agree with your reasoning on the launch edition numbers. The OP (Sniff) had an X51 with an aerokit...there are even fewer of those.
They are talking "rare" in the sense of collectible, classic etc. No 997 however it is optioned will meet that criteria. The 997 is not a rare car even if it came from the factory with an alcantra lined toilet in it and you happened to own one of three existant. It is still a 997 (a car I love dearly btw) if you get my drift. Insure it like the rest of us folks and drive it like it was meant to be driven
Other than packaged launch cars, which you could group. As they were built as showroom floor and showcasing. There are so many options, every car is unique. Full leather, 1/2 leather, painted center consul, spots seats, carbon, x51.
Rare? To me is limited production. If ordered they would build it.
I don't think a 997 is rare car.
Perhaps rare options?
The Ferrari 250 GTE used to be reasonably common. But everybody re bodied them to make them a more desirable model. Now there are non left, or hardly any left... thus rare.
I do think though there's something interesting about launch cars in that they're usually bought by early adopters who can't wait and grab one of the first cars available.
My car was originally bought in Tampa, Florida likely by an early adopter who later sold it at 25k miles on eBay.
The car is in extremely good condition and I think part of it is that there has been some self-selection bias in this process.
Since this 'PAG code - Launch code' has ignited my interest, I wrote a couple of scripts and I'm analyzing all the VIN codes of the 2006 S+4S cars.
Over a random sample of 362 analyzed cars so far (serial numbers from 500 to 2,000), I've found 49 launch cars, 47 of which are the $102,080 and there are also 2 at $142,445.
After roughly serial number 1,200, the launch cars stop. Extrapolating the sample stats, you get ~160 carsif the distribution is uniform which I expect it not to be as there should have been more launch cars produced over at the beginning, thus the end number when I analyze the full dataset should be close to 200 as previously calculated. The production of the launch cars seems to have started in July 2005 and lasted till September 2015.
Some interesting plots so far:
Last edited by nikandriko; 06-16-2015 at 03:16 PM.
And the distribution of the accessories. Keep in mind that this sample is a bit biased since it includes the launch cars and others loaded with accessories.
07-04-2014, 08:56 AM
