I have just been reading a story in a UK Porsche magazine about the rapid rise in the value of classic 911 Porsches and in particular the rise in the value of long nose (pre 1974) 911s.It seems that in the US the rise in values is resulting in owners being unwilling to race or rally their cars and sadly early Porsches are being bought by affluent collectors who are putting them alongside their Gullwings and Bugattis -polished but very rarely driven.
Even the venerable RGruppe, the early 911 überenthusiasts group in California, apparently has members turning up for drives with later Porsches as they don't want to risk their early cars on the roads.This seems to negate the whole point of the group.
The Chinese have started to collect early 911s.I am sure that they will not be driving them on Chinese roads.
This sounds like good news for those of us who own early Porsches but really it is not good news if the number being driven slumps and if they are not racing.Porsches were built to be driven and raced not gawped at in private collections.Even I have succumbed to a certain degree as I decided last year that that my 1971 car is too valuable to risk on a race track even for soft events but it is still being driven on the road ,
The iconic 2.7 Carrera RS is leading the price charge and recently one with a strong competition history sold for over US $1.0m.Even the less loved Targas are on the rise.Later cars -particularly SCs- are also going up strongly.
Perhaps not surprisingly seeing how many of them there are now around the market for replica 2.7 Carrera RSs is soft and it seems that some owners now wish that they had not backdated their SCs as the donor cars will soon be worth more than the replicas they turned into.
On Wednesday at a Porsche specialist in Sydney I saw the most amazing 1973 2.4 911 S which had been totally restored with no expense spared.Apparently the attention to detail was so fastidious that even inside the door trims the correct screws and washers had been used.The car is quite extraordinary.A masterpiece and a very valuable one at that.Sadly I was not able to photograph the car as the owner wishes to keep a low profile.
And if you are interested in picking up a race/rally ready early 911 friend Brett has his up for sale see his SWB website SWB 911
Anyway some photos of Porsches including genuine and replica RSs and a wonderful early Targa.
Cool photos, John! I'm really glad to have stumbled upon your blog. Car hunting isn't an easy task, and it's nice to see certain options through the efforts of bloggers like you. We used to own a Porsche that looked like the car in the last photo. Sadly, I don't know who owns it at this time.
ReplyDeleteSarah Erwin @ Baldwin Subaru