Porsche 911s have consistently slipped since their 2015-17 peak, right? Yes and no, depending on where you look. Take the 996 (first-gen watercooled 911s from 1997-on), the base model Carrera has made our top ten Price Guide Movers on the slide table in the latest issue with a 5.7% decline, meaning prices range from £7k to £25k depending on condition and confirming their position as the netry level 911.
Fears about catastrophic intermediate shaft bearing failure and the controversial ‘fried egg’ headlamp indicator unit styling dropped them low enough to make them too cheap to resist, leading to a gentle swelling of prices when every other previous 911 generation was growing even faster. Now that that’s almost over, they’re slipping again.
The 996 Turbo of course uses a stronger engine that evolved from the Hans Mezger-designed 911 GT1 race car and it too had enjoyed some growth, but it too is going the other way, down 2.7% to give a £23.5k-49.5k price range,depending on condition.
But not all turbos are blowing in the same direction, the 930 generation 3.3-litre Turbo built from 1978 to 1990 has crept into our Price Guide Movers on the up with a modest 1.6% growth. Bear in mind that these too benefitted strongly from the wider growth in Porsche prices. But despite that they never became disproportionately expensive for what is one of the most iconic cars of not just the Seventies, but the Eighties too.
It means that prices start around £30k for rough project cars, rising to £40k for presentable, usable examples and typically £67.5-90k buys something hard to fault. That’s a lot of performance and presence for the price of a dated if pretty Jaguar E-type. Which you prefer is likely to depend on which side of 1970 you were born.
Price Guide Movers is part of 23 pages of buying tips and advice, including Quentin Willson’s Hot Tips, Ads on Test, the Buying Guide and Price Guide Quarterly, produced in collaboration with Hagerty insurance, in the latest issue of Classic Cars.