A single collection of nine Porsches collectively valued at almost £4 million will star at Artcurial’s new auction in Paris on Monday 17thJune, Automobile en Scène. No great surprise, perhaps, until you realise that all the cars are comparatively recent road models, showing how even cars of the 1990s and 2000s can quickly shoot up in value if selected carefully.
French Porsche enthusiast Eric Coicaud from Normandy certainly selected his cars with care, spending 12 years assembling the collection. All but one, a bright red Porsche Carrera GT, are 911s, but not just any 911s: all are exclusive in some way, and as a result rarer than the average Porsche. No surprise for guessing that RS, GT and Speedster are some of the badges…
With an average value today of around £440,000 each, their worth now is far in excess of their prices when new. The moral of the story? Buy limited editions!
Here’s a quick rundown on what for many would surely be the perfect Porsche nine-car garage.
The oldest car in the collection is a mere 30-year-old: a Speedster version of the last 3.2-litre G-series Carreras produced in limited numbers in 1989. The latterday tribute to its 356 Speedster forebear arrived with Speedster-like looks thanks to cut-down windscreen and double-bubble rear tonneau panel. Red with a black leather interior, the car in the sale has covered 49,000km.
Fewer than 1,000 964 Speedsters were made. This car is an original French delivered model which has had only two owners since 1996. Black inside and out, it has covered 22,500km.
Another two-owner car, with just 7,200km showing and freshly serviced, there were only 356 Speedsters of this 997-gen 911 made and all sold out within days when new. You could only get the car in Carrera White or blue like this example. It was based on the Carrera S platform with 3.8-litre flat-six engine producing 408bhp for 186mph performance.
This was Porsche’s attempt to inject some retro 911 style into the 997. It’s bit of an eye-catcher, too, with its double-bubble roof and ducktail spoiler harking back to the Carrera RS of the 1970s. Only 250 Sport Classics were made for the world and this is number 60. It has covered 26,400km with known history from new.
The rarest of them all: just 55 RS 3.8s were made as roadgoing homologation specials for the 964 race car, which won the GT class at Le Mans on its first outing there in 1993. Hand built in Weissach, honed by the great Walter Röhrl, the RS 3.8 was a race car for the road with less weight, more power (300bhp) and improved aero from the twin-blade rear wing. This is a two-owner car that’s covered 61,000km and has been newly repainted in its original light yellow.
One of the first cars in Coicaud’s Porsche collection, the 993 RS is the last Rennsport air-cooled model, so sought after for that as well as the fact that only just over 1,000 were made. One of the collection’s most used cars, it shows 117,000km and has the service history to back it up. Despite the RS badging, and no rear seats, door cards or sound-deadening, it is fitted with a few luxuries like leather adjustable sports seats, air-con and an audio system.
A competition car for the road, with its twin-turbo 3.6-litre engine and 430bhp in a car devoid of unnecessary weight, the 993 GT2 is rare – just 172 road versions made – and certainly valuable, with its pre-sale estimate of over a million euros. Wide-bodied, with an adjustable rear wing and suspension, this sensational car looks like the million it will cost someone, in Grand Prix white with 18-inch Speedline wheels. And it would definitely go as well as it looks…
The only non-911 in the collection is a Carrera GT from 2005, Porsche’s mid-engined monster that in its day set out to be the fastest car around. Its cause was helped by a 5.7-litre V10 engine pumping out 612bhp at 8,000rpm for 0-125mph in 9.9 seconds and a top speed of over 200mph. Three owners, one of only 1,269 built, Guards Red and 12,000km showing, it’s a fine example of the “last analogue supercar”.
Just over 1,000 Carrera RSs were built from 1995-96, but it’s thought only 200 of them were Club Sport models. The CS cars are identified by deep front spoiler and twin blade rear wing, as fitted to the GT2. They were all extensively strengthened and lightened as well, as much as 100kg lighter than a regular 993 despite the roll cage: this was after all a competition machine for the road, with the lowered body and adjustable suspension to prove it. Almost €80,000 was recently spent making this one perfect in a renovation competition among French Porsche dealers.
Artcurial’s Automobiles en Scènesale is in the Théâtre du Rond-Point, Paris, on 17 June 2019. Images courtesy of Artcurial
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