Well, the Monterey auctions have come and gone, and I have to say I wasn’t really blown away by the numbers Porsche lots brought this time around, and only one lot really surprised me. There were certainly a few bargains had by savvy buyers, and some of the weekend’s biggest Porsche lots were either “No Sales”, or “No Shows”. There were only a couple of lots that exceeded their pre-auction estimates, and the vast majority were either on the low end of their estimate spectrum, or below. A whopping 27 Porsches left their respective auction stages without selling, accounting for more than a third of the lots. Is the Porsche market bubble on the downturn now?
RM Auctions
Total Porsches sold: 6
Total Porsche dollar value: $1,804,000
RM’s biggest Porsche lot, the Wynn’s/Hotchkis IMSA GTP 962 went unsold on Friday night, which is pretty telling. I know that this car was talked about a lot leading up to the sale, and the fact that not one person in Monterey on Friday wanted to buy it for a reasonable price was a bit surprising. The auction house did, however, manage to get pretty premium money for the rest of its vintage air-cooled lots. $440,000 for a speedster is a decidedly strong sale, and $308,000 for an early short-wheelbase car is nothing to sneeze at.
Lot 127 – 1986 Porsche 962 IMSA GTP “Wynn’s/Hotchkis”: No Sale
Lot 105 – 1961 Porsche 356B Cabriolet: $176,000
Lot 125 – 1955 Porsche 356 Continental Cabriolet: $330,000
Lot 128 – 1972 Porsche 911S 2.4L Targa: $242,000
Lot 223 – 1965 Porsche 911 2.0L: $308,000
Lot 250 – 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster: $440,000
Lot 257 – 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Speedster: $308,000
Bonhams Auction
Total Porsches sold: 8
Total Porsche dollar value: $3,212,000
Another Monterey auction, another headliner Porsche goes unsold. The 908/03 at Bonhams was a gorgeous car, and certainly deserved to reach the high end of its estimate (around $2 million), but the bidding just fell short. Surely this no-sale is a disappointment for the seller, for the auction house, and for the enthusiasts.
Ultimately, their top seller was a different Porsche race car, a 1974 Carrera RSR brought in $1.1 million dollars. A paltry sum, I’m sure, for a car with this kind of history. This 74 RSR ran at the Daytona 24 hour race 8 times, and the Sebring 12 hour race 7 times, not to mention countless other races, and it’s hard to find history like that. I’d call this one a good buy.
Bonhams also sported a ‘tale of two Carreras’, in which one 2.7 RS sold for just shy of a million dollars, and another 2.7 RS sold for less than half that. The main difference? The original numbers-matching engine. The car that sold for $462,000 was ostensibly the better car, as it was the more original body of the two. The near-million dollar car on the other hand, has been restored twice, repainted a handful of times, and some rust repaired. Both cars are immaculately presented, but the half-price Carrera had suffered an engine fire almost 25 years ago, and the 2.7 liter engine in the car now was not the same one that was in it in 1973. Is that worth $500 grand? The market seems to think so.
Lot 234 – 1969 Porsche 908/03 Spyder: No Sale
Lot 238 – 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7L: $935,000
Lot 241 – 1959 Porsche 356A Cabriolet: No Sale
Lot 246 – 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0L: $1,100,000
Lot 253 – 1973 Porsche 911S 2.4L: $176,000
Lot 259 – 1960 Porsche 356B Super 90 Cabriolet: $126,500
Lot 294 – 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7L: $462,000
Lot 296 – 1970 Porsche 911S 2.2L: $165,000
Lot 306 – 1964 Porsche 356C Cabriolet: $192,500
Lot 307 – 1958 Porsche 356A Coupe Prepared for La Carrera Panamericana Rally: $55,000
Gooding & Co.
Total Porsches sold: 14
Total Porsche dollar value: $6,002,750
Unlike the other sales, almost everything Gooding brought up to the stand went out with a hammer fall sale. Their sales were solid, and their cars were well up in the 6 figures. A 58 Speedster at $415 grand, a 65 911 at a whopping $405 grand, and a Carrera 2 Coupe at a touch over half-a-mil are all very strong for their markets, and the sellers are probably pretty happy with their Gooding & Co. experience. I can’t help but think of the potentially higher dollars that might have been gotten with a 917K headliner, but alas its all academics at this point.
With the 917 sitting this sale out, the big talking point here is the 959 Komfort that sold for well above estimates, and frankly well above the 959 market at $1.5 million dollars. As far as I can tell, a perfect 959 had never sold for above the 7 figure mark until the beautiful red 959 Sport sold this spring at the Amelia Island sale. For a one-of-37 car like the 959 Sport, the million dollar sale made sense, but this Komfort model selling for another $500 thousand on top is a bit surprising, as there were 300 of them made, and they are almost 10 times less rare than the Sport models. Prior to this, Komfort models were struggling to sell at $750,000, but somehow this one managed to double that figure.
Lot 030 – 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 RS: $1,001,000
Lot 035 – 1988 Porsche 959 Komfort: $1,485,000
Lot 005 – 1971 Porsche 911S 2.2L: $170,500
Lot 009 – 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster: $415,250
Lot 015 – 1994 Porsche 964 Speedster: $181,500
Lot 041 – 1973 Porsche 911S 2.4L: $330,000
Lot 057 – 1968 Porsche 911 T/R: $440,000
Lot 064 – 1965 Porsche 911: $407,000
Lot 105 – 1955 Porsche 356 Speedster: $280,000
Lot 116 – 1959 Porsche 356A Super Coupe: $137,500
Lot 126 – 1968 Porsche 911L 2.0L: $104,500
Lot 132 – 1971 Porsche 911 ‘custom R/T’: $143,000
Lot 135 – 1963 Porsche 356B Carrera 2: $517,000
Lot 153 – 1966 Porsche 911 2.0L: No Sale
Lot 156 – 1955 Porsche 356 Super Speedster: $390,500
Mecum Auctions
Total Porsches Sold: 24
Total Porsche dollar value: $4,145,000
The source of that vast majority of Porsche auction lot No-Sales was Mecum, and frankly that’s to be expected. Mecum seems to be more concerned with turning lots through their auction than they are about the sales numbers. A quantity over quality approach to medium-to-high-end auctions I suppose. That said, a couple of their lots were quite nice, and managed to fetch decent dollars.
Their headliner, the 962 Kremer K8 Daytona-winner sold at just a bit under a million dollars. Probably the best car for your 7-figure money in the Porsche world at Monterey this year, in my humble opinion. You simply can’t find an historic endurance race winner from the Porsche fold for under a million these days, so when one comes up for sale and falls short of a million, you’ve won yourself a bargain. It’s a gorgeous car, it’s got credentials, and it will be welcome at any vintage racing event in the world. Let’s hope the new owner brings it out to the Daytona Classic race this fall.
In addition, another nice buy was this Carrera 2.7 RS at $650,000. It’s well restored, looks the part, and no high-end Porsche collection would be complete without one. While not a perfect car, it’s certainly worth what was paid here, and this was another case of the buyer getting the long end of the stick on this deal. That’s a lot of car for the money, and the 2.7 RS market doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
Lot T70 – 2004 Porsche Cayenne S: No Sale
Lot T77 – 1977 Porsche 911 Custom “Slant Nose with 350ci V8”: No Sale
Lot T93 – 1956 Porsche Speedster Replica: No Sale
Lot T148 – 1976 Porsche 914 2.0L: $14,500
Lot T154 – 1954 Porsche Speedster Replica: $22,000
Lot T175 – 1956 Porsche Speedster Replica: No Sale
Lot F61.1 – 2000 Porsche 996 Carrera 2 Cabriolet: No Sale
Lot F72.1 – 1986 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3L ‘930’: $60,000
Lot F92 – 2003 Porsche 911 Turbo ‘996’: $51,000
Lot F93 – 1973 Porsche 911E Targa: No Sale
Lot F133 – 1975 Porsche 911 Carrera: $62,000
Lot F138 – 1992 Porsche 964 Turbo S2: No Sale
Lot F149 – 1960 Porsche 108L Junior Diesel Tractor: $14,000
Lot F150 – 1964 Porsche 356SC Cabriolet: No Sale
Lot F158 – 1963 Porsche 356B Cabriolet: No Sale
Lot F163 – 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera: No Sale
Lot S59 – 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3L Cabriolet ‘930’: $125,000
Lot S71.1 – 1997 Porsche 993 Carrera 4S: No Sale
Lot S90.1 – 1971 Porsche 911S 2.2L Targa: $130,000
Lot S92 – 1972 Porsche 911T 2.4L Targa: $52,000
Lot S93 – 1968 Porsche 911 2.0L Soft Window Targa: $150,000
Lot S95 – 1979 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3L ‘930’: $70,000
Lot S107 – 1967 Porsche 912: $51,000
Lot S121 – 1986 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3L ‘930’: $77,500
Lot S134 – 1959 Porsche 356A Super Cabriolet: $190,000
Lot S146 – 1995 Porsche 962 Kremer K8 Spyder: $930,000
Lot S148 – 1964 Porsche 356C Coupe: No Sale
Lot S149 – 1960 Porsche 356B Super Roadster: No Sale
Lot S150 – 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster: $450,000
Lot S151 – 1989 Porsche 911 Speedster: $300,000
Lot S153 – 1960 Porsche 356B Cabriolet: $125,000
Lot S155 – 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7L Touring: $650,000
Lot S160 – 1963 Porsche 356B Carrera 2 Sunroof Coupe: No Sale
Lot S163 – 1971 Porsche 911S 2.2L Coupe: No Sale
Lot S167 – 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7L Touring: No Sale
Lot S174 – 1976 Porsche 934/935 IMSA ‘El Salvador’: No Sale
Lot S175 – 1977 Porsche 934.5/935 IMSA ‘Swap Shop’: No Sale
Lot S176 – 1957 Porsche 356A Speedster: $295,000
Lot S182 – 1964 Porsche 356C Carrera 2 Coupe: No Sale
Lot S190 – 1973 Porsche 911S 2.4 ‘sonderwünsch’: No Sale
Lot S192 – 1953 Porsche 356 Cabriolet: No Sale
Lot S198 – 1957 Porsche 356A Coupe: $77,000
Lot S199 – 1997 Porsche 993 Turbo: No Sale
Lot S200 – 1973 Porsche 911T Coupe: No Sale
Lot S201 – 1974 Porsche 911 RSR Turbo ‘clone’: $155,000
Lot S202 – 1970 Porsche 911T Coupe: $57,000
Lot S203 – 1967 Porsche 912: $37,000
Lot S211 – 1981 Ruf Turbo Cabriolet: No Sale
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