Whether it was the biting cold of a February in Paris that kept bidders away, or there was something legitimately wrong with the reserves set by the sellers, the end result was a lackluster Paris auction weekend, at least as far as Porsche sales are concerned. Of the 28 Porsche lots that were available across three auction houses, only 13 of them found new owners when the bids hit the floor. We’ll wait until after the frenzy of the upcoming Amelia Island sale to pass judgement, but the Porsche market appears to be stagnating slightly so far this year.
RM Sotheby’s Porsche Auction Results
- Lot 143, the 550 Spyder, sold really well, to be quite honest. For a car with relatively little provenance, the $3+ Million paid seems like a price the seller should have been ecstatic to see. Granted, this is a gorgeous Porsche, and it certainly brought a lot of attention, I really figured this one would go for less. I watched this lot sell during the online stream, and it was a bit of a nail biter. There were at least a dozen times where the bid was being counted down, and Max got to “For the third, and final time” before the next bid increase was released. The two big bidders in the room were playing waiting games with each other, and neither one was blinking. It seems a nice example, so I’m sure the buyer is happy, but this was a win for the seller in my eyes.
Total Porsches Sold: 3
Total Porsche Dollar Value: $3,613,650
Lot 119 – 1969 Porsche 911S 2.2L Coupe: No Sale
Lot 129 – 1992 Porsche 911 Carrera RS: $156,850
Lot 139 – 1955 Porsche 356 Pre-A Speedster: $382,700
Lot 143 – 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder: $3,074,100
Bonhams’ Porsche Auction Results
- Relatively early in the proceedings saw the sale of an ’89 Speedster, Lot 314, for a mega price. Granted, this was a low-miles, highly optioned Carrera Speedster, but the price paid seems the high end of the market. Later in the day, Lot 380, another ’89 Speedster can’t find a buyer. It has more miles, certainly, but it’s fresh off a restoration, and looks stunning in black over red interior. Why did the second car go unsold? I can’t make heads or tails of it.
- A no-sale finish on the Carrera GT in Lot 343 is another surprising one. Carrera GTs are highly sought after commodities these days. This CGT was a unique color, and featured low miles and good documentation. What should reasonably have been a million-dollar car, instead finds no takers.
Total Porsches Sold: 6
Total Porsche Dollar Value: $767,678
Lot 305 – 1969 Porsche 911 T 2.2L Coupe: $51,064
Lot 308 – 1996 Porsche 911 ‘993’ Turbo: No Sale
Lot 314 – 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Speedster: $279,375
Lot 319 – 1971 Porsche 911 S 2.4L Coupe: No Sale
Lot 324 – 1967 Porsche 911S 2.0L Coupe: $187,662
Lot 327 – 1965 Porsche 911 Coupe: No Sale
Lot 338 – 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2L Coupe: $74,043
Lot 341 – 1995 Porsche 911 ‘993’ Cup: No Sale
Lot 343 – 2005 Porsche Carrera GT: No Sale
Lot 367 – 1969 Porsche 911 T 2.0L Coupe: No Sale
Lot 375 – 1970 Porsche 914/6: No Sale
Lot 376 – 1986 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3L Coupe: $102,129
Lot 380 – 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Speedster: No Sale
Lot 401 – 1971 Porsche 911 T 2.2L Coupe: $73,405
Artcurial Porsche Auction Results
- The second No-Sale 959 in as many weeks, Lot 142 was another disappointment. Is this the state of the collector market now? Has demand on 959s completely dropped off the face of the planet? Perhaps everyone who really wanted one already has one? This was said to be a low mile, well optioned, gorgeous example with the desirable Sport Seats option. I’m not sure if there was something in the water in Paris, but if this car was as represented there should have been a bidding war, and that never transpired. Better luck next time, I suppose.
- Lot 206, the Carrera 2.7 RS, was another no-sale that blew me away. As I said in my preview, this was said to be a numbers-matching example from the highly-desirable first series of RS, and features a gorgeous and rare factory livery. I’ll go on record as saying that this car, if it was as perfect as it was said to be, should have easily made the low end of the pre-auction estimate, and then some. I think it’s best we just all forget about what happened in Paris.
Total Porsches Sold: 4
Total Porsche Dollar Value: $813,074
Lot 139 – 1971 Porsche 911 S 2.4L Targa: $154,960
Lot 140 – 1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7L Coupe: No Sale
Lot 141 – 1970 Porsche 911 E 2.2L Coupe: $104,123
Lot 142 – 1988 Porsche 959 Komfort: No Sale
Lot 205 – 1995 Porsche 911 ‘993’ Carrera RS: $327,055
Lot 206 – 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS Touring: No Sale
Lot 207 – 1967 Porsche 911 S 2.0L Coupe: No Sale
Lot 208 – 1997 Porsche 911 ‘993’ GT2 Evo: No Sale
Lot 209 – 2006 Porsche 911 ‘997’ GT3 Cup: No Sale
Lot 221 – 1992 Porsche 911 ‘964’ Carrera RS: $226,936
View Comments (4)
It's important to remember that the Carrera GT is both a relatively new car, and they made a lot of them (1270). They were actually scheduled to produce about 1,400 of them or so, but Porsche ended production early because they couldn't sell all of them. So, demand was weak back in 2004/2005, meaning that the market at that time, had absorbed all of the cars it could. Fast forward to today, and I believe the CGT market has been caught up in the frenzy of recent years. They made too many of them to be "collectible" in the sense that the 959 is collectible (200 or so production cars). They are also out-shown by the new 918 (scheduled production of 918 cars) - if you can afford a CGT at these prices, you might want to opt for getting a 918 (if you can). The CGT used to be the top SuperCar for Porsche, but now it's not. Similarly, prices for the 959 languished well below prices for Carrera GTs for the longest time because the CGT was faster, newer and better in performance. I expect the CGT prices to eventually go down because they made too many of them, and the supply of buyers is being diluted by the Porsche 918 production. I actually predict that the CGT will be the "canary in the coal mine" for the market. The 959 market less so, as I think the CGT buyer and the 959 buyer are two different people - the Porsche "collectors" have been angling to pick up a 959 in recent years, while I think more "performance drivers" gravitate towards the CGT.
Just my two cents!
-Wayne
Wayne, I don't disagree about the CGT being "caught up in the frenzy", but I'm not sure that's all there is behind the pricing surge. Yes, demand for the CGT was weak during production, but as its reputation has grown (both good and bad) and once it was clear the 918s were going to sell out (took a while for that to happen, but when it did, they went quick) the CGT became more appealing. Couple that with the fact that the CGT is truly Porsche's last analog supercar and I think it becomes collectible now and in the future.
My personal opinion, for what it's worth, is that most of the results (or lack there of) from the opening of this auction season is a lack of quality offerings vs. a bubble bursting (I'm not saying it won't, I'm just saying we don't have enough info yet and I'm not sure the CGT is the "canary"). I can't speak to each individual car, but a number of those sold barely deserved their final price and many others should never have even crossed the auction stage.
Let's see what happens on Amelia Island when Jerry's cars come out to play. As they are truly the crème de la crème of the Porsche world, at the moment, they should be a pretty good bellwether.
It also looks like the 356 Speedster market has cooled substantially from previous years. It seemed like every auction used to have a bunch of 356 Speedsters on offer but lately, it appears there are fewer. I think the trend will generally continue upward in the future but for now, there's a bit of a pause.
It's great having a post-auction update but if you can remind us of the pre-auction estimates for the cars you're featuring that would be very helpful. Comparing estimates with sale prices would allow us to put sales, and non-sales, into context.