Tag Archives: porsche

Porsche RS Spyder

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2007 Porsche RS Spyder

Offered by Gooding & Company | Pebble Beach, California | August 24, 2018

Photo – Gooding & Company

Remember the glory days of the ALMS when Allan McNish and Dindo Capello dominated in the unbelievable Audi R8 and later the R10 TDI? Porsche likes to think of it as, “Remember when we came to the ALMS with an LMP2 car and beat the Audi LMP1 cars week after week?”

The ALMS, or American Le Mans Series, was the premier sports car series in the U.S. between 1999 and 2013 when it was merged into Grand Am and stripped of its identity. Porsche wanted to get back to prototype sports car racing and in 2006 (well, one race in 2005), they teamed up with Penske Racing with an LMP2 car (supposedly slower than LMP1) and came out swinging. They won the ALMS LMP2 crown in 06′ through ’08, beating the Audis outright in more events than they should have.

The Penske cars were bright yellow, wearing DHL sponsorship and the dynamic duo of Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas seemed unstoppable. The car you see here, wearing its bare carbon fiber birthday suit, was the last of six cars built for the 2007 season. It was to have been campaigned under the CET Solari Motorsport banner – but the team never made it to the track.

So this is basically an RS Spyder that was never driven in anger and comes from a private collection. A 3.4-liter V-8 mounted out back makes 503 horsepower. Porsche only built 15 RS Spyders in total and this is the first to ever come to auction. It carries no pre-sale estimate, but you can read more here and see more from this sale here.

Update: Sold $4,510,000.

Porsche 550A Spyder

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1958 Porsche 550A Spyder

Offered by Mecum | Monterey, California | August 23-25, 2018

Photo – Mecum

Have you ever seen one of these in person? Or, I guess, have you ever heard one? They’re loud. And it is intoxicating.

The 550 Spyder was a race car (that you could drive to the track) from Porsche that was available from 1953 through 1956. The 550A was an evolution of the original car and was only available in 1956.

The differences included a tubular space frame (as opposed to the normal 550 Spyder’s ladder frame). This increased rigidity and decreased weight. The transmission got an extra gear (up to five) and the wheels lost an inch in diameter. The improvements were designed to increase the car’s competitiveness on track. The 1.5-liter flat-four was a carryover, but made 135 horsepower in this trim.

This car is thought to have originally been owned by the Piech family (they who own 10% of Porsche today) before being sold to its first owner: a famed Austrian concert pianist and composer. And he raced the pants off this car, winning circuit races and hillclimbs in the late 1950s in Austria and Yugoslavia.

After that it went to the U.S. and spent a lot of time in SCCA races. The current owner found the car over 30 years ago and spent most of the time since restoring it. It shows fewer than 600 miles since restoration. Only 39 examples of the lightweight 550A were built, making this a big money car at Mecum in Monterey. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $2,000,000.

Rinspeed R69

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1980 Porsche 911 Turbo R69 by Rinspeed

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Silverstone, U.K. | July 21-22, 2018

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

If you thought the 1980s were a period of excess then consider the people who bought this car. “I want a Porsche and I want a Ferrari.” Well here, have both, said Rinspeed. Actually, that’s not true… those dramatic side strakes that look like they were ripped right off a Testarossa were actually designed a few years before the big Ferrari ever went on sale.

This car started as a 1980 Porsche 911 (930) Turbo. That means it’s got a 296 horsepower, turbocharged 3.3-liter flat-six tucked out back. In 1983, the first owner sent it to Rinspeed in Switzerland to get the full Rinspeed 969 – or R69 – treatment. This meant the addition of pop-up headlights from the Porsche 944, those super-80s side strakes, and custom wheels. Basically, the task at hand was “box-ify it.” And that they did.

After a few years in storage, this example has recently been repainted in Rinspeed Pearl White and shows 69,000 original miles. It’s a straight-up Miami Vice ride. It’s thought that only 12 of these re-bodies were completed as they likely were not cheap. This one is selling at no reserve with no pre-sale estimate available. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $73,699.

Porsche 914/6 Murene Prototype

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1969 Porsche 914/6 Murene by Heuliez

Offered by Osenat | Strasbourg, France | May 1, 2018

Photo – Osenat

The Porsche 914 was a sports car designed in collaboration with Volkswagen. It went on sale in 1969 and was built through 1976. It’s mid-engined and came with a flat-four or a flat-six in 914/6 configuration.

This car is unlike any other 914. First of all, it’s a closed coupe and not a targa, as the 914 was from the factory. It was designed by Jacques Cooper (who also designed the original French TGV high-speed train) and he took the design to Heuliez who had a car mocked up and then built.

It debuted at the 1970 Paris Motor Show and still used a 2.0-liter flat-six that makes 109 horsepower. Porsche was working with Karmann to build the cars and didn’t want to split the duties between two coachbuilders. Heuliez bought the car from the firm that Cooper was working for when he designed it and kept it until 2012 when they liquidated most of their collection. Since its recent acquisition, the new owner went through the car mechanically and made it fit to drive. It’s a one-off, coachbuilt Porsche Prototype and it should bring between $225,000-$275,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold.

March 2018 Auction Highlights

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We pick up where we left off last time, with the other half of Silverstone Auctions’ Race Retro sale. This was the “Classic Car” half and this 1997 Aston Martin V8 Vantage V550 that was purchased new by Elton John was the top sale at $306,412.

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

The one-and-only Aspira supercar we previously-featured sold here for $95,851. Click here for full results.

On to Historics at Brooklands at Ascot Racecourse. The Railton we featured failed to sell, but the top sale was this 1992 Porsche 911 RS that brought $386,596. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Historics at Brooklands

Brightwells held a Classic & Vintage Cars sale on March 7th. The only car we featured, the Daimler DS420 Landaulette, sold for $13,852. The top sale was this 1975 Aston Martin V8 Series 3 for $76,190. Click here for more from Brightwells.

Photo – Brightwells

Onward to Amelia Island! We’ll start with Bonhams where two of our feature cars failed to sell: the 1899 Panhard and the Kurtis KK4000 Indy car. The overall top sale was this 2015 McLaren P1 for $1,710,000.

Photo – Bonhams

The 1912 Thomas Flyer sold for $196,000, the Kellison J4R $28,000, and the Lotus Mk VI $30,240. Click here for other results.

To finish off the first half of Amelia Island results, we have Gooding & Company. The cars with the largest estimates all failed to sell so the top seller ended up being this dusty fresh 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Long Nose Alloy for $2,530,000 (which is still some pretty big money).

Photo – Gooding & Company

Another Ferrari, the 212 Europa we featured, brought some big money too: $1,600,000. The Lion-Peugeot handily exceeded its estimate, selling for $220,000. And Frank Kurtis’ 500S sold for $112,750. Click here for everything else.

The 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Models

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The 1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS Models

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Amelia Island, Florida | March 10, 2018

1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The 964 was the generation of Porsche 911 cars produced between 1989 and 1994. These were air-cooled cars and were offered as coupes, cabriolets, and targas. A Turbo went on sale in 1990 but Porsche had something more exclusive in mind with the Carrera RS series of cars that first went on sale in Europe in 1992.

For 1993, Porsche introduced the Carrera RS 3.8, which was a Europe-only model. It was a lightweight, rear-wheel drive road car powered by a 3.8-liter flat-six making 300 horsepower. It also sported the body and styling from the 911 Turbo. Sold through 1994, only 55 examples of this car were built.

This is the second-to-last car built and it has been in the U.S. on a “Show and Display” license since 2015. It’s a super rare 911 road car that will demand big money when it goes under the hammer next month. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,655,000.

1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.8

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

So what’s the difference between this car and the car above? Well, that second “R” in the name, for starters. That is an “R” as in racing. If you look closely you’ll be able to see that there is a full roll cage in there and only one seat. It might be painted like a road-going 911, but it is a full-on race car.

Porsche is amazing because this, like many of their customer race cars, are built on the same 911 assembly line as the road cars. It wears the same Turbo-look body as the road car and has the same 3.8-liter flat-six, but in racing guise it’s good for as much as 375 horsepower. Zero to 60 came in 3.7 seconds and it topped out at 181 mph.

Porsche built 55 of these as well, enough for FIA homologation. This one was delivered new to Japan and was never competitively raced, just used at private facilities by its well-heeled owners. It’s another big money car. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $1,270,000.

1993 Porsche 911 Carrera RS America

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Porsche built their RS models and sold them in Europe, mainly, but not in the U.S. Well, America has quite a taste for high-performance cars and they wanted in, so to make them happy, Porsche built this: the Carrera RS America.

Built for 1993 and 1994 only, the RS America features a lack of features most 911s would’ve originally had. Things like: power steering, cruise control, powered mirrors, air conditioning, sunroof, and even a radio (though you could heap some of them back on as options). The engine is a 3.6-liter flat-six making 250 horsepower. Top speed was 157 mph.

Equipped with the big “whale tail” spoiler, this Carrera RS America is #34 of 701 built. It’s a 1,600 mile car and it is street legal in the U.S. (unlike the two cars above). While this may be the least expensive of the three cars shown here, it is by no means “cheap.” Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $190,400.

January 2018 Auction Highlights, Pt. II

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Starting off this post with more from Arizona in January. First: Bonhams. The top sale here cleared everything else they had to offer by a few million dollars. It was this 1958 Porsche 550A Spyder (and my new desktop wallpaper) for $5,170,000.

Photo – Bonhams

Our three feature cars all sold. The Knox Touring brought $145,000. The one-off Molzon Concept Corsa sold for $41,800. and the Sabra was right behind it at $40,700. Click here for the rest of their results.

Far away from Arizona, Osenat held a sale the same weekend as the Scottsdale madness. We didn’t feature anything, but this 1952 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport in mid-restoration condition was the top sale at $206,616. Click here for more lots and results.

Photo – Osenat

Back to Scottsdale with Worldwide Auctioneers. They had, perhaps, the most looked-forward-to car (and definitely the most interesting) of the entire week: Hitler’s Mercedes. Unfortunately, the high bid of $7,000,000 wasn’t enough to take it home. The 1907 Cadillac we featured brought $93,500 and the Kurtis Indy Roadster $308,000. The top sale overall was $420,000 for this 1938 Mercedes-Benz 320 Cabriolet. Click here for more results.

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Onward to Russo & Steele where this 1967 Cheetah was the top seller at $660,000.

Photo – Russo & Steele

The ASA Spider we featured sold for $67,100 and you can see the rest of the results here.

Finally, in the U.K., we have the first sale of the year from Brightwells, their Modern Classics sale. We didn’t feature anything, but the top sale was this 1988 Mercedes-Benz 300SL for $26,127. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Brightwells

911 GT3 Brumos

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2012 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 4.0 Brumos Edition

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 5-14, 2018

Photo – Mecum

Porsche is the king of factory-built customer race cars and they’ve been doing it for quite some time. These racers are built on the same production line as the road cars. One of their premier outlets for such cars is Brumos Porsche of Jacksonville, Florida. Brumos Racing has been a staple at Florida’s endurance races (Sebring, Daytona) for a long time with drivers like Hurley Haywood.

This generation of the 911 GT3 Cup (the 997) was introduced in 2009 and built through 2011 with a 3.8-liter engine. However, this 2012 car features a version of the 4.0-liter flat-six from the GT3 RS 4.0 that makes more than 450 horsepower in this application. This is a full-fledged race car and it is not street legal – though it does have two seats if you want to scare your friends.

The last five U.S.-spec 997 GT3 Cup cars were all 4.0-liter cars sent to Brumos and sold as “Brumos Edition” racers. Jerry Seinfeld had one – it brought over $450,000 in 2016. Mecum has been trying to move the car you see here for what seems like ever. Hopefully it finds a new owner this January in Florida. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $300,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Indy 2018, high bid of $300,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Monterey 2018, high bid of $325,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Kissimmee 2019, high bid of $280,000.

Update: Not sold, Mecum Indy 2020, high bid of $350,000.

Ruf BTR

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1984 Ruf BTR

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 5-14, 2018

Photo – Mecum

The BTR was Ruf Automobile’s first big time model. Ruf, of course, is interesting because they are their own manufacturer as they get Porsche chassis/bodies before a VIN tag is applied and tune them, before selling them under their own name. This car began life as a Porsche 911 (930) Turbo.

The BTR was available between 1983 and 1989. They built between 20-30 original cars, and converted (or upgraded) a few 930 Turbos after that to BTR specification. That specification is a turbocharged 3.4-liter flat-6 making 374 horsepower, which is 40-ish more horsepower than you would’ve had if you’d stuck with the Porsche.

When introduced this was among the fastest cars in the world, with a top speed approaching 190 mph. This car sports 35,000 miles and it’s a very rare opportunity to acquire one. A few Rufs have come up for sale recently, but this is a classic. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Not sold, high bid of $160,000.

October 2017 Auction Highlights, Pt. III

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October was a busy month. This is our third results rundown and we start with Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas. There wasn’t any time to feature anything from this sale, but the biggest money went to this 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder for $1,760,000. Click here for more results.

Photo – Barrett-Jackson

Across the ocean we go to our next sale, Osenat in France. We didn’t get to feature anything, but the top sale was this 1968 Lancia Flaminia Coupe for $97,518. Click here to see the rest of their lots.

Photo – Osenat

Let’s stay in France for Leclere’s Parisian motorcars sale. Again, we lacked a feature car here but the biggest money went to this 1982 Renault 5 Turbo privateer rally car for $197,358. The rest of their sales can be found here.

Photo – Leclere

Brightwell’s Bicester Classic & Vintage Cars sale was held in October and we were able to feature three cars from this one. Of those three, the Autovia sedan brought the most at $98,463. The top sale overall was $160,167 for this 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB.

Photo – Brightwells

The Friswell we featured sold for $31,508 and the Calthorpe beat its estimate, bringing $27,569. Everything else can be found here.

And finally, Bonhams in Padua, Italy. Our lone feature car, the Abarth Monomille GT, sold for $120,111. The top sale overall? This 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster for $1,040,968. Click here for complete results.

Photo – Bonhams