Now that the clocks have gone forward and the bright evenings are with us, we have entered the often-mentioned Porsche ‘season’. Owners of older Porsches have started to get their cars out of storage and use them more regularly, leading to 911s and other classic Porsche models becoming a more common sight on the road.
This increased activity/visibility of the older Porsches has a noticeable effect on the used Porsche market as a whole. With more cars out and about, the unique attractions of Porsche ownership – particularly older models – are brought to the fore and enquiry levels at independent dealerships increase. This is when we begin to see the trends for demand (and therefore prices) emerge for the year ahead.
Enquiry levels through February and March prove that the market remains in good shape. We’ve welcomed a steady stream of potential buyers and feedback on condition of our stock and asking prices has been very positive. Many cars have sold within hours of arriving at JZM and regular visitors to our all-new website will have noticed a considerable intake of interesting and highly collectable Porsches through the winter months. With so much attention on collectable Porsches during the ‘off-season’, it is easy to forget that the majority of owners buy their Porsches to drive them.
Porsche cars for driving remain in strong demand. Recent weeks have brought many quick sales for a variety of drivers’ cars, including a Gen 1 997 GT3 RS prepared by JZM for track use that had enjoyed track days all over Europe (and will continue to do so), a well-specced Cayman S manual in rare Rhodium Silver and a trio of smart Porsche Cayman Rs. Also sold in short order was a perfect 991 Carrera GTS manual in Lava Orange, the beautiful Porsche 356 ‘Outlaw’ Coupe and a pair of 997 Turbos, one of which had been tastefully modified here in the JZM tuning workshops with KW 3-way adjustable suspension, upgraded exhaust and an RS flywheel and clutch.
We find that cars which have been modified with care and attention using quality parts continue to sell well. JZM offers only the best quality aftermarket Porsche tuning parts, guaranteed to improve performance over a standard car. Parts of this quality tend to be quite sought after by keen drivers, so cars with average mileage offered with these modifications usually sell for higher prices than standard cars – quite a different situation to low mileage cars, which do better in factory spec.
The rising prices for low mileage cars have caused many owners of average mileage examples with interesting modifications to return their cars to standard, which generally makes them less interesting to drive and can keep the cars in the garage. This approach is unrewarding on a number of levels: cars that do not get used can cost more to maintain.
It is always better to use and enjoy Porsches with average mileage and if that means leaving aftermarket upgrades in place for a better drive, then owners should do that. Any price rise for a standard-ised car may be completely wiped out when potentially paying additional maintenance for lower use. “Drive and enjoy” remains the best philosophy.
Regarding what’s hot and what’s not, air-cooled enquiries have definitely picked up with the arrival of spring and we have sold some great air-cooled 911s this month, including our low-mileage Speedster in Black, 964RS in Silver, the Falsen Green 930 Flatnose and a beautiful 993 Carrera 4S in Violet Metallic. We still have some very interesting air-cooled cars in the showroom and all have strong enquiries listed against them.
We have enquiries on file for most water-cooled 911s, so many of these cars sell as soon as they pass our inspection and before they are advertised. Recent low-mileage sales include a superb Gen II 997 GT3 Clubsport with less than 12k miles, which had a number of names against it before it arrived. The car was offered to existing enquiries in order and the first potential buyer snapped it up.
Elsewhere in GT3s, the Gen 2 991 GT3 announcement generated some interesting phone calls and discussions about brokerage deals to raise cash for a GT3 order. The reality is that 991.2 GT3s will be just as hard to order as Gen 1s, so make sure you have a confirmed order before selling the car you already own. Buying a Gen 2 GT3 in the hope of securing a place on the list for the next GT2 may not be enough to guarantee a spot: Porsche simply will not make enough cars for those 911s to be offered to the regular man in the street (including us – we share your pain).
All water-cooled Turbos remain in demand and we have RHD 996 GT2 and Clubsport and even a RHD 997 GT2 RS coming in. All of these cars have enquiries listed against them and will probably sell to clients who have waited patiently for the right cars to come up. Really good 997 Turbo manuals are still in demand and Turbo S 996 or 997 are also excellent news. We are buying as many of these cars as we can find that pass our pre-sale inspection and outbidding all other dealers, so contact us if you have a car available.