A 2,300-Mile 944 Turbo

Good Morning! It looks like the early morning got the best of me yesterday as my Spotlight was filled with mistakes. The car was a 2008, not a 2009, and it was a manual, not an automatic! Ugh. Still, it was a new record for the model and the first Design Edition 2 to sell at auction here in the U.S. in the last five years. I’ve now scheduled my own double-check in the mornings. Thanks for the note, Gary!

In other news, what a Thursday! $1.5m in sales and a couple of new highs. Even our sell-through rate took a jump back up into normal territory.

THE MARKET

Sell-Through Rate (STR): 70%
Market Volume ($): $1,542,200
Market Volume (Units): 27

TOP SALES

1992 Porsche 911 Carrera RS $340,000 PCARMARKET
1994 Porsche 911 Speedster $165,000 Bring a Trailer
1996 Porsche 911 Turbo $160,000 Bring a Trailer
2020 Porsche 911 Cab. $103,000 PCARMARKET
1986 Porsche 944 Turbo $100,000 Bring a Trailer

SPOTLIGHT

Introduced for the 1986 model year, Porsche’s 944 Turbo featured a whole host of upgrades over the standard 944 aside from the obvious addition of a turbocharger and intercooler. The Turbo was the first Porsche production car to use a ceramic port liner as well as new forged pistons. The car also featured a new integrated front bumper to improve aerodynamics and featured a strengthened gearbox, and slightly stiffer suspension.

Our Spotlight car, the 1986 944 Turbo pictured above, is a first-year example with only 2,300 miles on the odometer. It comes finished in Guards Red paint over a Black partial leather interior and is optioned with Sport Shock Absorbers, Electric Sunroof, and a “Heatable” drive’s seat. As you would expect from the mileage, the car is in absolutely pristine condition, as the photographs show. Truly a brand-new time capsule of a Turbo that belongs in the most discerning collection.

The market for 944 Turbos has remained steady throughout the pandemic-pop, with an average price of about $30,000 and most low mileage examples in the sub 25k range selling for around $75,000 over the last twelve months. But this mileage is on a whole other level so one would expect quite the premium to the market.

It sold at a final bid of $100,000 yesterday on Bring a Trailer, and to be honest; I’m quite surprised. Our five-year high is $135,944 for a 3,100-mile example that sold back in Jan 2022. For me, this was the better car. It’s a year-one example and had the much better-looking phone dial wheels along with slightly less mileage. This right here was $100k well spent.

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