Ah, the classic Porsche 911. No one model of car has ever set so many hearts awash with lust and envy. Sure, you could drop half a million on the latest from Stuttgart’s famed 911 stable at your local dealer, but where’s the thrill of the chase in that?
An iconic sports car like the Porsche 911 deserves to be driven as much as it deserves to be collected and cherished for its pedigree. And when it comes to the latter, picking the right Porsche 911 will determine whether or not you’ve got a true collector’s item sitting pretty in your garage.
To help us figure that out, we enlisted the expertise of bonafide Porsche collector and classic car addict, Damian Royce, to identify the 911 models that are now appreciating in value – fast.
911 Targa (1974 – 1993)
In the 911 world, the hardtop coupe has always been more desirable than its Targa variant (and therefore quite a difference in price), but due to their lower production numbers than coupes, the Targa is now gaining a new wave of attention.
The Targa configuration with its fixed rear windscreen and ‘safety hoop’ is more rigid than the cabriolet and closer to the more pure form of the coupe.
The retro alloy Targa hoop construction of the recent 991 model has drawn attention back to the air-cooled 911 Targa models, in particular the 964, which are very rare.
‘Narrow Body’ 911 2.7 (1974-1977)
The first iteration of the ‘impact bumper’ 911 was made in much lower numbers (1974 and 1975 in particular were one of the leanest 911 production years in Porsche history) than the high volume air-cooled 911 models that followed.
The clean retro narrow body shape, Fuchs wheels with silver ‘petals’ and simple interior details make the 2.7 911 the closest thing to the original and now very valuable 1964-1973 ‘longhood’ 911.
During the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s they were the model of choice to modify into wide body hotrods or track cars, so not many unmodified ones are left and there are literally only a few good original survivors left in Australia.
Today, they are one of the the rarest standard configuration 911 model you can buy.
911 Carrera 3.0 (1976-1977)
With prices for the deservedly worshipped early 70’s MFI Carrera models (1973 Carrera RS and G Series Carrera 2.7 MFI) skyrocketing some time ago, the only other 70’s Carrera model produced is the largely underrated 2 year only 1976-1977 Carrera 3.0.
It was relatively light car and has a bullet proof engine, which is still popular in Group racing. It was also made in very low numbers, with only 2,564 coupes made for the entire world market compared to roughly 58,000 911 SC and 76,000 3.2 Carreras that followed. It has the tough 70’s look of the Carrera 2.7 MFI and they are now gaining attention globally. Prices have still not increased anywhere near as much as its predecessor.
996 Carrera 4S Manual
The 996 Carrera 4S with its aggressive wide body and turbo-look front has already appreciated over the past 18 months, so prices of the standard Carrera in manual form have started to follow.
Most well kept examples have now had the infamous IMS bearing replaced. With lots of creature comforts, it’s modern enough to drive every day. It’s the first of the water cooled 911 era and therefore will be recognised as a major milestone model in future.
997 Carrera S manual
The second generation of the ‘water-cooled’ 911 saw a lot of mechanical and styling improvements over the 996.
The slightly higher power output of the 997 Carrera S engine is a real sweet spot in the 997 generation. With its more traditional 911 headlight and indicator configuration, it’s arguably a more attractive evolution than the much maligned ‘fried egg’ headlight styling of the previous 996 model.
The later series 2 997 Carrera S is the pick of the bunch, with it’s updated rear tail light styling and improved engine – which didn’t have the IMS issues of the 996 and early 3.8 litre 997.
That’s not a 996 Carrera 4S.