Classic Porsche | Nov-26
What’s the least expensive way into an air-cooled Porsche? Of everything readers ask me, this question comes up most. I’ve stopped suggesting I have a tidy answer. You see, ten years ago, things were easy. I referenced the 912, 914 or a leggy 911 SC, and my audience went away content. Give the same answer today and they return with a price guide and a wounded expression. Even Porsche-Diesel tractors are fetching a pretty penny.
The problem is not a shortage of candidates. Every air-cooled model has enjoyed its spell as the sensible option, the one knowledgeable people bought while everybody else chased something with a bigger badge. The Carrera 3.2 had it. The 964 had it. The 912 had it for four decades, largely because nobody could see past the ‘missing’ two cylinders.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have become suspicious of cheap. It suggests a car nobody wants. Other than total basket cases, there aren’t any Porsches left in this category. Look at things differently, however, and focus shifts to value, equating to a car costing less than it ought to, given what it does, how it drives and how it will likely be regarded in ten years. Cheap and value are not the same thing, and conflating them is how buyers end up disappointed.
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Articles in this issue
Below is a selection of articles in Classic Porsche Nov-26.