This Ultra-Low-Mileage Classic 911 Proves That Porsche Prices Have Gone Too Far

It might have precious few miles under its wheels and a comprehensive restoration in its recent past, but we still don't get why this ordinary 1973 911 S is worth so much

Matt Kimberley

07 Apr 2017

This Ultra-Low-Mileage Classic 911 Proves That Porsche Prices Have Gone Too Far

Used Porsche 911 prices are well known for being a bit steep, at least when the model in question is something a bit special. Things must be escalating, though: this one isn’t particularly extraordinary but still wields an asking price higher than a brand new 911 Turbo S with options.

It’s a left-hand drive 1973 911 S, with the 2341cc air-cooled engine that was always known as a 2.4, for some odd reason. It’s on eBay UK for a baffling £174,995. The sellers, Fast-Classics, claim that it’s had a full nut-and-bolt restoration from the ground up and now rests in immaculate condition. And the other reason it’s expensive? It has apparently covered just 1464 miles from new.

Almost everything on it has been put back to the way Porsche intended, including the classic (and model-correct) Michelin XWX tyres. The engine was fully reconditioned, too.

You can’t really blame French Porsche restorer Special Auto for rebuilding the Becker Europa radio to include an iPod connection, but both that and a change in the style of seats versus the original spec shouldn’t really do any favours to the market value. Originality is a huge deal when it comes to classic car prices, after all, and £174,995 starts to look a bit unrealistic.

The reason it has covered so few miles is revealed when you check out its first ‘owner’: Porsche Paris. The car was delivered new to the French capital and, incredibly, stayed there until 2014, although the listing does say it changed hands during that time without it actually leaving the showroom.

It was bought by a Brit in June 2014, at which point it was fully inspected by an expert, adding girth to a history file that’s sadly a little light, despite the full restoration in France. The wizards at Autofarm have been looking after it ever since its arrival in Britain, restoring the last few mistakes back to original spec – apart from the sports seats, which have been left there in place of the standard ones.

We really struggle with the price, but the truth is that with 1973 Carrera RS 2.7s selling for upwards of £800,000, this eBay listing is probably fair game. That’s all the more insane, when you think about it.

Comments

Is there a Hot Wheels version?

Here’s my toy car

Now everyone can afford a Porsche 911!

This type of stuff always saddens me a little, not only because I know I’ll never be able to afford one of these, but also because these cars were designed to be driven and most of them that could be driven are just kept in a garage for the rest of their lives because they will only gain value

Very agreeable… But look what happened to E36 M3s
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They get ruined into drift b*tches

That does annoy me too. Like Porsche even went as far as bringing three cars to Dakar to prove how reliable they were to show t he y can take abuse. Yet people instead want to just keep it like a luxurious prize.

The depreciation prices for used Porsches also show how pricing is just overboard (and why homologation pricing just needs to stop), the other day I saw a 2005 standard model Carrera for $25,000 with 152,000 miles. The original price was about $80,000 new. Like if a porsche is not deemed a classic yet and has a good number of miles you can easily get afford one, but it’s the used ones though.

a guy I know owns a 911E from the 70s, got 2nd place on an elegance competition but he still drives that thing with his right foot pinned to the floor. One night, we had a tunnel run with him and like 11 bimmers from the 80s and 70s, everyone shifting just before the redline, it was beautiful… He still keeps it low mileage because he has more cars…

random person: that thing could be worth US$180.000
him: I got this car for 45 million pesos a few years ago (that would be like US$20.000)… I won’t sell it, why would I? if I sold it, how would I be able to afford something like this again? and who would spend 180k and still drive it like the engineers at Porsche wanted it to be driven?