TIME MACHINE
Editor Bennett peruses the archives of 911 & Porsche World from days gone by. What’s changed? That will be everything and nothing...
Journey through 911&PW’S past
Apacked front cover for this, the October 2011 issue, although a clear leading story in the form of ‘Rising stars.’ The premise was simple, if slightly risky, as we dusted off the 911&PW crystal ball to predict future market trends and which 911s would be the next big thing. In other words, Porsches that were still affordable! And credit, where credit is due, I think we were pretty much spot on, with our five cars, which were, in no particular order: 911 2.0 SWB, 911SC, 930 Turbo, 964 C2/C4 and 996 GT3. True, some have performed better than others. The 996 GT3, for example, still seems to be languishing inexplicably, but it’s still a good £20k up on its 2011 values, while the notion that the 911S 2.0 SWB car that we drove was on the market at £26,000 is crazy in today’s market. We noted that ‘SCS have hovered around the £10,000 mark for a long time, but very good ones are now £15k+’ while the meat of the 930 Turbo market was £20–£40,000 and ‘extraordinary value.’ And as for 964s? Well, £15,000 was still realistic for a half decent car and really good C2 manuals breaching £20k. This little lot truly were the last of the affordable 911s and if you bought into the market at this point, then you did well.
Also on the front cover was the new 991 model 911 in all its glory, which would be in UK showrooms for Christmas. I know, it still seems like a new car doesn’t it, but remember, in the 991’s lifetime it’s gone from a normally aspirated 911 to pretty much full turbo across the range, and launched ever quicker and wilder versions of the GT models. And, as noted in the news pages of this issue, it continues to sell in ever greater numbers. The 992 is just around the corner. Indeed, some very special journalists and ‘influencers’ have already driven it and we’ll bring you the full story just as soon as the embargo is lifted, or someone leaks it on to the interweb of truth.
In the meantime, turn to the October 2011 classifieds and bag yourself a 964 C2 for £12,000.