CHRISTMAS HAS COME EARLY!
Porsche 912 Yuletide gift hidden from view for more than 30 years makes over £80k at auction
APorsche 912 bought new in 1965 as a Christmas present – which went on to spend nearly 30 years locked away – has just been sold at auction for ¤92.000 (£81,000).
The 1966-registered model was originally acquired on Christmas Eve in 1965 by a Dutch woman, who gave it as a seasonal gift to her husband the following morning.
RM Sotheby’s, which sold the car at its Rétromobile sale in Paris earlier this month, says that the 912’s first owner used the car for two decades, but that its second keeper put it into storage two years after buying it in September 1986. The Porsche is unrestored and has covered just 50,137km (31,153 miles). It had been left almost untouched in dry storage and was rediscovered last year.
A spokesman for the auction house says: ‘Still sporting its original interior, the car has beautiful patina throughout and is ready for a new custodian who will enjoy it as much as its first owner has. It would be an excellent basis for a restoration or simply serviced and brought back to running and driving condition and returned to the open road as a wonderfully preserved early 912.’
CCW valuations expert, Russ Smith, says: ‘ What the buyer paid for here is the story written in the dust. It’s a great example of a barn find, but the price is more than you’d pay for even the very best restored 912s.
‘This is a car with a great story, but when you look at the rest of the classics that sold at Rétromobile, you don’t see anything that’s particularly significant in terms of changing the market. Cars at the bottom are strengthening and prices at the top are softening, but there haven’t been any shock results.’