'New' Porsche Carrera GT: Spotted

Well it's unregistered and has 71 miles, so it's as close to new as you'll get!

The Porsche Carrera GT is a car that's enjoyed its fair share of ups and downs since launch. Back in 2004 the world's media loved its savage V10, its manual gearbox and its rather more purist ethos when compared with the McLaren-Mercedes.

Still an astonishingly pretty car

Amazingly though (compared to modern limited run cars at least) the CGT did depreciate from its c.£300K launch price, to a point where cars were once available at around £200,000. Values then picked up, but remained at around £300,000 for a long time. An unfairly long time, it could be argued, given the car's reputation.

But then the CGT finally gained the recognition it deserved. The introduction of new tyres for it helped, as did the realisation that manual hypercars without turbos weren't going to happen again. As for exactly what the Paul Walker situation did, all suggestions are welcome.

So now entry to a Carrera GT is around £500,000; it looks like a lot when they used to be so much less, but then people are paying that much for a 911 R. In that context the CGT looks remarkable value: a GT3 manual with stripes, or bona fide mid-engined hypercar with a carbon tub and a genuine race derived V10? Exactly. There's another discussion to be had about what each will be worth in a few years, but perhaps we'll do that another time.

Anyway, to this particular Carrera GT. Even in the context of the model, this one really is exceptional. For whatever reason, this unique - Bentley Moonbeam Silver with Austrian Red leather - Carrera GT was never registered back in 2006. It has remained on its delivery mileage (71) for a decade, kept in a climate controlled garage and "moved regularly but never driven on the road." A crying shame to some; a great opportunity for others...

Do you like Austrian Red? You'll need to!

It's clear which side the advert favours, the dealer offering to register the car and then adding "but to us this car should hold pride of place in a discerning collector's portfolio." Certainly there won't be another Carrera GT like this, and we can be fairly sure that its place in the annals of hypercar history is now guaranteed.

Which brings us onto the price: it's a million quid. For some perspective, one of the UK allocated cars with less than 10,000 miles is also now for sale at just under £600K. On the other hand, even a six-figure Carrera GT doesn't look absurd in the context of its contemporaries. No, really. An Enzo will cost you yet more still, for example, with even the most affordabe Koenigsegg currently for sale at £750K with 3,000 miles. And can you imagine the Porsche ever being worth less than this?

It would be very surprising to see this car do anything other than head to another collection and, for this calibre of car, it looks like a great acquisition. But would it be an even greater thing to go and drive? PHer Maxige might have something to say on that...

PORSCHE CARRERA GT
Engine: 5,733cc, V10
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 620@8,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 435@5,750rpm
MPG: 16
CO2: 432g/km
First registered: 2006 (unregistered)
Recorded mileage: 71
Price new: £330,000
Price now: £995,000