Friday 9th September 2016

Pic Of the Week: The £1.8m 911

A desktop pic is probably as close as most of us will get to this rather lovely looking GT2...

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Just how crazy can the prices for the most coveted air-cooled 911s actually get? Most of us thought things were already pretty out of hand. And then - clack - on Wednesday night the gavel fell on a price of £1,848,000 for a bright blue mid-90s 911 with a big wing on the back. OK, a pretty special one, given the RM Sotheby's catalogue entry reckons this 993 GT2 is one of 'about' 57 roadgoing examples ever built. But it's still 'just' a 90s 911, prompting an amusing piece on Jalopnik titled 'Air-cooled 911s are over, man'. 

Whatever your feelings about such inflated prices there's no denying the GT2 is a pretty spectacular looking thing, THAT wing, those riveted on arch extensions and the intimidating combination of 430hp and just two driven wheels with no driver aids all adding to the mystique. And RM Sotheby's certainly knows how to promote its cars, the photos in the catalogue no doubt helping stoke the fires when it came to the bidding. Here's one of our favourites, prepared for your desktop delight. 

Traditional (4:3)
Computer widescreen (16:10)
TV widescreen (16:9)
Portrait (smartphone etc)

Photo: Remi Dargegen/RM Sotheby's

[Sources: Jalopnik, RM Sotheby's]

[mattwhite709]

Thats crazy! I would rather have a Singer and some change.

[Gandahar]

Could you buy most of the 996, 997 and 991 GT3 and GT3 RS's for that amount ?

You could get a could proportion of them.

[VonSenger]

Bonkers, A fool and his money.......

[DPSFleet]

Admittedly a silly price but I still love aircooled Porsches, I will never sell mine.

[Dandanfings]

I have lusted after 993's since they first got released, its really sad they have gotten so expensive
This one is just gorgeous in every possible way, but the price is pure insanity... are people that rich that they can afford to just burn money like this, it cant possibly go up any more in value?!

What is going on with the car world?

[J4CKO]

That is perhaps the scariest vehicle on the road today, a combination of being worth a stload, the engine in a weird place and masses of super boosty turbo grunt and the only driver aids are common sense, skill and terror.

I would name it "Wilson" after the dog that constantly terrifies its slightly strange owner in "Friday night Dinner", seems very appropriate somehow

[s m]

J4CKO said:

That is perhaps the scariest vehicle on the road today in a private collection/heated garage today, a combination of being worth a stload, the engine in a weird place and masses of super boosty turbo grunt and the only driver aids are common sense, skill and terror.

I would name it "Wilson" after the dog that constantly terrifies its slightly strange owner in "Friday night Dinner", seems very appropriate somehow

EFA

[Mafffew]

s m said:

J4CKO said:

That is perhaps the scariest vehicle on the road today in a private collection/heated garage today, a combination of being worth a stload, the engine in a weird place and masses of super boosty turbo grunt and the only driver aids are common sense, skill and terror.

I would name it "Wilson" after the dog that constantly terrifies its slightly strange owner in "Friday night Dinner", seems very appropriate somehow

EFA

To me, that is worse than the price. What a complete and utter waste it will likely be, I hope I'm wrong.

[Leins]

Mad prices, but a wonderful thing all the same. And this other £1M sale isn't far behind in the car-porn stakes for me:

[Smokey32]

What an awesome colour.

[soad]

Dandanfings said:

I have lusted after 993's since they first got released, its really sad they have gotten so expensive
This one is just gorgeous in every possible way, but the price is pure insanity... are people that rich that they can afford to just burn money like this, it cant possibly go up any more in value?!

What is going on with the car world?

The air-cooled market is something else.

[MikeGoodwin]

If I had this sort of cash to splash Id pay it happily. Hopefully itll get used properly and not end up being a collectors car. Shameful waste.

[MDMA .]

was at a car show ( Houghton Towers ) approx. 15 years ago. couple of guys were still using theirs on a regular basis. will see if I have the pictures saved.

[mrtwisty]

MikeGoodwin said:

Hopefully itll get used properly...

Not. A. Chance.

[Leins]

mrtwisty said:

MikeGoodwin said:

Hopefully itll get used properly...

Not. A. Chance.

I suspect even most 996 GT2s are probably locked away on a near-permanent basis now too?

[Adz The Rat]

mrtwisty said:

Not. A. Chance.

Entirely possible. Plenty of people use cars worth more, the classic Ferrari's and the new breed of hypercars. Just look in the supercar spotted thread.

[Gixer_fan]

Makes a sub £100k 930 look like excellent valve. You're surely getting 90% of the experience....

[MDMA .]

Here you go. Were driven regular 15 years ago. LHD and ultra rare RHD ( 1 of 7 ). On the same day, there must have been 6 or 7 993 RS's there too. Will need to scan my old photos to post up though.

[More torque]

There's one thing worse than a fool .... a rich fool. Nice car, but still a fool.

[J4CKO]

Wonder what it's actually like to drive ?