Good Morning! Happy Labor Day, and welcome to the first monthly edition of Stuttgart Market Letter. With this being the first monthly newsletter, I’m of course looking for feedback and ideas, just like I did when I started the early days of the daily newsletter four years ago. It took a few iterations to get the final format we came to know for the last few years. From my side, I’m thinking I should have done a separate Monterey edition and then August, as way too many great Porsches crossed the block last month! |
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THE MARKET - AUGUST |
After two consecutive months of declining sell-through rates, August steadied the ship and brought plenty of money with it. Online auctions generated $65.5m from 745 Porsches on offer, with 73% finding new homes. That’s a 9% increase in dollar volume over July despite eight fewer cars crossing the block and an unchanged sell-through rate (STR). Compared to August of last year, dollar volume jumped 67%, unit volume rose 22%, and STR edged up one percentage point. |
But of course, all eyes were on Monterey. With $75.3m in sales from 152 Porsches on offer and a 77% STR, Monterey delivered a 38% increase in dollar volume over last year’s $54.5m, while unit volume climbed 27% and STR jumped nine percentage points. More cars, more money, and a greater percentage finding buyers made for quite an August. |
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TOP 10 SALES |
1989 Porsche 959 Sport $7,045,000 RM Sotheby’s
2015 Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach $4,017,214 duPont Registry Live
2005 Porsche Carrera GT $3,721,200 duPont Registry Live
2005 Porsche Carrera GT $3,575,000 Mecum
1968 Porsche 907 Langheck $3,305,000 Gooding & Co.
1988 Porsche 959 Komfort $2,865,000 Broad Arrow
2018 RUF CTR3 Clubsport $2,260,000 RM Sotheby’s
1952 Porsche 356 America Roadster $2,205,000 RM Sotheby’s
1993 Porsche 911 RS 3.8 $2,040,000 RM Sotheby’s
1992 Porsche 911 Turbo by Singer $1,985,000 RM Sotheby’s
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Sell your Porsche without the drama. |
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TOP OF THE MARKET |
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PHOTO CREDIT: GOODING CHRISTIE’S |
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The top of the market wasn’t the usual Carrera GT and 918 Spyder show, with just three Carrera GTs and two 918s crossing the block in August. Instead, the big news came from Porsche’s race cars of the 1950s and ’60s, a group that has struggled to put sales on the board in recent years. This time, the majority found new homes, although prices came in below estimates. Given how difficult this segment has been, that was probably to be expected. Leading the pack was a 1968 907 Langheck at Gooding that brought $3,305,000, but the one that shocked me was a 1958 550A that sold for just $1,545,000. |
RUFs were another surprise, with only three of the seven on offer finding buyers. But among those that sold was a 3400 S, RUF’s take on the 986 Boxster with a 3.4-liter engine mounted midship, that brought a very impressive $220,000. While the RUF results were mixed, the 918s and Carrera GTs continued to command strong prices, and Singers appeared to hold fairly steady. |
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991 & 992 |
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PHOTO CREDIT: SOTHEBY’S MOTORSPORT |
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The 992.2 market looks to have found its feet, with August delivering a respectable 65% sell-through rate. I say respectable because in prior months, that number has been closer to 20%. A pair of Club Coupes crossed the block, with one selling for $280,875 and the other failing to sell at $230,777. We also saw our first 992.2 Turbo S sale, a 2026 Cabriolet that brought $357,000. 992.2 GT3 Tourings had a strong month as well, with four of the five on offer finding buyers, including an Oak Green Metallic example that brought $395,500 at Broad Arrow. |
On the 991 side, GT2 RSs continued to perform, with seven of the eight examples on offer finding new homes. Prices remained sky-high, with every sale above $700,000 and two topping $900,000, although last month’s $1m result remained unbeaten. The 911 R also looked strong, with two of the four cars on offer selling for $830,000 each. Could this be the next million-dollar 991? |
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996 & 997 |
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PHOTO CREDIT: BRING A TRAILER |
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Suspiciously absent from August was a GT3 RS 4.0, but that didn’t stop us from getting a million-dollar 997. That honor went to a 2011 GT2 RS finished in Carrara White over Black that hammered at $1,100,000. Last month brought our first 997.1 GT3 in quite some time, but August brought out five, with an 8,000-mile example in Black selling for $253,250. That’s a healthy jump over the $200,000 average we’ve seen over the past two months. |
But the most surprising GT3 sale belonged to a 996. Finished in Speed Yellow and showing just 9,700 miles, this car was Porsche North Houston’s 2025 Classic Restoration Challenge winner, and win it did, bringing $351,500. A staggering number for a 996.2 GT3. Another impressive 996 result came from a 2002 911 Turbo Coupe with a 6-speed, the X50 package, and just 5,386 miles that sold for $280,000. |
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BOXSTER & CAYMAN |
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PHOTO CREDIT: BRING A TRAILER |
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While I included it among the top of the market section because it’s technically a RUF, a $220,000 result for a 986 Boxster is worth repeating. Numbers like that are typically reserved for the special 718s, and August had one of those as well. A 2022 718 Spyder 000 commission, one of just 39 built, crossed the block finished in Slate Gray over Ascot Brown with 9,000 miles. At a final bid of $203,718, it became the first 000 to break the $200,000 mark. |
The 981 GT4 market also looked strong, with three of the five cars on offer selling, all above $100,000. We also saw a pair of 986 Boxster 550 Anniversary Editions, a model that has gained 12% over the past three months. One hammered at $22,317, while the other, a 20,000-mile example, brought $36,550. |
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964 & 993 |
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PHOTO CREDIT: GOODING CHRISTIE’S |
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The 964 Turbo 3.6 market had a rough start to the year, with just a 17% sell-through rate heading into August. But this month flipped that narrative on its head, with four of the six examples on offer finding new homes. A Turbo 3.6 S Flachbau drew the highest bid at $995,000 but failed to sell, leaving a pair of “normal” Turbo 3.6s to lead the sales at $769,666 and $750,750. |
993 Turbos were well represented too, with a dozen cars on offer throughout the month. Leading the pack was a Zenith Blue Metallic 1997 Turbo S at RM Sotheby’s that brought $967,500. But the standout for me was a 1996 Turbo at Broad Arrow. Finished in Paint-to-Sample Violet Blue Metallic with color-matched wheels and a leather-to-sample interior with Light Rootwood trim, this example sold for $500,000. |
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TRANSAXLE, 912, & 914 |
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PHOTO CREDIT: MECUM |
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Coming off an incredible July, 914 LEs returned to more familiar territory, with two examples bringing $27,250 and $47,000. Not long ago, that latter result would have looked impressive on its own. A pair of 914/6s also stayed below $100,000, which seems to be where these have settled recently. But the one I had my eye on was the 1970 914/6 GT at Mecum. One of just 16 built for privateer racing, it failed to sell at a final bid of $650,000. |
Among the transaxles, the top sale was a 924 Carrera GTR at Broad Arrow. Campaigned in period by Brumos Racing, it won the GTO class at the 1982 24 Hours of Le Mans and had history at both Daytona and Sebring. At $375,000, that seems like a lot of racing history for the money, especially with the vintage racing opportunities it opens up. |
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G-BODY & 930 |
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PHOTO CREDIT: RM SOTHEBY’S |
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August brought quite a few Carrera 3.2 Speedsters to market, and all found buyers. But only one of the group was a Narrowbody. One of just 171 built in that specification, this example was finished in Linen Grey Metallic over Linen leather with a Dark Blue soft top. With just 460 miles, it brought $500,000. But that wasn’t the highest Speedster result of the month. That honor went to a 10,779-mile example finished in special-order Maritime Blue that sold for $511,000. |
The star of the G-Bodies, though, was RM Sotheby’s 1989 911 Turbo Targa with the M505 Flachbau option. Finished in Guards Red over Cashmere Beige leather and showing just over 8,000 miles, it also benefited from being the only model year in which the 930 received the G50 five-speed transmission. This one brought $577,000. |
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CLASSIC 911 & 356 |
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PHOTO CREDIT: BRING A TRAILER |
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The classic 911 market looked strong, with a 72% sell-through rate. Leading the charge were a pair of Carrera 2.7 RSs, a Touring at RM Sotheby’s that brought $896,000 and a Lightweight on Bring a Trailer that sold for $805,000. But my favorite was the 1967 911S Coupe “Por She” art car. Purchased in the mid-1980s by artist Dr. Phyllis Yes, its exterior was hand-painted with a three-dimensional lace-style design. It was exhibited at the Bernice Steinbaum Gallery in New York City before being driven across the country as a traveling exhibition in 1985. This very different kind of Porsche art brought $250,000. |
Not to be outdone, the 356 market delivered a strong 76% sell-through rate. Monterey had plenty of special 356s on offer, but none more special than the 1952 356 America Roadster. The brainchild of American importer Max Hoffman, just 16 were built, with only 10 known to survive. Finished in Ivory over Green leather, this example is the only one known to have been fitted with a racing-style fuel filler from new. It brought $2,205,000. |
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SEPTEMBER AUCTIONS |
Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas - September 10th-12th Mecum Nashville - September 22nd-26th
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*Prices in Red denote a high bid and no sale. All prices are high bids and do not include the buyer’s premium unless otherwise noted by a (*). Cars listed include those offered on US online auction websites and at US in-person auctions. Unless noted, 12-month averages, lows, and highs are from online sales from Bring a Trailer, Cars & Bids, and PCARMARKET. |
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