Porsche sales that mattered at the 2018 Monterey Car Week auctions

There’s an old political adage: “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.” These days, you could almost say, “as the Porsche market goes, so goes the collector car market.” Porsches made up almost 12% of the total number of cars consigned at the Monterey Car Week auctions. Out of the 166 Porsches that were sold, a few stood out as particularly significant.

2016 Porsche 911R sold for $379,000
Why this car mattered: The 2016 911R harked back to the 1967 911R. It was a back-to-basics, lighter-weight, 500-hp, manual-transmission-only version of the 991 generation of the 911. Built in limited numbers with the staggering price of $184,000 for a de-contented car. They sold out instantly.

Why this sale mattered: Choose your late-model, low-production Porsche, whether it’s a Carrera GT, GT2 RS, 918 Spyder, or a 911R. The marque has proven remarkably adept at building exactly one less than the market will bear, creating immediate scarcity around the car. But more importantly, and somewhat surprisingly, the momentum in the marketplace around these cars has proven to be sustainable. The subsequent introduction of a new GT car, or any other new über Porsche, hasn’t killed the market for the earlier cars the way that the introduction of the Ferrari F40 made the 288 GTO look like last year’s GI Joe without the Kung Fu grip a generation ago. The 911R sold by RM is our representative for this phenomenon. When the new Porsche GT3 Touring was announced, it was widely speculated that the market for 911Rs might soften considerably. Not a chance. This sale shows that they’ve reliably settled in at about double their original MSRP. The rules of collectability have clearly changed — great cars no longer have to depreciate significantly and spend time in the wilderness before being recognized as collectible. Porsches like this 911R are proof.