You can't time the Air-Cooled Porsche Market - If you want it, buy it.
A big lesson in watching the air-cooled Porsche market is that you can’t time it. Similar to the stock market, if the car (or stock) meets your needs or has value, then buy it. By waiting for the dip, you will often be left holding the bag.
In this case you’ll have your money, but you won’t have an air-cooled Porsche.
My example of the maxim ”buy what you want now and to not try to time the market”, was my quest for a 1993 Porsche RS America. When I started considering one, you could still find a good one for $100,000 and a really good one for $120,000. Drivers were available for under $100,000. That time and pricing is no more.
Good Porsche RS America's are now selling for $150,000 and really good ones like this 10,000-mile model on Bring-a-Trailer had the first serious bidding start at $150,000 and is already at $175,000 with three days to go. This could easily become a quarter of a million-dollar RS America.
The opportunity for my sub-$100,000 RS America is long-gone, even for a hard-driven one. I am not alone in learning this cruel lesson. Multiple friends and fellow enthusiasts have learned this hard lesson with the air-cooled Porsche of their choice. This is particularly true in the Porsche 993 market, especially for the coupes.
How many times have I heard: “The prices on air-cooled Porsche 993’s can’t keep going up”, but they do. The same with early Porsche 911’s. The only air-cooled Porsches with any normalcy in market pricing are the G-Body 911’s of the late-seventies and early to mid-eighties.
The lesson here: if you want a specific Porsche, then buy it now and enjoy it. Don’t worry about waiting for the drop in prices; if you buy the right car, it will take care of itself in the long run.
What is the right car? Buy one of the loved models, which as mentioned includes the 993, 964 and early 911’s. And, buy the coupe. In most cases, the coupe will command a 20% premium over the cabriolets and have a larger market of buyers when the time comes to sell.
It is only the 356 where the convertibles command a premium price, but with the low-end of the 356 market being near the top end of the air-cooled 911 market, then I would focus on one of the high-value 911’s. If you just want to enjoy an air-cooled Porsche, buy a G-Body. You’ll get your money back, enjoy the air-cooled experience and not go broke, nor will you make a killing.
You are buying your air-cooled Porsche to enjoy the unique experience of a rear-engine, flat-six air-cooled Porsche, not padding your investment account. I don’t believe that you will lose money, but don’t go into the experience with the idea of how much money am I going to make? Or, “If I just wait another few months or more, prices will drop”.
Falling prices has not happened in the last 10 years of the air-cooled Porsche market so don’t think it will happen now.
Buy one and enjoy it now – don’t wait.
1993 Porsche 964 RS America on BaT: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1994-porsche-911-rs-america-11/
1998 Porsche 993 Coupe on BaT in Unique color: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1998-porsche-911-carrera-s-coupe-50/
Key Words: air-cooled Porsche prices, Air-Cooled Porsche pricing, Air Cooled Porsches