The Crittenden Automotive Library

Porsche 993 - An appreciating classic

Topics: Porsche 911

Porsche 993 - An appreciating classic

Matt Hubbard
Speedmonkey
October 7, 2012

The Porsche 993 is the last of the air-cooled 911s. It's successor, the 996, was the first of the water cooled. As such Porsche enthusiasts consider the 993 to be the last proper 911.

The 993 was introduced in 1994. Its bodywork was smoother than the outgoing 964 and it had new multi-link suspension that went some way to alleviating the achilles heel of all Porsches that had gone before it - that of lift off oversteer. With the engine over the rear axle the 911s weight distribution is towards the rear and the 993 was the first Porsche to properly address that issue.

The purists consider the best 993 to be the wide bodied Carrera 2 S manual coupe. That is, rear wheel drive with a non turbo flat six 3.6 litre engine coupled to a six speed manual gearbox. The 993 has a more engaging drive than the later 996 which lost some of the direct mechanical feel in favour of making the 911 more appealing to a wider market.

Consider this. You have £25,000 to spend. You can pay off a chunk of the mortgage, or you could spend it on house improvements, or a holiday to an exotic destination. You could even blow it on a sportscar.

But cars depreciate don't they? Within a few years your £25,000 will be reduced to £15,000, £10,000 or even £5,000. Well it would it you had bought a Mercedes SL500 or a Maserati 3200GT. Both cars have dropped in value so much you can buy early 2000s models for less than £10,000.

Not so if you choose wisely. And right now, in todays market about the wisest choice you could make would be a Porsche 993.

There is no index or list that shows that the 993 is appreciating but consider this - a 996 Carrera 2 can be bought for under £10,000 and plenty more are headed down to that level.

Having read the above now digest that you will not find a 993 Carrera 2 for sale for less than £20,000.

So a 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 can be bought for £9,000 (have a look, there are loads) but try finding a decent, unmolested, hardtop manual Carrera 993 for less than £20,000 and you will struggle.

In fact the cheapest 993 coupe we could find (that wasn't Cat D or didn't have some kind of crazed paint scheme to cover accident damage) was for sale at £20,990.

If you don't believe us then Google "Porsche 993 appreciating value" and you'll see that this has been talked about for a few years now.

So, back to that £25,000. Take a very cheap holiday, then find a Porsche 993 Carrera 2 S coupe in the best condition you can find. Look after it well and in a few years time it will be worth much, much more than you bought it for.