Seems to me that air cooled Porsches are traded more as a market commodity as might be bitcoin and non-physical gold, etc. etc. etc.. At least by investing in an air cooled Porsche, you have bought into what might be referred to as durable goods, and not something that only exists in digital or paper form...?
For some years now it seems most air cooled Porsches live the life of garage queens, part of which is likely to be related to their owners changing priorities with the passage of time, which seem likely to have evolved into protecting their investment, as opposed to driving their Porsches as they once may have done, perhaps in more recent years been ever more sucked into the convenience, comfort, and safety which more modern vehicles provide..?
I suspect here will be those who still have great enthusiasm for the marque and are fortunate to have the wherewithal to buy a modern Porsche to keep their old air cooled investment company in the garage, one to drive and one to Polish perhaps...?
If any of the above might ring true to any degree, then air-cooled Porsches may indeed shift ever more towards the asset classification of durable goods, as opposed to being greatly valued as the sports cars they once were, and if younger market investors take that on board, then in time it seems even less likely that we might have the opportunity to see an old Porsche out on the road..?
I suspect it may have been baby boomer owners that afforded me the opportunity to see the occasional air cooled as they took to the road to risk a rare run in the sun, or to take it to a car show, setting out their chairs to get comfortable and meet similarly aged friends, perhaps their attendance at such events reducing in number as the baby boomers begin to drop off the perch...?
I suspect newer and younger investors may in time be influenced by whatever costs might be involved in the storage general maintenance and perhaps corrosion repairs of their Porsche asset relative to other investment types..? I also expect the young investor will have at least some degree of car enthusiast tendencies and thus can derive a measure of returns, real or imagined via accolade from their peer group in the cyber or real world for as long as air cooled Porsche are generally perceived as cool or a wise investment, call it the feel good factor if you will..? In such situations, returns other than financial may have a degree of potential to justify the investment costs during the period of ownership ..?
Again if any of the above might seem a reasonable reflection on the general market influences affecting the monetary value of air-cooled Porsches as investments, then it seems from January the first this year, with the demise of the availability non-biofuels at petrol stations in the UK and EU, and that apparently no air-cooled Porsche was designed to run on biofuels, would seems to reduce their worth as sports cars to those who may wish to drive them as originally intended, even if only rarely...?
It seems to me that brand Porsche was built upon the strong foundation of simplicity of design, build quality and longevity of the Beetle, and the sports car it spawned. These basic engineering principals and continuing success in motor sport maintained the Porsche brand status even through times when the risk of self destruction of their new design water-cooled engines became almost common knowledge, add to that the number of years that it seemingly took to resolve the issue..? Despite such issues it would seem the perception of Porsche quality and status, real or imagined, maintained market share to some degree, the water cooled issues perhaps off-set to some degree with what seems like a clever "self funding" (?) marketing strategy by way of the introduction an extended guarantee scheme, which would be funded by customers paying an annual fee, those same customers being cajoled into buying O.E. parts to service and repair their Porsches,should they ever need to make any claim under the scheme..?
My guess is that the extended guarantee scheme may have worked out better financially than perhaps otherwise being forced into another flat six engine redesign, which seemed likely to risk the possible loss of a degree of brand confidence, but what do I know, just look at the VW emissions fiddling...? Sure it cost the company plenty, but I suspect the VW brand still carries credibility with folk of a certain age, though perhaps less so with their grand kids..?
Market value, hmm..? I have perhaps too often used my friends £16k purchase of his very tidy GR, 964 with black interior in 2009, which in today`s market may be valued circa £50k...? It seems kinda obvious that average family incomes over the same period of time do not in any way match the 964`s rise in monetary value, which seems to indicate to me that air cooled 911 Porsches are valued as other than just a sports car...?
Again if the above might seem in any way a reasonable assessment, air cooled Porsches have evolved into becoming viewed on balance as a market investment, tipping that balance ever further away from their value as a sports car up till now..?
As for the future... in the words of the Dylan song, the times they are a changing, and have done so in an entirely negative way for a considerable percentage of the population, and in so many areas of the entire economy. If you might be dependant to any degree on the investment value of a Porsche, as opposed to evaluating it`s possible returns as a fine old sports car, I sure hope it works for you.. :?:
For some years now it seems most air cooled Porsches live the life of garage queens, part of which is likely to be related to their owners changing priorities with the passage of time, which seem likely to have evolved into protecting their investment, as opposed to driving their Porsches as they once may have done, perhaps in more recent years been ever more sucked into the convenience, comfort, and safety which more modern vehicles provide..?
I suspect here will be those who still have great enthusiasm for the marque and are fortunate to have the wherewithal to buy a modern Porsche to keep their old air cooled investment company in the garage, one to drive and one to Polish perhaps...?
If any of the above might ring true to any degree, then air-cooled Porsches may indeed shift ever more towards the asset classification of durable goods, as opposed to being greatly valued as the sports cars they once were, and if younger market investors take that on board, then in time it seems even less likely that we might have the opportunity to see an old Porsche out on the road..?
I suspect it may have been baby boomer owners that afforded me the opportunity to see the occasional air cooled as they took to the road to risk a rare run in the sun, or to take it to a car show, setting out their chairs to get comfortable and meet similarly aged friends, perhaps their attendance at such events reducing in number as the baby boomers begin to drop off the perch...?
I suspect newer and younger investors may in time be influenced by whatever costs might be involved in the storage general maintenance and perhaps corrosion repairs of their Porsche asset relative to other investment types..? I also expect the young investor will have at least some degree of car enthusiast tendencies and thus can derive a measure of returns, real or imagined via accolade from their peer group in the cyber or real world for as long as air cooled Porsche are generally perceived as cool or a wise investment, call it the feel good factor if you will..? In such situations, returns other than financial may have a degree of potential to justify the investment costs during the period of ownership ..?
Again if any of the above might seem a reasonable reflection on the general market influences affecting the monetary value of air-cooled Porsches as investments, then it seems from January the first this year, with the demise of the availability non-biofuels at petrol stations in the UK and EU, and that apparently no air-cooled Porsche was designed to run on biofuels, would seems to reduce their worth as sports cars to those who may wish to drive them as originally intended, even if only rarely...?
It seems to me that brand Porsche was built upon the strong foundation of simplicity of design, build quality and longevity of the Beetle, and the sports car it spawned. These basic engineering principals and continuing success in motor sport maintained the Porsche brand status even through times when the risk of self destruction of their new design water-cooled engines became almost common knowledge, add to that the number of years that it seemingly took to resolve the issue..? Despite such issues it would seem the perception of Porsche quality and status, real or imagined, maintained market share to some degree, the water cooled issues perhaps off-set to some degree with what seems like a clever "self funding" (?) marketing strategy by way of the introduction an extended guarantee scheme, which would be funded by customers paying an annual fee, those same customers being cajoled into buying O.E. parts to service and repair their Porsches,should they ever need to make any claim under the scheme..?
My guess is that the extended guarantee scheme may have worked out better financially than perhaps otherwise being forced into another flat six engine redesign, which seemed likely to risk the possible loss of a degree of brand confidence, but what do I know, just look at the VW emissions fiddling...? Sure it cost the company plenty, but I suspect the VW brand still carries credibility with folk of a certain age, though perhaps less so with their grand kids..?
Market value, hmm..? I have perhaps too often used my friends £16k purchase of his very tidy GR, 964 with black interior in 2009, which in today`s market may be valued circa £50k...? It seems kinda obvious that average family incomes over the same period of time do not in any way match the 964`s rise in monetary value, which seems to indicate to me that air cooled 911 Porsches are valued as other than just a sports car...?
Again if the above might seem in any way a reasonable assessment, air cooled Porsches have evolved into becoming viewed on balance as a market investment, tipping that balance ever further away from their value as a sports car up till now..?
As for the future... in the words of the Dylan song, the times they are a changing, and have done so in an entirely negative way for a considerable percentage of the population, and in so many areas of the entire economy. If you might be dependant to any degree on the investment value of a Porsche, as opposed to evaluating it`s possible returns as a fine old sports car, I sure hope it works for you.. :?:
