There Is No 911 Bubble. Get Over It

"flying lap" (flyinglap) 01/23/2015 at 16:45 • Filed to: None

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Collectors are scooping up air-cooled 911's with a motherfucking vengeance and it’s about time. The 911 is the single sexiest design in automotive history. No close second. Don’t even mention Ferrari. No manufacturer has been able to keep a design around relatively unchanged for half a century. Maybe the Mercedes G-Wagon...

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I’ll explain why in my humble opinion, there is no substitute. Anything post-1999 is devoid of mechanical feel and has douche-bag associations. The 996 for example albeit a great value is the bastard child with a tendency to self-destruct. The 997 and 991's feel like grand touring cars and cushy daily drivers. Soulless.

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Meanwhile, anything pre-1999 gets you automatically inducted to the badass vintage car collector hall of fame. I WANT IN. I’d sell my first born or get butt fucked on pay-per-view to own any number of air-cooled classics. The p roblem is I’m priced out. I revel in mediocrity wondering when I’ll have 30k in disposal income like the attorneys and twenty-something year old’s that live in their parents basements who get loans through Pentagon Federal.

Back in good’old 2004 I had the opportunity to buy an honest 79 911sc for $11,000 USD. I passed because I hated it. I didn’t like the way it drove, the pedals felt stupid, it was dog-shit slow, and the kicker, it was brown over brown. I cursed it’s very existence.

Fast forward 11 years. That 79 SC I hated so much I’m now infatuated with. Especially in brown over brown. I recently had the opportunity to drive a well sorted example and oh man it was Shangri-La. During my short drive Jesus cast out the spirits and healed all who were sick. It felt so right. At least once a week I contemplate suicide thinking about all the air-cooled gems I’ve missed over the years and why I bought an E36 M3 for twice the money instead of the 911.

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Do yourself a favor and drive an early car. They’re relatively slow by today’s standards, (don’t drag race an F150, you’ll lose miserably), but they feel like sports cars. The only late model car that comes close to feeling like a fucking sports car is the Miata.

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It’s not too late, though. You didn’t miss the boat, BUY ONE NOW. Like, today.

Flyinglap aka Joe knows more useless car information than anybody. He owns every Car & Driver since 1986. His 11 year old son knows the difference between an E24 and E28. His 7 year old son says “gai-ar-doh” not “gah-lar-doh” .

For Sweden > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 16:47

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jkm7680 > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 16:47

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And I'd like to buy one before the prices completely shoot through the universe.

Brian Silvestro > For Sweden 01/23/2015 at 16:48

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beat me to it

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 16:50

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The only one close to doing he same thing as Porsche and the 911 must be AutoVAZ with the re-engineered Fiat 124.

KirkyV > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 17:04

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"No manufacturer has been able to keep a design around, relatively unchanged, for half a century. Maybe the Mercedes G-Wagon..."

Uh...

The Mini went almost completely unchanged from 1959 to 2000, and the Defender/Series/110/90 has been in continuous production for 67 years. Make no mistake, the 911 is certainly a long-lived design, but it's far from the only one.

crowmolly > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 17:08

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It is a feeding frenzy, the way muscle cars went in the early '00s.

Milky > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 17:11

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This post includes: brown 911, e46 M3, maita, alfa and auto hate.

Have you ever been to the website Jalopnik?

GhostZ > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 17:13

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This reminds me of those thousands of Bitcoin supporters back in November shouting "THERE IS NO BITCOIN BUBBLE, IT'S JUST FINALLY GETTING THE RECOGNITION IT DESERVES!"

There is a bubble on 911's that is happening overtop of its natural collectible appreciation. When they start falling apart or mileage gets too high, or collectors sell their garage queens off, then they'll come back down as being high collectible projects. That's already happened, for the most part, as most base level 911s are in shit condition for the price.

What you have to understand is that the price of a used car is only marginally associated with its driving feel or uniqueness or how good you think it is. It depends on many many many more factors.

wkiernan > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 17:17

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I don't know why you say "don't drag race an F-150, you'll lose." This confesses a disturbing lack of faith. Many years ago when I had a red 1981 Toyota Corolla which looked very much like the one in the picture, having only 75 HP, I passed pretty much everybody all the time, including 240Zs, Porsches, Corvettes, you name it. They had the power but I had the will. What I'm saying is, horsepower is nice but LEAD FOOT CONQUERS ALL.

Wacko > Milky 01/23/2015 at 17:46

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jalopwhat?

Is that a website about Russian satellites with commie dashcams?

E. Julius > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 17:46

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As a twenty year old who has to confront the possibility that my assets/priorities will not develop to the point where I could ever consider an air–cooled 911 as they rise in price, I've already started planning what modern car I can buy at a ludicrous price when I'm 50 to screw over all the 20 year olds of my children's generation. $250,000 i8s anybody? (Inflation yo)

Axial > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 18:37

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If you think the 911 design has been "relatively unchanged" for this long, I've got some real estate on Jupiter I'd like to sell to you...

flying lap > KirkyV 01/23/2015 at 18:42

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Ok, you got me. But, the 911 is most iconic, don't you think?

KirkyV > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 19:10

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This could be my British-ness speaking, but I'd give that honour to the Mini.

flying lap > KirkyV 01/23/2015 at 19:13

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Perhaps in Europe, specifically England. But, in the US, hands down, 911.

flying lap > KirkyV 01/23/2015 at 19:13

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I could die with that garage, btw. A 911, a Mini, and a D90 to daily drive...

flying lap > wkiernan 01/23/2015 at 19:15

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No disturbing lack of faith. Have you seen the new F150 0 - 60 numbers?

45bullets > For Sweden 01/23/2015 at 21:55

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JasonStern911 > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 23:00

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The 996 for example, albeit a great value, is the bastard child with a tendency to self-destruct.

THAT RARELY HAPPENS!

How rarely?

.....often.

In all seriousness, the early 996s with the 3.4L motors aren't as prone to IMS bearing failures. And they still have actual throttle cables and could be purchased without most of the driver assist modules. And the coolant mostly cools the oil (hence why it needs 10 quarts). It's definitely not a refined motor as far as noises go.

JasonStern911 > flying lap 01/23/2015 at 23:40

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Also, if an older 911 isn't in your price range, don't write off a well maintained 912 or 914...

flying lap > JasonStern911 01/24/2015 at 08:17

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lots of things contribute to the 996 being a badtard. Most importantly, looks. Remember, rich can afford IMS retrofits, and you're right, they don't happen that often.

flying lap > JasonStern911 01/24/2015 at 08:21

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I'd take a 912. Too bad collectors are driving those prices up. 914, not for me. I've driven a 1.7 car, while entertaining, don't think I could own one. Have you seen 914-6 prices lately? Seems like anything with a porche crest is absurd.

JasonStern911 > flying lap 01/24/2015 at 17:05

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My dad actually owns a 914-6. What at the time was likely an impulse buy that pissed my mom off is looking more and more like a very sound long-term investment.

912s with the VW motors can be surprisingly reliable daily drivers with decent power if the motor is built properly (Raby), but I wouldn't touch one with a 356 motor if the plan is to daily drive.

Really, all of the older Porsches are at a point where you need to decide if they are an investment car, or a daily driver/track car. While you dislike the 914, if the goal is a daily driver, consider one with a Subaru EJ swap. The collectability will be shot, but a modern, reliabile fuel injected motor in a lightweight chassis... damn. Let alone being able to pay someone - not even have to do it yourself - to assemble it for less than the price of a new Nissan Altima Coupe...

JasonStern911 > flying lap 01/24/2015 at 17:17

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I honestly think that the 996 is one of the greatest enthusiast cars someone can own right now (and back it up by actually owning one). The hate - from the IMS bearing failures, the headlights, and being water cooled, plus reasonable production numbers and the "prestige" badge causing some owners to baby them as if they were not a depreciating asset, provide this perfect storm where normal people with normal salaries can afford a car well outside of anything that should be realistic. Does the car have some design flaws? Yes. Are the design flaws unknown or unaddressable? No! So, ultimately, people are just lazy, and those willing to do some research or simply ask questions get to take advantage of this systematic flaw.

Honestly, my biggest complaint with my 996 is that I am an admittedly shitty driver, and while the handling characteristics are mind blowing to the point where I lose traction, when traction is lost, my natural instincts to retain control of the car (having mostly owned front engine, rear or all-wheel drive cars) are wrong. and this is only a problem because the level at which it takes to lose control is so high that it makes it difficult to learn proper driving techniques through experience. But then I'm in the vast minority of people posting on the internet with respect to that.

flying lap > JasonStern911 01/24/2015 at 18:52

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I like 914's just fine. But, don't see the value per dollar.

You're gonna hate my next blog post, jason.

JasonStern911 > flying lap 01/26/2015 at 23:03

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Oh, I agree they're past the depreciation curve and onto the appreciation curve, which sucks because if a clean, rust-free chassis could be had for $2-3k, a Subaru EJ25 swap might make financial sense. Even the 944s are starting to pass that point, but luckily people still neglect changing the timing belt on them, so an LSx swap might still make financial sense to some. The 996s/986s are the sweet spot for daily/track drivers, though.