Even Restored Classic Porsches Are Now Selling For Big Money

Another week, another story involving silly classic Porsche prices. This 930-era 911 Turbo isn’t original and isn’t even a limited-edition model, but it’s still expected to fetch more than £125,000 when it goes to auction next month.

To be fair, even without manufacturing pedigree it’s still rather nice. Despite being one of more than 18,000 examples of the later 3.3-litre 930, the 1981 right-hand drive car’s story really begins after it was found decaying in a Leeds garage a few years ago. Apparently it had sat there for 15 years and needed a complete ground-up restoration and rebuild.

It got one thanks to a 2014 competition between every UK Porsche dealer to carry out and present the finest restoration job they could. For its efforts, the Porsche Classic Restoration Centre in Leeds won a couple of trophies, with the judges citing an incredible attention to detail. The two videos above show some of the car’s journey from wreck to redemption.

Lots of parts (big and small) are new, as is the paint job, albeit in the correct original colour. Speaking of attention to detail, modern paint was judged to be too thin to achieve the same ‘orange peel’ effect seen on certain body panels in factory-fresh condition, so a special paint thickener was used to get it looking the way it should. The restoration was so detailed and involved that it was actually covered in several Porsche and classic car magazines at the time.

Plenty of minor parts and bodywork panels were rusty and needed either repair or replacement. The turbo and wastegate were scrap. At least original parts like the crank cases and rocker covers were good enough to keep. Amusingly, the sellers, Silverstone Auctions, said:

“We’re not allowed to use the terms ‘as new’, ‘like new’ or ‘better than new’…”

Note how they used them anyway…

“…but this car is absolutely exceptional. It’s a real credit to the restoration team and truly worthy of the accolades it has received.”

If you’re wondering, yes it has an MOT – until January. It’s for sale at the July Silverstone Auctions Classic Sale running over the 29th and 30th of the month. Its estimate is £125,000-£145,000, and of course there’s a 15 per cent buyer’s premium on top. We can’t be alone in thinking that the whole classic Porsche values thing might have gone a bit too far.