Porsche overtakes Ferrari as million-dollar car of the moment

THIS month, as car enthusiasts converge on Florida for two weeks, they will find 14 Porsches with estimates straddling the US$1 million mark-two more than the dozen Ferraris with the same distinction and far more than any other brand among the 405 total lots being offered across three auction houses. Million-dollar Porsches are creeping into the elite pricing echelon that Ferraris once dominated at significant auctions around the globe.

The increase reflects collectors’ desires and financial ability to build significant collections around one favoured brand, says Steve Serio, a Boston-based automotive broker to billionaires. Porsches have always been valuable-they just have not been as desirable as multimillion-dollar Ferrari GTOs, LMs and Testarossas. But Porsche is inching closer as an increasing number of buyers amass collections around the historic marque.

“A lot of cars that Porsche has made have gone into that spectrum,” says Serio of the million-dollar benchmark. “What’s driving that is there are far more people who still want to have a Porsche collection than a Ferrari collection, mostly because a real proper Ferrari collection is [financially] unattainable for most people.”

The sales start on Thursday (Feb 27) with ModaMiami at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. The brainchild of Rob Myers from RM Sotheby’s, Moda enters its second year centreed around a classic-car show, music and shopping; a private club lounge; and two auction days that aim to continue the sales momentum of its recent US$53 million Mercedes auction.

The Amelia by Hagerty follows the next weekend, Mar 6 to Mar 9; the prestigious 30-year-old concours d’elegance at the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island is anchored by auctions hosted by Broad Arrow and Gooding Christie’s.

All told, the average mid-estimate price of the vehicles offered is US$658,642, up from US$563,940 in 2024, according to the K500 classic-car index. But extremely rare cars, such as the 1955 Ferrari 375 MM Berlinetta offered by Gooding (estimated US$8 million to US$10 million), will likely draw the strongest interest in a collectible market some analysts are calling sluggish.

“Deals are taking longer than before, and owners and their agents are having to work hard and diplomatically to get something from being ‘agreed’ to actually ‘done,’ “ Simon Kidston, the founder of K500, said in a Feb 12 market report. Still, anything unrepeatable, like that Ferrari 375 MM, “sells accordingly,” he says.

But it is the gaggle of high-end Porsches that may surprise casual market observers. While the brand has long enjoyed a cult following and is seeing record sales and high price tags for its modern 911 sports cars, it has only been in the past few years that any classic Porsche other than the most elite models, like a 917 race car, could be expected to go for over a million US dollars. In 2022 a Porsche Carrera GT sold for US$1.9 million on Bring a Trailer, setting a record at the time for the model and the online selling platform.

Both RM Sotheby’s and Gooding Christie’s are vying for the title of most expensive Porsche sold at the Florida auctions.

A 1988 959 Sport is offered by RM Sotheby’s for an estimated US$5.5 million to US$6.5 million. The car is one of only 29 ever built and has just 3,757 miles on its odometer. (Bidders will also see other examples of Porsche’s highly advanced race car across the Miami auctions: RM Sotheby’s has a 1988 959 SC valued at US$3 million to US$3.5 million, and Gooding is offering a 1988 959 Komfort valued at US$2 million to US$2.5 million.)

Or the high-seller could be the 1989 RUF CTR “Yellowbird” that Gooding Christie’s is offering with an estimate “in excess” of US$6 million. One of 29 made and one of nine painted yellow, it boasts just two owners and barely 1,000 miles from new. (RUF, the German sports-car builder that made its name by adding speed and power to factory Porsches, has several other cars listed among the high-US dollar set. Gooding is offering a 1997 RUF CTR2 for US$2 million to US$2.5 million; RM has a 2009 RUF CTR3 with a high estimate of US$1.3 million.)

The aftermarket strength of Porsche’s more recent hybrid supercar is also on show with a pair of 918 Spyders-a 2015 918 “Weissach” Spyder at RM Sotheby’s (high estimate US$3 million) and a 2015 918 Spyder at Broad Arrow (high estimate US$2.4 million). And RM Sotheby’s will offer a 2005 example of the 918’s predecessor, the Carrera GT, for US$1.4 million to US$1.7 million.

The oldest Porsches listed above a million US dollars are the 1959 356 A 1600 GS/GT Carrera Speedster, which Gooding Christie’s says is worth US$900,000 to US$1.2 million, and the 1964 904 Carrera GTS, estimated to sell for US$1.5 million to US$1.8 million. Later model Porsches are approaching that pricing, like the 2019 Porsche 911 GT2 RS “Weissach” and the 1993 Porsche 911 Turbo S Lightweight, both of which RM Sotheby’s estimates could fetch US$1 million.

Even the humble Porsche 914 makes the top-seller list. With a high estimate of US$1 million, Gooding Christie’s will offer an orange 1970 914/6 GT with an impeccable restoration and copious documentation (including a 65-page report by 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Ju¨rgen Barth).

That’s quite a jump for the tiny two-seater, especially one with no race history of its own. When it debuted in 1968, a base model 914 cost roughly US$3,500-the equivalent of just over US$30,000 today and an apt reflection of the collector car market at large.

“Without sounding completely glib,” Serio says, “over US$1 million doesn’t buy you much in the car world any more.” BLOOMBERG