When It Comes To Raffled Porsches, Used Beats New

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

Time to “Revive The Passion”. The Porsche Club of America wants its members to get more excited about their money-raising raffles. Although the raffles usually sell out — I’ve waited too long in the past and missed my chance to win cars like a Cayman 2.7 or Cayenne S — presumably the rate of sale is decreasing.

The first step was to offer cash as an option: disgruntled PCA members who were sick of Porsche’s many concessions to modern cost-cutting reality could then go buy the car they really wanted. Now the club has come up with an even better idea.

Check out the Revive the Passion site. PCA is paying Porsche’s restoration people to rebuild a ratty old ’73 911T 2.4. As far as 911s go, this is pretty far from the top of the desirability ladder. The 911T was the bottom of a lineup consisting of 911T, 911E, and the fabled 911S. And no, not all 911Ts are Targas; the letter stood for something else entirely. The “E” was Einspritz, or fuel injection, while the “S” was Sport. “T” was just… well, probably “T”.

PCA will get my money this year. I’d rather own a 1973 911T, in all of its 160-horsepower, crazy-legs-handling glory, than any of the current lineup. The problem is this: what does it mean when the average Porsche Club member would rather win a used car?

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Stingray Stingray on Sep 01, 2010

    I read about a cooler club in Automobile last month. Hot Rodding + Porsche = cool. I would have liked they covered more models, but I didn't start the club so... I think it was yourself who showed a site that was backdating new cars to old look.

  • Domestic Hearse Domestic Hearse on Sep 01, 2010

    First off, an admission: I love old 911s. More than new ones. The smell, the sound, the feel of an old oil/air cooled 911 are the ingredients of an automotive experience no other car can match. At least for me. But why would the PCA offer up a 911T (the joke is, the "T" stands for "tame") to its members in a raffle over a brand new 911? And what does that say about the appeal of new Porsches, even to the Porsche faithful? Well, first off, while this car in its present form is not much more than a basket case, it will be reworked completely and restored to as-new condition by Porsche Classic Workshop, just outside Zuffenhausen. That, right there, is worth the price of admission. Once they breathe their magic upon this forlorn and abused T, it will be back-of-the-hand-biting desirable. On the road, it will deliver that original, unmistakable, unmatched, authentic 911 experience. It will be, in literal interpretation, a "new" car. So, Porschephiles, the question is not "why the PCA selected an old "used" 911 over a brand new one." It's "would you rather have a new 1973 911, or a new 2010 911?" The dealer near me has a parking lot full of new 911s. The only thing one needs is good credit or a big wad of cash to acquire one. The dealer does not have any "new" vintage 911s, nor is it likely that he ever will. You, lucky winner, will have perhaps the best 73 911T in the world. And better, PCA members are allowed "in" on the process. Log in, watch the progress, see the craftsmanship, see the project evolve, watch the car come alive. All to get the faithful vicariously involved -- and attached -- to the process and the car. It's a stroke of savvy marketing, and a sound bit of understanding the audience, this current raffle. I'm already imagining it parked in my driveway.

  • CRacK hEaD aLLeY CRacK hEaD aLLeY on Sep 01, 2010

    It means that owning a Mazdaspeed, Evo, Sti etc is more fun, cheaper and less pretentious. And you are really only paying for the slice that matters. The snobberish part is left out since everyone can readily tell these things were born out of econoboxes anyway. Instead, P. tries (and fails) to hide the cheap under a skin that *once* represented something truly exquisite and different.

  • Marcus WK Marcus WK on Sep 02, 2010

    I'm with you Jack. I own a 944S, a Boxster 2.7, and a European grey-market 81 SC with dual weber carbs and no emissions equipment. Guess which car is my favorite?

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