Good Find Friday features interesting vehicles we’ve found for sale while conducting market analysis or appraisal research. They are not for sale by Wolf and Mare and we have no business relationship with the sellers. We just think they’re worth learning about and sharing with our readers!

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As a person who spent 20 years in the creative industry, one of the reasons the Porsche brand has appealed to me has been its connection to design, architecture, and art. This has manifested in different ways throughout the years, but most recently in collaborations with artists, such as the one between Porsche and Daniel Arsham. The artist has apparently had a love affair with Porsche cars since childhood, and today’s Good Find Friday car is one of his ventures into crafting a Porsche 911 restoration tailored to his specs. Let’s take a look at the “Arsham” 1998 Porsche 993A.

Art gallery descriptions for the artist naturally read fairly pretentious, so I will attempt to describe Arsham’s work in plain language. Essentially, Arsham’s work is grounded in a concept of “fictional archaeology.” Essentially, he’s inspired by the idea of combining natural erosion with common objects from our day to day life. Whether bowling balls, cereal boxes, leather jackets, or the human form, Arsham’s volcanic ash and crystal creations make me think about the impermanence of all things with their eroded and geode-like appearance.

Like many luxury brands in the modern age, Porsche has been working hard to connect itself to the world of art through participation in events like Art Basel and collaborations with — and celebrations of – modern artists as a way to expand its brand appeal. In an interview with Hypebeast, Daniel Arsham described how he has always had a passion for the Porsche automobile. Like me, the evolutionary nature of the brand’s design earned his admiration. After crafting full-size static sculptures of eroded Porsche 911s, Arsham moved on to creating drivable versions and then non-eroded customs. The subject of today’s Good Find Friday is one of those projects.

Built in collaboration with artist and mechanic Greg Anagnostopoulos, this 1998 Porsche 911 has been transformed and renewed based on the vision of the artist. Less an art piece and more a meticulously customized collectible, the car is currently for sale at Canepa with an unlisted asking price.

I encountered this project on Instagram as it was unfolding, transfixed by the meticulous disassembly and reassembly of the car over time by Anagnostopoulos in Arsham’s personal garage. The car has been refinished in an unusual color of Vanilla Yellow, a rare color applied to only one car — a 1998 Porsche 911 Turbo S built for the prime minister of Kuwait.

Astonishingly, Arsham is color blind, making the choice of Vanilla Yellow a fascinating one. If you hate the color, I suppose you can fault his limited access to the full spectrum of the world’s colors but I love it. It reminds me a bit of the Porsche 356 color “Glacier White.” The base car appears to be a 993 Carrera S, itself a very valuable car.

Aside from the eye-catching paint color, the car has also had a completely new interior fitted by noted upholsterer Justin Placek. Now trimmed in Arsham’s favorite color of green, leather is beautifully fitted to all surfaces and extends into the front trunk. A set of sport seats have been beautifully recovered with their hard backs color-matched to the exterior. The headrests have been embroidered with Arsham branding.

Mechanically, the car has been completely refreshed down to each nut and bolt. It’s not all show, either, with the engine displacement bumped up to 3.8-liters using Carillo rods and CNC’d heads. An ECU remap, rebuilt transmission and a full set of suspension upgrades round out the package.

The car has received a full inspection and detail from Canepa, which should add some peace of mind for the next owner.

Values for your average 1998 Porsche 911 Carrera S have gone stratospheric in the last four years. As the price for today’s car is available only on inquiry, we’ll have to guess as to what Canepa is asking.

Based on the chart above, I would expect this unique and special car to command a price near or exceeding $350,000.

With its Sonderwunsch-style craftsmanship and connection to one of the hottest modern artists connected to the Porsche brand, we can probably expect the price for this car to be near the top end of the market. There’s no guarantee the car will sustain that value or appreciate like a Singer or Emory-built Porsche, but if you’re an art collector who already has a piece from Arsham (or more) and love the spec of the car, wouldn’t this look good in your garage?

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisal and auction services for sellers and buyers of collector European cars. We also provide importation services. Give us a call or drop us a line!