Welcome to our first edition of Wolf and Mare’s Market Monday! In this regular collector car market series, we’ll highlight sales of interesting German and European vehicles from the previous week.

In issue 01, we cover an online auction with a celebrity connection, review the results of our favorite Porsche lots from Mecum Kissimmee, and give our take on what Florida’s results might forecast for the rest of the 2024’s collector car market conditions.

While exceptions to the rule always exist, the power of celebrity ownership to add extra zeros to a car’s value is a fairly established fact. Take this recent sale of a 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa. While a nice, but perfectly common and not altogether desirable variant of the last of the air-cooled 911s, we would expect a low-mileage example like this to sell for between $100,000 to $130,000.

The true history of this car was under wraps for much of the auction’s run, until Jerry Seinfeld divulged that it was in fact, his 993 Targa for sale on Bring a Trailer. Why the billionaire comedian chose to spill the beans on Spike Ferestein’s “Spikes Car Radio” podcast remains a mystery, but we did learn it was the very Porsche Jerry would drive to work during the later seasons of his eponymous TV show.

A final sale price of $164,000 blows away the #1 value of a 993 Targa. Some might find the $25,000 premium a bit of a head-scratcher, but we don’t. Not when the previous owner’s name you drop at your local Cars and Coffee just happens to be the world’s most famous comedian—and one of the marque’s true fanatics. For us, we wished it were a 1998 model, where the troublesome Targa top mechanism was perfected. Jerry assures us his car’s glass top works perfectly, of course.

Our take: “Prices are climbing for the 996 C4S and while 4-wheel drive Porsches date back all the way to 1989 with the first Carrera 4, this model stands apart for its sophisticated yet muscular looks and relative affordability in the special 911 world. We think it could be a great buy.”

With a selling bid of $48,400, well over #1 concours value for a 996C4S, our position on these cars remains firmer than ever: If you want one, get it now. Even in this market, expect these widebody beauties to continue to appreciate.

Our take: “While the car was never offered in the US, thanks to the 25-year import rule these are making their way to our shores and represent a potential entry into the lightweight Porsche club for sub-$100,000.”

There’s a good chance these cars still remain a little off the radar of many. A car with more desirable options may have done better, but the winning bid of $85,800 was right on the money for a 968CS. 

Our take: “While the 914-6 on offer at Mecum Kissimmee is almost exclusively a track car and can only be driven by an owner or individual with the proper racing credentials, this is a beautifully prepared vehicle, and being a 914-6 an already rare and desirable Porsche on its own.”

Being sold on a bill of sale with no title, this car may have turned off only the few who can and do afford to go vintage racing. A no-sale at $110,00, which would have been all the money for a stock 914-6. 

Our take: While the exclusivity of the soft window is balanced a bit by less desirable Polo Red paint, this 911 could go for very big money.”

Bid to #2 condition or $140,000 for a regular fixed window Targa, this car failed to bring the action we expected for the rare, soft window variant. Looks like red wasn’t anyone’s color.

Our take: “Be prepared to pay handsomely to be handed the keys, but we can think of worse ways to spend a million dollars.”

Apparently the high bidder shared our sentiments. This beauty hammered for $1.127 million, just a touch under the low estimate, but still double the cost of waiting for a custom build.

Naturally, our selections above were a small slice of Porsches that crossed the block and could never represent the collector car market as a whole. In fact, overall Porsche results for this year’s Mecum Kissimmee suggest that Porsche values are at the very least not tumbling into oblivion, and perhaps showing stabilization as we head into 2024.

G-body 911 Turbos performed well against their established—although depressed from the white hot days of yore—market valuations, as did other desirable 911 models such as 964 Carerra 2s and 993s. The story was similar on the more affordable end of the Porsche spectrum, with 914s bringing strong money. We were particularly surprised to see a 39,000 mile 2004 996 Carrera Cabriolet hammer for $49,500, well above the value of a concours condition example. 

A few deals caught our eye as well. 986 generation Boxsters remain the bargain Porsche to buy for those looking to enter the club, as do transaxle cars, with 944s, non-Club Sport 968s, and 928s seeing a lack of action at Mecum in 2024. 

All eyes are ahead toward the Scottsdale Arizona auctions in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for our favorite selections from Barrett Jackson, Bonhams, and RMSotheby’s auctions in an upcoming post.