991 Prices - too cheap?

The prevailing view of the keyboard jockeys on various motoring forums is that the new 991's sales in the UK have been disappointing, and that the cause is the supposedly inflated prices, as you 'have' to pay at least £95,000 for a 'decent' specification.

Not only have they been suckered into over-indulging from Porsche's option list, but they have short memories too.

A 3.4litre 991 (in what they'll have you believe is the poverty specification) produces 350bhp, drags itself 60mph in about 4.5seconds and on to 180mph. I fail to believe that this is not more than sufficient for the UK's crowded roads, and more importantly, quite enough to have a load of fun and is probably the sweetest driving 911 available. It also comes with a 7 speed gearbox, 19" wheels, navigation, a 9 speaker/235watt sound system, bi-Xenon lights, climate, leather seats, and a long list of electronic luxury and safety too-dahs, all as standard in its £72,500 price.


By way of contrast, here are the list prices of (993)911s eighteen years ago:

911 Carrera - Manual - £56,495
911 Carrera - Tip - £59,470

911 Carrera 4 - Manual - £59,845

911 RS - £65,245

911 Turbo - £91,950

And a little further back the list prices of 1992 964s in 1992 pounds were

911 C2 Coupe - Manual £48,310
911 C2 Coupe - Tip £50,914
911 C2 Cab Turbo Look - Tip - £70,294

911 C4 Coupe  - Manual £55,347
911 C4 Cab - Manual  £61,417

911 Turbo 3.3 £75,306

911 Carrera RS - £61,100

And you can add £2181 for aircon to all of those, £800 for an alarm, £995 for metallic paint, and £3084 for leather.

So a 250bhp 964 C4 coupe with air, leather and paint would have been around £62,000.

So it beats me why a 385bhp 991 C4S at £81,000 represents some sort of wildly optimistic pricing strategy on Porsche's part. According to the inflation calculator I found the equivalent to the 964's price would be £103,000.

SS7