A 996-generation (1997–2006) Porsche 911 has topped a million pounds. No, we’re not referencing a sale of one of the not-really-a-911 GT1s that lapped Le Mans in the late ’90s. We’re talking about the 1999 Classic Club Coupe, an in-house build sold on June 10, 2023, for £1,034,772.
First, some background: Porsche turns 75 this year. To celebrate, the company has rolled out a cavalcade of car shows, documentaries, special models, and even an auction. Broad Arrow’s recent sale at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia (the company’s North American headquarters) featured lots of company automobilia and a wide selection of a few dozen road- and race cars, ranging from early 356s to nearly new 911s.
The Porsche sale was held outside, in the shadow of the company’s architecturally striking building. With only the occasional jet airplanedisrupting things (to be fair, the world’s busiest airport is only a mile away from HQ), the event took in £15.M of total sales and 93 percent of lots sold.
The only big miss was for the 1967 Spa class-winning 910 race car, which failed to meet reserve at a high bid of £1.8M. Nonetheless, nine record prices were achieved, and most cars sold well relative to their conditions.
Today’s focus is a one-off, highly publicized special: the 911 Classic Club Coupe designed by Grant Larson, the director of special projects for Style Porsche, in conjunction with the Porsche Club of America.
It debuted in 2022 and brims with bespoke features, including a ducktail spoiler, grey houndstooth interior, and matching luggage. Out back sits a 3.6-liter, 381bhp Mezger engine from the 996.2-generation GT3 and a six-speed manual transmission. Porsche also fitted GT3-spec suspension and brakes to the car and even created a separate driving development test mule for this project. The Classic Club Coupe is still essentially new, and surely the most desirable 996-generation 911 there is.
And the most expensive, by a long way. This car’s unveiling last year marked something of a coming of age for the 911’s most underappreciated generation, the 996, also known as the model that brought softer styling, “fried-egg” headlights, and a water-cooled engine. It was also a bit of an advertisement for Porsche’s Sonderwunsch, or special request, program.
Nobody had ever done a serious Porsche-backed build of a 996, so this car, with all the force of Porsche Classic and Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur behind it, is fresh and exciting even if the car originally left the factory as a regular old Carrera. Details like the “pepita” woven leather and throwback ducktail are a delight. But £1M for a 996?
It makes more sense in context. This Club Coupe is a factory-built hot rod, after all, and similar Porsches have achieved similar outcomes. In 2018, the last time the Experience Center in Atlanta hosted an all-Porsche auction, “Project Gold,” a similarly bespoke one-off 993 built by Porsche Classic, sold for £2.7M.
No, the 2023 sale of the Coupe Club Classic is not likely to add another 10 percent to the value of your low-mile 996. But the creation of this car, along with its substantial sale price, are two steps in this generation’s rejuvenation.
