Porsche Carrera GTs have softened, but a $1.8 million retail price shows they’re still high

Porsche sold approximately 1,270 Carrera GTs worldwide, about half of which came to North America. They cost about half a million dollars new, but that was twenty years ago. Since then, prices for classics, modern exotics and even late production cars have soared, only to recently fall. Over the past twenty years, cars like the Carrera GT – shifting, naturally aspirated, non-hybrid, no driving aids – have also all but ceased to exist, despite a clear appetite for them. That it sold at Broad Arrow’s all-Porsche Air|Water event last weekend for $1,792,500 (more than triple what it cost new) suggests our appetite is still high, despite the latest’s falling prices time.

Even amid the overheated collector car market during the 2021-2022 pandemic boom, the Carrera GT was a major standout. Porsche’s halo model of the era and one of the definitive hypercars of the 2000s, the CGT was never cheap, but cost less than $1 million for most of their existence. Subsequently, their value in the Hagerty Price Guide grew by 87 percent over the past five years. Over the past ten years, their values ​​have grown by 201 percent. In 2021 and 2022, the record auction price for a Carrera GT was broken six times. The record once only stood for four weeks.

However, since the end of 2022, Carrera GT values ​​have taken a step back, by around 7 percent. The record sales price still stands at $2.2 million for a car sold in 2022. There was also a safety recall in April last year, and Porsche’s delay in suspension parts to fix the problem led the company to issue a stop-use order for the 2000s flagship. Some insurers, especially in Britain, have also removed road use cover for their customers because of the order, which may have weakened demand.

That said, Carrera GT values ​​are still quite high. The model’s No. 2 (“excellent”) condition in the Hagerty Price Guide currently sits at $1.4 million, while the No. 1 (“best in the world”) value sits at $1.75 million. The latest Carrera GT sale falls into that #1 range and is still the fifth highest auction we’ve seen. And taking a break from driving until any recall issues are resolved shouldn’t be a problem for this car. Purchased and owned from new by American driver John O’Steen, who raced Porsches at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in Trans Am in the 1970s and 1980s, it has only 3,601 miles on the odometer. It comes with the factory five-piece luggage set and car cover and has just had its annual service. There are lower mileage Carrera GTs, and there are examples finished in colors that are more exciting than black instead of black, but this is a solid car and it sold very well.

These types of stick-shift exotics have been one of the hottest segments of an already overheated market in 2021-2022, and it appears the Carrera GT has staying power. It hits the 2000s sweet spot of being decidedly modern, but it isn’t at modern. The monocoque and carbon fiber subframe, along with the 330 km/h top speed, are all hallmarks of today’s supercars, but the beechwood gear knob on top of the six-speed manual gearbox, real buttons in the interior, that big, naturally aspirated V-10 engine and the lack of electronic babysitters to keep you from doing something stupid are all refreshingly old-fashioned. Buyers like that combination, but nothing built in 2024 has it. That keeps the exotic cars of the previous generation relevant.