My brother-in-law brought me an article from the May 15, 2018 issue of Bottom Line Personal, a bi-monthly magazine “with information essential for your wellbeing. Insiders from almost every field telling you how to best enjoy greater wealth, better health, and better personal relationships, and articles on money, health, travel, self-help, taxes, retirement, real estate, careers, computers, asset protection and estate planning, bargain shopping, fine dining and lots more.”
The title of the article was Cool Collectible Cars from the 1980’s – $15,000 or less. In the title, there is a picture of 1988 Porsche 924S. Wow. Jonathan Klinger, vice-president of public relations for Hagerty, was interviewed for the article.
In the article he outlines several cars from the 80’s that are either holding their value or increasing in value. American, European and Japanese cars are listed, including the 84-93 BMW 3 Series, the 82-92 Chevrolet Camaro (?), the 83-88 Monte Carlo as well as the 87-93 Mustang. From the SUV lineup, the 81-93 Dodge Ramcharger and the 80-86 Ford Bronco were mentioned, and the Toyota MR2 from 84-89 made the list.
Here is what they said about the Porsche 924, 1977-1988…
Acknowledging that the 924 doesn’t get a lot of love from the Porsche purists, he also mentions that the early cars were not “especially powerful.” That said, they say that the “924 offers fun driving dynamics and Porsche’s elite build qualify for a faction of the $30,000-plus they would have to pay for a 1980’s-era Porsche 911.” While the article does not differentiate between the early 924 and the 87-88 924S, they do say that prices range from “$6,700 in good condition to $16,500 in top condition.”
Looking at “sold” prices on BringATrailer.com, clean, original-spec 924’s are bringing $6K to $10K – both NA and Turbo models. The key seems to be originality – a good clean car with no rust, no modifications and original-spec interiors are king. These prices were unheard-of just a few years ago.
Surprisingly, the 924S is not bringing these kinds of prices for similar cars. $4,000 to $7,500 are about it, although one really clean 924S sold for $10,000.
What is driving this trend towards clean early 924 cars? They’re not super-cheap, and we know that they are somewhat underpowered. But they are good-handling Porsches, with some of the more modern amenities, such as air conditioning. They can haul groceries and have enough room for a couple of chairs and a cooler for car shows. And the styling of the 924, 924S and 944 is timeless – they have not aged like other cars. And think of the prices for the 914 – they hit bottom, then the prices for clean, rust-free original cars started to climb.
So keep your eyes open on the local ads and even Craigslist – a diamond in the rough might be hiding there.
