Mecum...Are Idiots...

[Mocker]

This:
https://www.mecum.com/lots/CH1018-333900/1979-porsche-930-turbo

arrived in my inbox this morning--Mecum is auctioning off Walter Payton's '79 930.

There's a long explanation of who Walter Payton was, yadda yadda, but no mention (besides the "upgraded Ruf intercooler") that this car has a freaking Ruf BTR engine.

Stick to muscle cars, guys--"You're out of your element!"

[Toast54]

It's a shame his son finds it necessary to sell it. I didn't know Sweetness was such a carbuff

[Mocker]

Sorry, fixed link now...

[pu911]

He ran a few trans am races in his day- loved cars

Phil

[JMS935]

I can't believe he'd be selling this if it meant that much to his father... that's just terrible. While its got some great provenance to it, it should be worth far more to his son than to anyone else. Shame on him for selling it.

In regards to the description, Mecum obviously believes the provenance is what will sell it. It's actually one of the longest descriptions I've ever seen for a Mecum auction, so at least they put some thought behind it. I'm used to some very lame descriptions by them, some even as short as one word!

[specialtyoneinc]

What's it going to hammer at?

[amg463]

Uhh, theres a photo of the engine bay with a RUF intercooler and a RUF sticker indicating a RUF engine on the fan shroud clearly visible. Anyone with a brain would start asking questions if they didn't already jump to that conclusion.

[1979-930]

I don’t care what football, basketball or baseball player owned the car. Semi cool shop talk but not a value adder.
Mecum is missing the boat. I bet it’s original paint and the interior looks original.
There are cosmetic modifications that will hurt the value for purists. But they are an easy fix if you want stock.

The engine mods are awesome!
I like the car just the way it is.

I’m betting the buyer will be a speculator that doesn’t know Porsches.
My guess is $133K.
I saw a poorly modded turd of a 930 get bid to $100k last week on a Mecum show. And No Sale!


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[littleoldman]

the problem is 9K miles - means no usage and who knows how much to really freshen the engine
I like the car and the engine and MP - he is a legend.

[JMS935]

Originally Posted by 1979-930

I don’t care what football, basketball or baseball player owned the car. Semi cool shop talk but not a value adder.
Mecum is missing the boat. I bet it’s original paint and the interior looks original.
There are cosmetic modifications that will hurt the value for purists. But they are an easy fix if you want stock.

The engine mods are awesome!
I like the car just the way it is.

I’m betting the buyer will be a speculator that doesn’t know Porsches.
My guess is $133K.
I saw a poorly modded turd of a 930 get bid to $100k last week on a Mecum show. And No Sale!


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Call it provenance premium or not, I think it brings more money. I think very few cars’ owners are deserved of a premium bump, but I’ll make an exception with this one. Sweetness was/is royalty in Chicago, he is a legend, an icon, so I think that since this car was his most treasured of all his sports cars, that it will command some provenance premium. I’m not talking McQueen money, but I’d think with this auction being in Chicago, that this would get bid higher than another 10k mile ‘79 930 being auctioned off on the same day. I’ll take the over at 133k. I think that # might be light for a 10k mile ‘79 930, even without Sweetness attached to it. Especially if it turns out to have a full RUF BTR 3.4 in it.

[Macroni]

So are you saying this car was shipped to Ruf and modified... color me skeptical.

[JMS935]

Originally Posted by Macroni

So are you saying this car was shipped to Ruf and modified... color me skeptical.

I agree, the likelihood of this is very slim. The timeline is clearly off, as there was no such thing as a RUF BTR 3.4 in 1979, so it didn’t get the RUF treatment before being shipped stateside. And I’d imagine that if it was shipped back to RUF at a later date, then the son would remember something like that and it probably would’ve made it into the description of the car. It’s more likely that it either made its way to RUF Dallas at some point, or even more likely that WP just bought some parts and had them installed locally by others. But since it’s got the RUF fan shroud sticker on it, and it’s not likely that Walter Payton would be applying that himself to pretend that he’s got something that he doesn’t, that’s what makes this interesting. Based on that, I’d hypothesize it’s better than 50/50 that it’s the full RUF motor package. But if it is, why wasn’t the exhaust upgraded to RUF at the same time? So many unanswered questions...Does it have even more RUF goodies on it, like brakes and suspension? I still say shame on Jarrett for selling it, and double shame on both Jarrett and Mecum for totally botching the description of the car itself.

[nathanbs]

With the low mileage and provenance I’m saying $165k+

[Mocker]

Originally Posted by nathanbs

With the low mileage and provenance I’m saying $165k+

Agreed. It's a 9k mile '79 Turbo. That's a $175k car alone.

I think the RUF BTR engine adds another $10k, but we can disagree. Not sure what the celebrity element is worth, but in Chicago, it's above zero.

The only minor niggle is the seats. I've never seen a US '79 930 that didn't come with sport seats, and this one's are missing. Could be that Mr. Payton couldn't fit comfortably in them; he was a f'ing hoss, after all...

[1979-930]

That odometer is or was broken. I call BS on the miles.
It was his first sports car.
Mods from the 80s and 90s. When did the carbon look dash inserts come out?
The car has been used more than 10,000 miles.
And any other modded 79 930 you guys would be saying it’s an 80-90k car.



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[JMS935]

Originally Posted by 1979-930

That odometer is or was broken. I call BS on the miles.
It was his first sports car.
Mods from the 80s and 90s. When did the carbon look dash inserts come out?
The car has been used more than 10,000 miles.
And any other modded 79 930 you guys would be saying it’s an 80-90k car.



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Like I said, provenance premium on this one.

[Mocker]

Those inserts are probably cheap stick-ons. If so, easy fix. What are the other mods? Paint looks original, the wheels are an easy swap.

As for miles, yes that's critical. But the guy had lots of cars, and he reportedly babied this one. I bet the miles are correct.

[2ndTARGA]

Originally Posted by Toast54

It's a shame his son finds it necessary to sell it. I didn't know Sweetness was such a carbuff

More than your average buff --- https://www.racing-reference.info/showblog?id=2906

[Matt Monson]

$189k before fees.

[JMS935]

The positives definitely outweigh the negatives on this one, taking the WP ownership out of it for a moment. The wheels are an easy swap, and definitely need to be swapped for sure. I really disliked Gotti wheels back then, and I really despise them now. I can’t imagine an uglier wheel for a 930, anyways, I digress, it’s an easy swap. The dash hopefully is no more than just unsticking the carbon panels without leaving any damage. The seats are another easy swap, a nice pair of Recaro’s would be appropriate, or even a pair of RUF’s if it’s really a BTR engine. The engine mods, assuming that it really is a RUF 374 hp motor, clearly outweigh all of the negatives I’ve just mentioned, and if it’s the real deal, then I would remove the current exhaust for a RUF dual outlet exhaust. Again, assuming no provenance at all, I think this car would bring 140-160k due to it being a sub 10k mile car. And I see no reason to question it considering its owner, especially assuming that it sat the better part of the past two decades once it got willed to Jarrett.

Now, to add the provenance premium to it, I think it could go anywhere from 180-220k. I’ve given it a wider range since there’s no real accurate way to determine provenance value. It’s essentially no differently than valuing a one off going to market for the first time. Since the Monterey auctions stand in between our estimates on WP’s 930 and its auction, we all might be rethinking our guesses next week at this time if 930s do especially well or quite poorly at those auctions. But barring any real weakness next weekend, I could see this Sweetness 930 hitting 200k in October in Chicago.