FS: 1988 Porsche 911 cabrio, M491 / M470 (BaT)

[famoroso]

The auction for my 60k mile, black on champagne, 1988 911 cabrio, M491 (Turbo Look) / M470 (without spoilers) is live on BaT for the next week. So far, the response has been lively and very positive, as has the bidding...

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-porsche-911-carrera-82/

Oops, thought I was posting this in the for sale section. I'll leave it here in case anyone wants to discuss.

[Glenfield]

Saw that come up. You’ve done a nice job presenting. Pointing out the “11 things I didn’t get to” was a nice touch and should get everyone “buying the seller”. If it had a roof, I certainly would!

Didn’t check, but did you end up going no reserve? Thought I saw you deliberating on that.

[87maniac]

Super clean!
what method did you use to clean the underbody/engine?

- steam?
- dry ice?
- Simple Green and a toothbrush?

[kitesurfer2]

The 993 soft top looks so much better than the original.

[famoroso]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

Saw that come up. You’ve done a nice job presenting. Pointing out the “11 things I didn’t get to” was a nice touch and should get everyone “buying the seller”. If it had a roof, I certainly would!

Didn’t check, but did you end up going no reserve? Thought I saw you deliberating on that.

Thank you. After too many disappointments with previous would be purchases, failed PPIs, flying all over the country, etc. only to find the vehicles were not as represented, I choose to "do unto others" and present this auction like I would want to see it, were I a potential bidder.

I did consider no reserve, but BaT accepted my first suggestion (backed by three recent comps) for a reserve. Part of me immediately thought that I shoulda asked for higher, but although I don't have to sell her, I do want to pass her along to the next caretaker, so a higher reserve would have been counterproductive. The reserve is reasonable / defensible. FWIW, it's ~10% lower than what she's insured for.

I was a little bummed to see two M491 cabs listed on Pcarmarket concurrently, especially this one...

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/1986-porsche-911-m491/#comments

...but I'm confident that both the BaT platform and my lil' black beauty are superior.

Originally Posted by 87maniac

Super clean!
what method did you use to clean the underbody/engine?

- steam?
- dry ice?
- Simple Green and a toothbrush?

I did have her steam cleaned when I first acquired her. I *thought* I was happy with the results, until... I had her dry iced at Cryo Werks in San Diego. I've more than gotten my money's worth on that just in dopamine hits for my inner OCD Porsche nerd. Problem is, I'm addicted to dry ice blasting now. Oh well, there's worse things I could do with my time and money.

Re simple green, toothbrushes, rags and kerosene, I'd always considered it, but there was just no way I'd do it. Perhaps when I was younger, but then I couldn't afford a car this nice when I was younger anyway.

Cryo Werks...

https://petrolicious.com/articles/cleaning-a-classic-car-with-dry-ice-is-actually-a-thing

Here are more underbody pics in case you were jonesing for a dopamine fix first thing this morning...

https://amoroso.smugmug.com/1988-Porsche-911-M491-M470-Poi/Undercarriage

Here are actual before / after pics on my '87 coupe...

https://amoroso.smugmug.com/1987-Porsche-911-M491-M470-Gemini-/Gemini-undercarriage

Alas, I don't feel it turned out as nicely as the '88 cab did.

[famoroso]

Originally Posted by kitesurfer2

The 993 soft top looks so much better than the original.

Yeah, as mentioned, I woulda struggled with that decision. I'm glad the previous owner made it for us!

[Jay993]

For some reason, the coupes bring a lot more $

[famoroso]

Originally Posted by Jay993

For some reason, the coupes bring a lot more $

Because in the secondary market, enthusiasts prefer coupes (they are lighter, more rigid, less complex, have the classic 911 profile / roofline / silhouette, etc.). For the most part, enthusiasts drive used collector car market values. Speculators and dealers / market-makers have a hand in influencing the market, but they can't fundamentally change what "the market" values. They can only operate within the confines thereof.

Whereas the more well heeled (white collar professionals), non-hardcore, new Porsche buyer wants the newest, shiniest, typically more expensive car (cabs being more expensive than similarly equipped coupes, when new) for different reasons. Back in the day, US dealers were easily moving plenty of cabs, while the more performance oriented sub models oftentimes languished on the showroom floor.

My 491 cab is an excellent example. First owner was a dentist from Virginia. It's a highly optioned convertible. He owned it for one year and put six thousand miles on it. 500 miles a month. The next three owners were all PCA members and the three of us have been pretty OCD about the car.

After a year of daily searching, I couldn't find a suitable 491 coupe, so I acquired this 491 cab. I was worried that if 491 values continued to skyrocket that I would no longer be able to afford one. My plan was always to sell this cab when (if?) I finally found a coupe. The cab represented A) a car that I could own and enjoy while continuing my search for a coupe and B) a hedge against a rising M491 market should the that elusive coupe (one of 114 imported to the US) ever present itself.

[blyguy]

Thanks for the mention Frank! The cabriolet turned out really nice. It was interesting to see the difference between what a steam cleaning could do versus dry ice.

Hope it brings all the action at the auction

[famoroso]

Originally Posted by blyguy

Thanks for the mention Frank! The cabriolet turned out really nice. It was interesting to see the difference between what a steam cleaning could do versus dry ice.

Hope it brings all the action at the auction

Thank YOU! I wouldn't go as far as saying the steam clean was a waste of time, but considering you don't really want to blast high pressure water into the depths of these cars, I wish I'd known about dry ice blasting sooner. That's $168 that I coulda put towards Cryo Werks.

[87maniac]

Can you give us a ballpark $$ for CyroWerks dry ice cleaning ?
The price seems to be highly variable around the country.

[famoroso]

After last week's highly successful auction...

Weighed M491 tea-tray spoiler base, rubber lip and mounting hardware. 26+ pounds...



Channeled my inner packaging engineer / Tetris master and loaded all of the following into my now former 1988 911 cab: Deconstructed tea-tray tail (decklid, tail base, rubber lip), extra muffler, extra cat, airbox lid frame, extra steering wheel, spare floor mat set, air compressor, top boot and other spare / extra parts...







The siblings' last morning together, prior to Black Beauty being transported away (time to update my signature)...



First class cabin on the upper deck with a high falutin' neighbor for the voyage...





Heading to Georgia. Possibly the most California picture ever (and a sign of the California exodus times?)...



BIG. RIG.

[LakeCleElum]

Congrats - You got a good price for a GREAT car.............

[sugarwood]

Nice pics of the Reliable transporter. That's a fancy rig