Porsche 911 R racing past $1.6m on used-car market

The limited edition Porsche 911 R hasn’t even reached Australia yet but is already racing up to A$1.65 million in value on the Europe’s used-car market.

A supercar financing company has told UK media agency Motoring Research that the car marketed as the purist’s 911 is selling at up to seven times its original British price tag.

Prices for used 911s have been rising in recent times, though Magnitude Finance believes the appreciation rate is a record for any new car based on a percentage of its original value.

The highest figures are said to be private behind-closed-doors transactions through specialist supercar dealers topping the £1 million mark, while actual advertised second-hand trades are expected to settle closer to £880,000 (A$1.55 million).

Porsche is building just 991 examples of the 911 R – a number reflecting the model’s series code.

The R stands for racing and marks a model that is the lightest in the 911 line-up. A further reduction in sound-deadening materials and removing the rear seats help it shed another 50kg over the GT3 RS for a 1370kg kerb weight.

It borrows the RS’s 368kW 4.0-litre flat six and six-speed manual to sprint from 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds, though more importantly from a collector’s point of view to be the last of the naturally aspirated 911s. The 911.2 series has introduced turbochargers across the range.

The 911 R will already cost Australians more than it does in the UK or Europe, with a A$404,700 sticker before on-road costs are added.

It is due towards the end of 2016 but Australia’s allocation of just 25 units is already sold out.

Porsche Australia said the number wouldn’t come close to meeting demand, but also had a warning for any of the successful 25 buyers who might contemplate selling their car for a premium before it had arrived.

“We could have sold them 10 times over,” said company spokesman Paul Ellis. That might be an exaggeration but we could have sold significantly more than we were allocated.

“We’d be the last to know [about any attempts to on-sell Rs before being delivered], but if we did, we would cancel their order.”

Porsche built just 19 units (plus four tests cars) of the original 911 R in the 1960s. The car competed in various rallies, including the famous Targa Florio.