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Papasmurf, you are right about the convertible 944 S2's - there are so few that I had forgotten about them! As to the rest, I stick by what I had said. I owned a 1970 Datsun 240Z and a 1974 260Z prior to my 944 and even then I recognized that, apart from the rear transaxle in the Porsche, the basic form and package was no different and anything but unique or a breakthrough. The 924 was a joint project with VW and apart from great handling, it had middle-of-road performance and a rather uninspired body design. The 944 was a significant upgrade in appearance and performance and, as I said, was certainly a good car. However, it was still based upon the 924 and, as a consequence, was and is still considered by many to be less than a real Porsche.
Balance shafts are like spark plugs? I disagree. Porsche didn't have to pay licensing fees for spark plugs. When they decided to cut a V8 in half, they discovered that the inherent inbalance of a large in-line 4 cylinder engine would shake unacceptably without the addition of some counter-rotational balance. In-line 4 cylinders just don't work well at that size and that is why we see so few in-line 4 cylinder of that size ( 2.5 litres ) or larger today. Simply put, they had to pay Mitsubishi for a fix for a problem that was inherent in the design. I'm not saying that it is bad engineering, per se - just not up to the standard that one would expect from Porsche.
AIs to the value of 986 Porsches, I am also sticking to my guns. I believe that the value for clean, well-maintained, low mileage examples has probably already bottomed. I also believe, for the reasons indicated, that as the supply of good examples continues to diminish (and at an increasing rate - cost to maintain versus low value), the prices for these good examples will start to rise. In around 2021, when Porsche will likely introduce its fourth version of the Boxster, the original Boxsters will then be 25 years old. I fully expect that Porsche will recognize this and produce a 'Silver Anniversary Edition' Boxster. I also expect that some magazines will recognize this with retrospective articles on the 986 as it was not only a seminal design, but one that was responsible for the survival of this great marque. This publicity will bring about a resurgance in interest and therewith an increase in demand. Since the remaining supply of good examples cannot increase, prices will inevitably rise.
Anyway, while predicting the future value of collectible cars (or anything else) is fraught with uncertainty; and, while I did not buy my car for any reason other than my joy in owning, driving and looking at her, I nevertheless believe that there is good news in the current low prices for owners and prospective purchasers of clean, well-maintained examples of the 986. At the very least, depreciation will be very low; at best, there is reason to believe that in another 8 years (mid-term from an investment standpoint), the values will start to rise significantly. Is that a sufficient reason to hang on to yours? Probably not. But if your 986 continues to provide joy and excitement that would be hard to replicate with any other car for the money, then by hanging on to it you may just end up in one of those very rare win/win situations.
Brad
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