VIDEO: Porsche’s five most expensive cars ever

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 10.12.2018

Porsche, the brand at the forefront of modern collecting, looks at its five greatest hits

Porsche may be THE brand at the forefront of contemporary car collecting.

Models both new and old are hot property; from their standard brochure models to their iconic and rare racers – seemingly every car bearing the Stuttgart shield is trending skyward, with records being knocked down consistently with every auction season.

The marque holds a bevy of million dollar cars to its name, but collectors show no signs of slowing down – and to launch the third season of Porsche’s ‘Top 5’ online video series, they’ve gathered the five most expensive Porsches ever sold at auction.

The video is presented by Ted Gushue, a key figure of Petrolicious, and a celebrated internet automotive and watch collecting influencer. He closes out the video by driving away in his personal daily driver, a 1976 Porsche 911 S fitted with a 1988 911 Carrera 3.2 motor.

Watch the video up top or read on for a run down!

#5 – Porsche 917/30 Spyder - AUD$4,171,230

The Porsche 917/30 is a game of numbers.

12 cylinders, 100hp per cylinder, 0-100 in 2.1 seconds, and a six-time race winner in the 1973 Can Am season (outright winner overall).

It’s one of the most powerful race car ever produced by Porsche, and recently sold for USD$3 million.

#4 – Porsche 550 A Spyder – AUD$7,184,904

"If there’s one car in our Top 5 that doesn’t have to rationalise its [USD]$5 million dollar  price tag, it’s this".

The Porsche 550 A Spyder was the first car Porsche developed solely for racing purposes right from its inception. There was never a road-car vision, though it was popularised by characters such as James Dean.

With only a 135hp 1.5lt horizontally opposed engine, it gained the moniker "Giant Killer" as it finished first outright in its racing debut at the 1956 Targa Florio, beating out cars with three or four times the power.

#3 – Porsche GT1 Strassenversion – AUD$ 7,866,985

Porsche’s GT1 was the 1998 Le Mans winner, but built 20 road-going cars in order for FIA homologation.

The car was a carbon-clad missile that drew nigh on 800hp from its Porsche 997-based 3.2lt six-cylinder engine.

The street-legal racer had to be slightly detuned from its Le Mans-winning sibling, but could still sprint from 0-100 in 3.9 seconds, and was the last road car to win the 24 hours of Le Mans.

#2 – Porsche 956 – AUD$14,054,656

An automotive icon, and the very definition of 80s door-door endurance racing; the Porsche 956’s fame is attached to its pilots.

Jacky Ickx, Al Holbert and Derek Bell drove the 1983 Le Mans winner to the top of the podium, and its heritage and history drove the winning bid up to USD$10 million at auction.

It’s one of the winningest racing car ever made, and remains a lasting legend of the Group C racing era.

#1 – Porsche 917K – AUD$19,541,632

Bearing the company’s first 12-cylinder engine and the iconic Gulf livery; Porsche’s 917K was the first ever outright winner at Le Mans in 1970. It was further immortalised on screen in Steve McQueen’s movie Le Mans.

Racing driver Derek Bell was notoriously offered one for just £5000 following his racing season. He declined, and sadly for him – a Porsche 917K sold last year at Pebble Beach, for USD$14 million.

Watch the video up top, and let us know which car you’d most like to take home!

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