Observers of the recent sale at Silverstone Auctions noted that sale prices of classic Porsches did not generally reach the dizzy heights which had been achieved in other recent sales. There were however a few exceptions and one particular example was a register car that had been backdated to Carrera RS bodywork and fitted with a modified 993 engine. The car started out life as a 1977 911 Lux Coupe that had been on the register with an owner in Esher but which was acquired by Porsche Centre Guildford, taken off the road and stored in 2006. In 2014 it was used by Porsche Central Operations Reading as the basis for their entry in the restoration competition between Porsche Centres to celebrate fifty years of the 911. The pre-auction estimate was £125000 to £150000 but in the event with commission and VAT included the price achieved was £173250. Photographs and a fuller description of the work carried out can be found on the following Silverstone Auctions website page, which also has a link to a time-lapse video of the transformation.
There was also a 1974 Carrera 2.7 Coupe in the sale as well as no less than four Carrera 3.0s although one of these had neither the correct VIN or engine number for a Carrera 3.0. The Carrera 2.7 sold right in the middle of its estimate range at £70875 but was a french delivered car which had been converted from LHD to RHD and fitted with Carrera 3.0RS style bodywork, in its original state it would have been expected to fetch double the price! Only one of the Carrera 3s actually sold, this being an original UK supplied manual Targa in Ice Green Metallic which was snapped up by register member Richard Trives at what I would say was a bargain price at just under £30000. There were two Carrera 3.0 Coupes neither of which was sold but I suspect this was due to the fact that they were both originally supplied with Sportomatic transmissions which had later been changed to manual. The last Carrera 3.0 was a Targa in Grand Prix White but as I previously mentioned the VIN and engine numbers quoted were not correct. I did email Silverstone Auctions asking for clarification but got no response so for the moment that car will have to remain a mystery unless anyone reading this knows anything more. Again photos and further details of these cars can be found on the Silverstone Auctions website.