I don’t know what it is about certain Porsches, but they seem to keep turning up like the proverbial bad penny. In this instance, just a little over a year since this particular Porsche was last listed for sale on eBay it returns again for another round of ridicule bidding, but with a slightly reduced price. Back in February of 2008 when I first saw the listing for Kirk Hammett’s Porsche 911 C4 on eBay it had a starting bid of $34,000 and a BuyitNow price of $40,000. This time around the Porsche is listed with a much more realistic still crazy beginning bid of $32,500.

Let’s face it, while I’m a Metallica fan (I grew up listening to them) they just aren’t the same super group they used to be. This car (in my opinion) isn’t special enough or in good enough shape to bring the kind of money the current owner is looking for.

The story of Kirk losing the Porsche in a bet is interesting but even considering the “Kirk Hammett signed gas receipt and original warranty application with Kirk’s extremely rare full business signature” thrown in for good measure the price still seems extremely aggressive. Here’s a nice 1990 Porsche C4 for sale with a few more miles for $17k less.

Come on now, if the “Beaver’s” Porsche didn’t sell, I don’t know that Kirk’s old car will fare much better. At the very least, the seller could have changed up the description a bit from the last time it was listed. At this point, I’m thinking that $20k in 1990 stereo equipment is a liability in unsprung weight.

Should Celebrity Ownership Increase the Value of a Porsche?

I believe that for the right person and the right celebrity there may be some additional value to past celebrity ownership (Jerry Seinfeld, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Hurley Haywood, etc.). What say you? Would you pay more for a car that has proven celebrity provenance?

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[Source: eBay]

Want a Porsche with a celebrity past but can’t afford to pay the price that comes with a Seinfeld, Beckham, Rodman, Ralph Lauren or Metallica provenance? No worries, your opportunity awaits on eBay. This 1982 Porsche 911 Carrera SC Targa was once owned by Gerry Mathers, that’s right, the Beaver himself.

I spoke with the owners today and here’s the back story in their own words.

We purchased the Porsche from a man who’s son knew a guy that lived in CA and was Jerry’s mechanic (the Beaver, not Seinfeld). His friend introduced him to Jerry and they ended up going to his house. Turned out that Jerry wanted to sell the [Porsche]. The son (Thomas), was a student at the time, told his dad he wanted to buy the car. So he flew out to CA, bought the car, and drove it home.

Thomas kept the car for a short period of time but when it came time to go back to school he couldn’t leave the car at home and didn’t want to leave it sitting in a parking lot so he decided to sell it. This is when I found the ad in the Milwaukee journal and Dennis (my husband) bought it.

The pictures they sent aren’t the best, but the Porsche does appear to be in good shape. In addition, the current owners have all the past paperwork (including the title chain) that shows the Beav’s ownership and his autograph on the title signing it over to the party they purchased it from.

The auction just started today and already has one bid. The car was previously listed on Craigslist with an asking price of $12,500 so that should give you and idea of where you’ll need to be to own this piece of Hollywood history should you decide to bid.

I could have gone so many ways with this post. The title, the subject, the innuendos. In the end, I decided to play it straight. I didn’t want to go to hard on the Beaver…

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[Source: Craigslist via Twitter]

I spend a lot of time trolling eBay for Porsche related items. Actually, I probably spend more time than is healthy, but there are probably worse addictions. Most of the time I’m looking for things to add to my growing collection of Porsche memorabilia. The rest of the time I’m looking for things to feature here on PorschePurist.com.

Today’s find caught my eye for two of reasons – the first was the price – $75,000 is a lot of money for a piece of memorabilia. As it turns out, the pin isn’t really for sale (which seemed pretty strange for an eBay item and the second reason I paid attention). According to the listing the seller likes the pin so much he simply wants to share it with others. To make sure he wouldn’t have to part with this treasure he set an unrealistic Buy It Now target (although I’m thinking he would let it go if someone met his price).

If you’re not familiar with Bruce Jennings, he won more races in a Porsche than any other driver of his time. Today, cars with a racing provenance that include victories by Jennings command a premium over similar period cars. I’m not so sure about the pin though. If you want to check out the full listing, you can do so here on eBay.

Don’t forget about the poll on Porsche Vanity plates. If you haven’t yet taken a minute to vote, you can do so right now ———————————->

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[Source: 993C4S and eBay]

If the question was ever in doubt, the answer is evident in the ongoing sale of David Beckham’s first Porsche, a 1997 993 Carrera S currently listed on eBay. At the moment there are 3 bids with the highest offering £50,200.00 (that’s $75,500 US dollars at today’s exchange rate). That’s a huge premium over any similarly equipped Porsche without the celebrity provenance. To put things in perspective, a similarly equipped car in the US (that never had Posh grace the leather) will sell retail between $45k and $48k says Michael Willhoit of Willhoit Enterprises (a sponsor of this site and where I purchased my latest 993) and between $40k to $45k in a private sale. According to Philip Raby (noted Porsche expert and editor of Total911 Magazine) he would expect a non-celebrity owned Porsche like this to sell in in the £30 to £35k range. Phil did note that its location in Belfast (as it’s not on the UK mainland) and undesirable interior color would normally further hinder pricing. Right now, there’s no telling how high this auction could go as at the time of publishing there are still four full days remaining.

Earlier this year, Jerry Seinfeld’s 1997 993 Turbo S sold for close to $225,000. That price represented close to a $75,000 premium over non-celebrity owned cars. However, Seinfeld’s Turbo S had some other unique factors that helped explain away some, but not all, of the premium. Today, Seinfeld’s car is said to be for sale again (and has shown up on eBay a number of times) at a greatly reduced price. A sign of the economic times? Or, is Jerry’s star just not as bright as David’s?

Did I mention that Beckham’s car is a tiptronic? For $75,000 or more? Well, at least it has sport seats. With the prices people have been asking for those lately, maybe that can justify the price. Come to think of it, I wonder if I could get Dave (or better yet Posh) to pose with my car and sell it for 100% more than it’s worth??? hmmm….

For more pictures and the complete listing check out David Beckham’s First Porsche on eBay.

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We’ve been a bit lax with our eBay finds of the month lately, but that’s only because we don’t want to bore you with just any old car or Porsche related item. It takes something special to make our list! Take this month’s example for instance. What’s with the decal on the front fender? Is it a Porsche? Is it a tuned version by Strosek? Or, could it possibly be the ultra rare Porschari? Read more

On March 18th of this year I wrote a short post on the upcoming sale of Jerry Seinfeld’s 1997 Porsche 993 Turbo S from TruSpeed Motorcars. That short post chronicled some of the unique features of the Porsche along with a question about celebrity provenance and pricing.

Shortly after posting that article I was contacted by well know Porsche expert, and Seinfeld’s long time fleet manager, Sam Cabiglio. Sam was kind enough to point out a few errors in the provenance of the car, as well as give some additional color commentary on Seinfeld’s 993 Turbo S (along with his thoughts as to its uniqueness and value.) A few weeks after these two posts published the car was sold to a well known collector in Atlanta, Georgia.

Imagine my surprise as I was searching eBay today for my Porsche eBay find of the Month, I was shocked to see the car for sale again so soon. According to the advertisement on eBay, the current owner is “condensing” his collection and this is one of the cars that is being offered for sale. As a reminder, here are some of the unique features of this particular ‘97 Porsche Turbo S (besides the fact that it was previously owned by one of Porsche’s best known collectors.)

Jerry Seinfeld’s 1997 Porsche Turbo S Features

• 1st Turbo S built and imported to the US
• The only one produced in Turquoise Blue (the color is slowly growing on me)
• Factory cell phone with special console
• The first of only 175 built in 1997 and one of only 345 total between ’97 and ‘98 (production numbers vary by a few cars depending on source. My numbers are courtesy of (Adrian Streather’s “Porsche 993 The Essential Companion”)

I have an email and a call (from a mutual friend) into the current owner. I’m hoping that later today or tomorrow I can have a more in-depth follow-up, with any additional information, on the car along with how he chose this particular Porsche to sell from his collection. I would also like to know what, if any, additional cars he may be selling.

[Source: Ebay]

I’m always on the look out for interesting finds on eBay with regard to Porsche cars and products. This one was too good to pass up. According to the seller, this car was purchased new by Dennis Rodman (of NBA fame) and “optioned accordingly”. Here’s the catch, the car has little to no service history and nothing to prove the provenance of celebrity ownership.

However, according to the seller:

This particular 993TT was purchased new by Dennis Rodman and has been personalized accordingly. Upgrades were carried out in a no expense spared fashion, with thousands of dollars of equipment not found on stock 993 Turbos. In addition to all the modern amenities like air conditioning, central locking, and security system, it is also extremely well-optioned. Original options include litronic headlights, rear wiper, headlight washers, supple leather, full leather (including upper and lower dashboard, door panels, emergency brake handle, and center console), headrests embossed with Porsche crests, full power seats, embroidered Lloyd`s floormats and 6-disc CD changer. This car also has the full carbon fiber interior, which covers the dashboard, door panels, and handbrake handle. Aluminum gauge faces are also fitted, along with aluminum accents to the bezels, shifter, and handbrake lever.

Furthermore, the car was ordered in a special order color, Ferrari Fly Yellow, which is not quite as pale as the more frequently seen Speed Yellow. This car has been further personalized with an upgraded stereo receiver, amps and a number of performance and cosmetic upgrades. The wheels are modular Speedline, which were added at a cost of nearly $6,000. The cost of the TechArt bodywork upgrades was in excess of $6,000 and includes front bumper, rear spoiler, and Turbo S-style combined brake ducts and fog lights. A performance exhaust system with generously proportioned oval tips has also been fitted. The car has tinted windows, clear bra, and aluminum pedals. In early 2007 (mileage was 37,988) it had a complete engine out major service performed. The clutch was replaced, Stage I DME software was added, complete Bilstein PSS9 suspension kit with proper alignment and new Bridgestone tires. All work performed at Beck’s Independent Porsche in Phoenix, AZ.

I recently wrote about Jerry Seinfeld’s 1997 Porsche 993 Turbo S (a car in a completely different league from this one) and if celebrity provenance was worth an extra price premium (i.e. John Voight’s car for George).

Regardless of celebrity provenance or not, this is a 1996 Porsche 993 Twin Turbo with nice options, reasonable miles and a reasonable starting price. It could make a very nice car for someone assuming a thorough Porsche specific Pre-Purchase Inspection. I did leave a message with Rodman’s agent (Darren Prince of Prince Marketing) and will update this post when and if I hear back with regard to provenance.

For more pictures you can visit the complete eBay listing here.