Porsche has released photos of the new 991-model 911 on test in South Africa. The cars are under camouflage and the images are all over the internet, so I won’t go into details here. Suffice it to say that the all-new 911 will be better in all ways, and I’m very excited about it.
However, in an odd way, the new car makes the current 997 even more appealing to me. I don’t know why, but I always like slightly older models of Porsche and the 991 has, all of a sudden, made the 997 exactly that. When the 993 was current, I loved the 964 (and still do), then the launch of the 997 got me all interested in 996s.
Maybe it’s because the cars are more affordable when they’re no longer current, or maybe I just like to back the underdog. I don’t know. I certainly don’t think like this about other things – the thought of an out of date iPhone, for instance, horrifies me – but non-current Porsches are very cool in my mind.
On a more serious note, will the 991 affect 997 prices? In the short term, no. The new car will attract a different market and won’t have any impact on 997 values. The thing that will impact on the 997, though, will be the inescapable fact that the cars are getting older – an early 997 is now getting on for seven years old.
Here’s a thought to leave you with. The 997 was an evolution of the 996 and used essentially the same bodyshell. The 991 will be an all-new car, sharing little more than its engine with the current model. It will be only the third all-new 911 in 48 years. Amazing!
