Last Air-Cooled 911 to Waltz Out of Zuffenhausen Faced Headwinds at Auction

The year 1998 means something special to Porschephiles—it’s the last year of the air-cooled cars. The most fully developed of the breed, the 1995–98 model-year 911s, also known as the 993 generation, have become some of the most sought-after Porsches in recent years. Add to “last, best” the phrases “Turbo S” and “WLS 2,” and you’ll see the eyes of a Porsche fan light up. The 993 Turbo S in these photos has a long list of options, along with production circumstances, that make it one-of-a-kind.

Sold by Bonhams on September 7 for £614,200 ($806,813) including fees, this car is one of the last air-cooled 911 produced in-period and is claimed to be the last air-cooled 911 to leave the factory. Boosted by those facts and its options—which we’ll dig into in a moment—that sale price is a lot, but it’s not a record for a 993 Turbo. That’s held by “Project Gold,” a 993 Turbo Classic Series built 20 years later out of OEM parts; the car was built to raise money for charity. ($3,415,000, to be precise.)

This car, chassis no. WP0ZZZ99ZWS370750, went to the Sonderwunsch (Special Wishes) department and received the more extensive of the two factory performance upgrades available for the 993 Turbo S. Unlike WLS 1, which remapped the engine management software and increased boost pressure to produce 424 hp, WLS 2 replaced the turbos with larger KKK K24 units for a total of 444 hp.

The car is customized with an array of special-order options. The upgraded engine breathes out of twin-pipe exhausts, enjoys an extra oil cooler, and drinks from a 92-liter fuel tank. The interior has been extensively customized by Porsche’s special-order department, which trimmed the entire interior in Ocean Blue, to match the paint job (and the wheels and brakes!). When we say extensive, we mean it: Everything is blue, down to the bezels of the instruments.

You won’t find the in-car telephone or a rear wiper; Clauss Vanderborg, the German author who ordered the car, deleted both. Judging by the array of plaques and inscriptions on this vehicle, Vanderborg appears to have been a bit of a character, in addition to a big fan of dark blue. The listing reads:

… affixed to the dashboard is a metal plaque, inscribed: ‘In memoriam Prof Ferry Porsche’ and a quote in German from the popular 1944 film Die Feuerzangenbowle (The Fire-tongs Bowl): “Only the memories we carry with us are real, the dreams we spin and the desires that drive us true. But with that we can be satisfied.” The car also boasts sill covers bearing the inscription “The Last Waltz”, which is repeated on a sticker in the rear window.

We’ll take your word for it, Clauss.

The $800K sale price of this last air-cooled car handily exceeds the $695,000 #1 value of a 993 Turbo S without all the special-order options. It’s a healthy result, to be sure, though it significantly undershot Bonhams’ £700,000-£800,000 ($919,300-$1.05 M) estimate.

Within the last year, industry experts we’ve talked to indicated that more specialized cars—those with a combination of particular provenance and a wealth of options that make for a “one of one” scenario—had yet to be impacted by the collector market’s downturn. RM Sotheby’s sale of “The White Collection” late last year corroborated this with a number of highly personalized, well-optioned Porsches outperforming expectations and setting records. “The Last Waltz” 993 shared all the traits necessary (except, perhaps, its low but not un-driven odometer reading of roughly 11,000 kilometers) to have prompted a similar sale.

So what gives? Regardless of vehicle, the right venue and context still matter: Bonhams offered chassis number “370750” at its sale alongside the Goodwood Revival, an oh-so-English event best known for cars from the ’40s through the ’60s. Perhaps this ’90s Porsche—with all its deliciously specific points of interest—would have fared better at a different venue, alongside more cars of its ilk. Also, that the reserve was lifted well beneath estimate suggests even the best examples in one of the hottest subsets of the collector market—’90s air-cooled 911s—aren’t immune to broader market forces, and sellers are now aware of that, too.