Opinion

Sales debate - is inflation making customers think twice about a Porsche purchase? With the past year seeing consumer price inflation rising to well over 10 per cent, we might wonder if such record numbers affect the used Porsche market. So do they? “No,” says Paragon’s Jason Shepherd. “I don’t really see a link between inflation and values. They’ve levelled off, but there doesn’t seem to be anything to create too much downward pressure.

Although the name was unusual, the improvements made to the AMV8 in 1978 that resulted in the Oscar India were not. For the model’s 45th anniversary we explain why the changes resulted in one of the most attractive and important variations.

It’s a quarter of a century since I first drove the X100 generation of XK when, as an aspiring motoring journalist, I was asked by a leading British car magazine to help with a twin test in Italy between the newly launched Maserati 3200GT and XKR (pictured). After flying to Rome and collecting a British Racing Green Jaguar, I had a fabulous 250-mile drive north to Maserati’s home of Modena where the shoot took place.

There’s something ineffably cool about comparatively unloved Ferraris. Whether it’s a 365 GTC4, most notable for not being a Daytona, the scallop-fuse-laged 612 Scaglietti or the behemoth FF, these are Maranello’s chorus line cars, rarely enjoying much of a moment in the spotlight. DRIVEN TO EXTINCTIONMuch the same can be said of the Portofino. It only seems like yesterday that it was being introduced to replace the bulky California T, but we have word that the factory will build no more.

Not long before this issue of 911 & Porsche World went to press, the motorsport world was shocked by the news of Ken Block’s passing. The rally driver, gymkhana star and ‘Head Hoonigan in Charge’ died near his ranch in Woodland, Utah, in a snowmobile accident. He was fifty-five. Block co-founded skateboarding and snowboarding footwear and apparel brand, DC Shoes, in 1994 and used his fortune to realise a long-held ambition to compete in international rallying.

Mercedes W114 W115 250c 280c coupe (1968-1976) bumper A set bumper of a front bumper in 2 parts, a cover. A rear bumper in 3 parts, 2 covers, rubber trims for front and rear bumper. Bolts and screw. Bumper is copied from the original in shape, size and is perfectly comparable to the original bumper. Bumper is made from 304 stainless steel (it never rust, even at different temperatures), After the bumper is finished, it is polished to high gloss. It looks like chrome.

There’s a thread that runs through an entire bloodline of supercars that we can tease at during their lifetimes but which only really makes itself apparent through the lens of hindsight. Underrated, misunderstood, underbacked or merely out of place and time when they were launched, cars like the BMW M1 E26, the Porsche 911 Carrera RS 964, the Ferrari F50, the McLaren 12C and the BMW i8 all needed time beyond their respective production runs for us to appreciate them for what they achieved.

Scarabeo is the Italian word for ‘beetle’ but for a few Alfa Romeo connoisseurs, it is also the name of one of the most tantalising ‘might have been’ chapters in the marque’s history. The story of Project 105.56 began in February 1966, less than a month after Giuseppe Busso and Alfa's experimental department had begrudgingly surrendered development of the Tipo 33 sports prototype to Autodelta, Alfa’s racing division headed by Carlo Chiti.

Philip Raby, of Philip Raby Specialist Cars, points out it can be hard to identify trends, but he notes a definite run on 993s of late. Unusually, he’d had four in, and had so many enquires that he could have sold them again and again. “People were almost fighting over them,” he says. Avi Tandon of Garage Sportique backs that up, noting demand for 964s and 993s. “90s air-cooled cars, particularly manual C2 Coupes, are in demand, but finding those with low mileage is quite tricky,” he says.

BMW M has certainly been enjoying itself during its 50th anniversary year, and the debut of machinery such as the M3 Touring and the M4 CSL have been some of the highlights. More recently, we’ve seen the world premiere of two further M cars, topping and tailing the range in the guise of the all-new XM and the perhaps rather more enticing M2.

Forgive us this diversion, but whisper it… other car brands do exist. Hell, there are even other Porsche models out there, and there’s every chance you’ll have one, or at least have experienced them at some point. While we’re not going to stray too far from our favourite brand here, this month’s trawl of the classifieds has seen us take a bit of a tangent because we’ve been looking at Audi RS2s. It’s unlikely you’re unaware of the RS2, but here’s a recap – just in case.

Russia has deservedly been at the receiving end of some genuinely awful press over the last few months. However, if there’s one thing we should definitely stop blaming Russia for, it’s the Alfasud’s now legendary proclivity for terminal rust.

This is the end, beautiful friend…” so said Jim Morrison and The Doors all the way back in 1967. The song – The End – was, of course, part of the soundtrack to Apocalypse Now and while I’m not quite as unhinged as many of the film’s characters become I am deeply saddened that after 28-years BMW Car will be closing its pages for the very last time.

A photograph can tell a thousand stories, and this can be especially true at auction. Want to complain about that scratch you didn’t know was there? “Sorry Sir, it was clearly in the image on the internet...

The 993’s historical journey is well known. Peter Falk, the famed Porsche engineer, produced a Lastenheft in the late 1980s that found the incoming 993 would have to achieve new levels of agility and responsiveness – not to mention refinement – and so the new 911 was born with its multi-link rear axle and six-speed transmission, among other improvements.