Porsche had no clue prices of its 911 R would blow up the way they did a couple of years ago. There were some reports the purists’ 911, basically a more analog version of the pre-facelift 911 GT3 RS, was being sold for nearly $1 million by those anxious to flip them at a serious profit. Needless to say, Porsche did not like seeing this flipping and wanted to find a way to douse the hot dollar flames. The result was the 911 GT3 Touring Package. Same naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six engine. Same six-speed manual transmission. Same body kit.
Only it didn’t have the coveted 911 R badges. Instead of limiting production to just 991 examples, as was the case with the 911 R, the GT3 Touring Pack is widely available. You can pop into your local Porsche dealership right now and buy. one Asking price: around $146,000. The 911 R originally went for about $168,000. But if you just have to have a 911 R, then this low-mileage example just came up for sale on Bring a Trailer. It’s hardly been driven with a mere 87 miles on its odometer, and, as of this writing, the highest bid was $260,000. That’s a difference of $114,000 between an ever so lightly used 2016 911 R and a 2018 911 GT3 Touring pack.
Will the 911 R continue to increase in value, hence justifying this purchase? Perhaps, but now that the GT3 Touring Pack exists, chances are 911 R values have plateaued, more or less. It really boils down to, in this case, how much it’s worth to say “I drive a 911 R” to anyone who asks. Photos courtesy of Bring a Trailer.
