Tell me: Were you smart enough to buy an early 1970s Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS a decade ago when you had the chance? No? Then you're totally screwed and you'll never be able to afford one now. Sorry. Tough potatoes.
The UK's Telegraph reports that due to a staggering 669 percent increase in value in the last decade alone, the Carrera RS is the best classic car investment you can make right now.
Bet you're kicking yourself for not buying one back in 2003, huh? I know I am. (Not that I could have afforded it then, but there are ways. I could have sold a kidney, or more preferably, someone else's kidneys.)
Here's what they report:
In 2004, an RS Touring such as the one in our video would cost about £65,000 (a reasonable investment in itself from the £9,000 you'd have paid in 1980). By 2011 they were worth upwards of £200,000, and in the current market are selling for £500,000 plus, depending on condition and originality. The even rarer "Lightweight" versions of the RS are more valuable still, with one example selling at auction earlier this year for $1.4 million.
I'll translate that into 'Murica-dollars for you: in 2004 that RS Touring would have gone for about $100,000, but now they're going for $780,000. (I'm not sure if the Telegraph's figures account for inflation or not; mine are based on current rates.)
Of course, I would argue that a Carrera RS isn't really a car you should stash away in some temperature-controlled garage like a diamond, that instead it's a first-rate driver's machine that should be hooned and hooned regularly and then passed on to your children for them to hoon as well. But if you wanted to make one an investment, you stand to make a huge return on it.
As we're all aware, prices of all air-cooled 911s in general have blown way up in recent years. Hagerty's website has a very useful tool that lets you see the value of classic cars over time like they're stocks.
Prices for the 1972 911 S have gone from hovering around the $50,000-$60,000 mark in recent years until sharply rising recently to more than $240,000 for one in great shape. And that's not even for a fancy model like the Carrera RS!
It's the same story for the late 1960s 911 Targa. For years the Targa was the Porsche that no one really wanted compared to its siblings, but even it has shot way up in price with the rest of them.
Maybe you should make that your new year's resolution: buy a classic 911 while you still can.
Hat tip to Carscoops!