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Lots of good points. The 968 caught my eye mostly because it is rare and it will qualify for classic insurance.
I live in the NY area and insurance rates are crazy, even for second cars. The Boxster is an option, but to be honest the whole front engine Porsche thing seemed cool. I have limited mechanical ability myself. I should also mention that I have no intention of tuning or modding any car I get. I'm done with that stuff. Just want to drive and enjoy.
You inserted another car everyone has. I’d look for newest Cayman S in price your price range, but really both Mustang and 968 are good picks.
Everyone has? While they are likely more common than a Porsche, Mustang sales are many, many times the sales of Corvettes....in other words, far more common. I live in a fairly large metropolitan area and only see Corvettes a few times a week (unless I go into my garage) . I see Mustang after Mustang all day long. My experiences with Porsches have not been positive although I can't speak to the Cayman S.
If you look at an older C5 vette, then get the fun one! A Z06.
I've had a Porsche, admittedly an older one, 356B, and Austin Healey's (a bugeye, a sprite, and a 3000), also had a '70 Opel GT. Most recently an '03 Z06. The Z06 could do just about everything the others could do, plus snap my head back with breathe taking acceleration. The fun per mile factor was just about off the charts.
Back to the OP, if I had to decide between the porsche of the vintage he's looking at and a Mustang of any vintage I'd take the Porsche. If you find out you've made a mistake a year or so down the road, you can always find a Mustang that fits your taste. You may have a hard time finding the vintage Porsche you want later.
Lots of good points. The 968 caught my eye mostly because it is rare and it will qualify for classic insurance.
I live in the NY area and insurance rates are crazy, even for second cars. The Boxster is an option, but to be honest the whole front engine Porsche thing seemed cool. I have limited mechanical ability myself. I should also mention that I have no intention of tuning or modding any car I get. I'm done with that stuff. Just want to drive and enjoy.
You no doubt already know this, but you want to buy a car that is not from the Northeast or Midwest. Unless you can somehow verify it has not been out on salty winter roads there.
Rust never sleeps.
If you have limited mechanical ability and no desire to work on the car yourself, you may indeed be better off with an S2000 or similar car. The Mustang will (very likely) be easier to deal with mechanically than any Porsche. But local ones will have probably seen salt as they are "just a car" to most owners.
You will want to read up on how to best store this car over the winter. There is a lot to do, a lot to think about.
Lots of good points. The 968 caught my eye mostly because it is rare and it will qualify for classic insurance.
I live in the NY area and insurance rates are crazy, even for second cars. The Boxster is an option, but to be honest the whole front engine Porsche thing seemed cool. I have limited mechanical ability myself. I should also mention that I have no intention of tuning or modding any car I get. I'm done with that stuff. Just want to drive and enjoy.
Front engined Porsches have never been very collectible (the exception being a few of the 928s) and if you're not going to maintain it yourself, its going to cost you. The 968 is really just a 944 and while its got a Porsche badge on it, its does not offer the classic Porsche driving experience the way a mid-engine car is going to - and in that sense the Boxster/Cayman is a huge improvement on that experience over the classic rear engine 911. The 944/968 feels very much like many other front engine RWD cars, so you can get that feeling with lots of less costly options - and if you want Germanic experience, you can get a really cherry 90s M3 (I'd recommend the 95 as its the last before OBD2). Heck, in your budget, are also more recent 3-series like the 335i and the Audi S4, both of which will show any stock 968 some tail lights under pretty much any driving scenario.
A Mustang is not a bad choice, although I'd personally either go current generation (SO much better than any mustang before it) or Fox body....either way stay away from that 4.6L - they were really crap.
Just go drive a 2015+ Mustang, even the Ecoboost, and you will see what I mean. Whatever you might like about the older Cobras....I assure you will be even better in the current car. Ride/handling/power...not to mention comfort and all the mod-cons.
Personally if you really want an inexpensive "drive and enjoy" convertible that will only see clear dry weather and back roads and such.....get a Miata, man. They're bulletproof, you can fling them around at 10/10ths everywhere you go, and they are cheap to insure and maintain. The closest hardtop equivalent is something like the Subaru BRZ.
Front engined Porsches have never been very collectible (the exception being a few of the 928s) and if you're not going to maintain it yourself, its going to cost you. The 968 is really just a 944 and while its got a Porsche badge on it, its does not offer the classic Porsche driving experience the way a mid-engine car is going to - and in that sense the Boxster/Cayman is a huge improvement on that experience over the classic rear engine 911. The 944/968 feels very much like many other front engine RWD cars, so you can get that feeling with lots of less costly options - and if you want Germanic experience, you can get a really cherry 90s M3 (I'd recommend the 95 as its the last before OBD2). Heck, in your budget, are also more recent 3-series like the 335i and the Audi S4, both of which will show any stock 968 some tail lights under pretty much any driving scenario.
A Mustang is not a bad choice, although I'd personally either go current generation (SO much better than any mustang before it) or Fox body....either way stay away from that 4.6L - they were really crap.
Just go drive a 2015+ Mustang, even the Ecoboost, and you will see what I mean. Whatever you might like about the older Cobras....I assure you will be even better in the current car. Ride/handling/power...not to mention comfort and all the mod-cons.
Personally if you really want an inexpensive "drive and enjoy" convertible that will only see clear dry weather and back roads and such.....get a Miata, man. They're bulletproof, you can fling them around at 10/10ths everywhere you go, and they are cheap to insure and maintain. The closest hardtop equivalent is something like the Subaru BRZ.
With all due respect to the Phantom ...
968 prices have bottomed and are headed up.
Check out 968.net, rennlist, hemmings, and some of the other sites. A 968 turbo RS sold for more than $350,000 ... Of course there are only four original ones in existence. Decent drivers are selling between $15,000 and $25,000 now.
The 944 and 968 are approximately 50/50 front wheel balance (transmission is in the rear) so they handle nothing like a heavy front-loaded Mustang. The engines are pretty bulletproof up over 200,000 miles and they're not all that expensive to maintain (assuming proper maintenance has been done over their life ... Timing belt every 6 to 8 years, annual oil changes, brake fluid changes every other year, etc.). The only real flaw has been the pinion gear which usually fails somewhere between 30,000 to 60,000 miles, if it's going to fail.
If course a 20+ year old car won't run with a new car on the track ... in a recent test the Macan GTS smoked a 944 Turbo on the track. ( https://youtu.be/sj9b5qBvg3s )
In real life, on curvy back roads, the 968 will keep up with anything (assuming near sea level elevation and a semi-competent driver) ... Yes one has to work the car little harder, and of course there's no nannies (other than anti-lock brakes) to save your a$$, but during P Club outtings I regularly keep up with those driving Boxster Ss, Cayman Ss, various vintages of 911 turbos, and there's even a couple if Carrera GTs.
The cars are also very rare, and most folks have no idea what it is and think it is much newer that it is.
It definitely is not a muscle car, like a Mustang, but it all depends on what one wants to do with the car. The 968 is quick, but not lightning-fast obviously, and it's more of a finesse car versus a brute.
We had a 924 and a 924 Turbo (ex-wife's cars). There was no comparison. My son said his VW bug was "much" faster than the na 924, and I have no doubt he knew that for a fact from racing. (The bug was heavily modified, however.) The 924 Turbo was a hoot. Very quick. I don't know how fast it would go, but I had it up to 135 for brief periods.
The straight 924 was a relatively cheap car. My wife wanted a Mustang back in '78 -- ugly Fox body. I showed her the 924 and she liked it. It was $13K, new in the showroom. It got rear-ended a few years later and we replaced it with an '81 924 Turbo. You wouldn't believe they were related except for the looks.
But the 928, that's a different breed altogether. A doctor friend of mine had one, got it about the same time we got our first 924 and mostly left it in his garage. I ran into him at our neighborhood gas station 20+ years later and he still had it --with fewer than 20K miles on it. I was just leaving town for Deadwood, SD, about 120 miles away, and he wanted me to drive his 928 over -- said it needed exercise. I declined. I've been kicking myself ever since. Those are nice cars.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phantompilot
If you really want the convertibles why not just get a Boxster? For 20K you can get a LOT more car than the 968.
Also for that 20K you can buy a sixth generation Mustang (Ecoboost, not convertible probably though) and that is also a lot more car than the 968 and especially over the old Cobra that is going to be a pain to live with and noisy/rough. The new platform is a truly modern car. Those Cobras are literally a 30 year old design and the 4.6L motors are weak to boot.
I gotta agree here. i think you can get a nice boxster s. If you want straight line speed a cobra terminator is a good choice. Not sure about the 600 hp with the mods mentioned in other post, I think it takes more, but still it is relatively cheap to mod. A shot of nitrous in a cobra would give you some thrills
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) . I see Mustang after Mustang all day long. My experiences with Porsches have not been positive although I can't speak to the Cayman S.
