Keith Martin has been involved with the collector car hobby for more than 40 years, and is the founder and publisher of this magazine. Keith has also written for the New York Times, Automobile, AutoWeek, Road & Track and other publications, has been an emcee for numerous concours, and had his own show, “What’s My Car Worth,” shown on Velocity. He has received many honors, including the Lee Iacocca Award, the Edward Herrmann Award, was inducted into the Concorso Italiano Hall of Fame, and more. He has served on the board of directors of The LeMay Museum and Oregon Ballet Theater, and was formerly the chair of the board of the Meguiar’s Award. Learn more about Keith here.
Our 1991 Porsche 928 S4 has gone to a new owner. Courtesy of Matt Crandall (911r) and the gang at Avant-Garde Collection, it sold for $46,928 on Wednesday, August 25, on Bring A Trailer. The auction garnered 10,365 views, 823 watchers and 26 bids. Avant-Garde Collection is local to me here in Portland, and Matt Crandall and I share the distinction (or infamy) of both having been the General Manager of Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo, the then-Ferrari/Maserati/Lotus dealer in Portland. (We carried Zimmer as well, but we generally don’t talk much about that.) Avant-Garde Collection has built a reputation for creatively […]
Our 1991 Porsche 928 S4 has gone to a new owner. Courtesy of Matt Crandall (911r) and the gang at Avant-Garde Collection, it sold for $46,928 on Wednesday, August 25, on Bring A Trailer. The auction garnered 10,365 views, 823 watchers and 26 bids.
Avant-Garde Collection is local to me here in Portland, and Matt Crandall and I share the distinction (or infamy) of both having been the General Manager of Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo, the then-Ferrari/Maserati/Lotus dealer in Portland. (We carried Zimmer as well, but we generally don’t talk much about that.)
Avant-Garde Collection has built a reputation for creatively and attractively presenting its cars, and being attentive to the trolls during the auction. Over the weekend while the dealership was closed, a clan of “crank endplay” fanatics started pummeling the auction with demands for readings. One particularly friendly and patient person more or less posted, “No readings, no sale!”
Come Monday morning the readings were posted, and the end-play gang could go off their medication.
This sale procedure was a bit unusual for me. Matt put a reserve on the car, presumably because he was unsure of the market for an S4 automatic.
With less than half an hour go to until the end of the auction, bidding had stalled at $36,000. Matt called, and I told him to pull the reserve. The market is what the market is, and the bidding was high enough that it would not have meant a total bloodbath for me.
Then what every seller dreams about happened: New bidders jumped in and previous ones raised theirs.
We had a nearly $11,000 jump in the last few minutes. I threw in a two-year SCM membership, along with two caps and a pair of wine glasses. I don’t think it affected the outcome, but it added to the fun factor.
Avant-Garde makes a little more commission, I end up more than breaking even on the car (more about that later) and 928 owners everywhere can rejoice.
This car brought a fair price given its excellent condition, paperwork trail from new and recent service by marque experts.
Before I submerged myself into this slightly odd sector of the market, I did my homework.
While enormously capable, 928s are also enormously complicated and enormously expensive to put right. You can’t buy a rat for $15k, put $40k into it and have a car as good as this one.
My method of ownership is to pay what it takes to find a car with good bones that has never been abused. Then, put it into the hands of marque experts for them to make it right, without regard to cost.
If my 928 had not been in top shape when I used it, how would I ever have known what a good 928 was like?
Then I drive the cars and enjoy them, seeing what they have to teach me. In this case, I spent several months and went several thousands of miles with the car.
While it’s always better to make money than to lose it, my reason for buying and selling cars is to learn about them and take them off my bucket list, one at a time. I’ve had many people say to me, “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to own a 928.” I felt that way too, and now the itch has been scratched.
With the sale of the 928 at $47k and the Volvo 122S at $20k, I have now funded the purchase of the 1971 Citroen DS21 I paid $68k for. You’ll be learning more about that car soon, and so will I.
And I’ve already had SCM contributor Miles Collier say to me, “I’ve always wanted to own a DS21.” I told him he can drive ours whenever he wants.
As a serious ‘unusual vehicle’ collector [Packards, Studebakers, Tatras, Rolls-Royces, & more], while I’ve worked on multiple ID and DS cars over the years, I’ve always wanted a DS Pallas that was rust free and mostly original. Still looking, but it is on my bucket list too.
4 responses to “Keith’s Blog: The SCM 928 Has Sailed Away”
You’ll love the Citroen. Frankly, Porsche have never built a car this interesting.
So what did the 928 teach you? Given the breadth of your ownership experiences, I’m curious as to what you thought, likes/dislikes, etc.
Hi Keith – 928 ownership experience was always on my bucket list!
It is shipping from AGC today!
Look forward to receiving it in North Carolina next week and of course driving it!
I would love a recent photo of you with the car! Look forward to connecting with you soon!
Best Regards,
Mark
As a serious ‘unusual vehicle’ collector [Packards, Studebakers, Tatras, Rolls-Royces, & more], while I’ve worked on multiple ID and DS cars over the years, I’ve always wanted a DS Pallas that was rust free and mostly original. Still looking, but it is on my bucket list too.