This car, Lot 208445, sold for $589,500, including buyer’s premium, on Bring a Trailer’s online auction on September 5, 2025.
The first Sport Classic Porsche 911 was a 2010 997.2-series model offered by the Exclusive Department. It was conceived as a tribute to the 1973 Carrera RS and was one in a line of limited-edition cars that Porsche designed and built to generate profits. The 2010 model was delivered in just 250 examples to a rigid formula with just one mechanical specification, one paint color and one interior configuration available.
Porsche did not federalize the 2010 model, so it was not sold new in the U.S. or Canada. Your author wrote the DOT petition in 2013 to make the car eligible for Show or Display status, which would obviate DOT regulations. Thereafter, I applied for approvals for five cars to be imported. Those cars still had to go to an EPA-certified modifier to clean up the emissions issues, which was not an overly burdensome process.
The 2010 model had a normally aspirated 3.8-liter flat-6 with a Power Kit-aided 408-horsepower, 6-speed manual gearbox, limited-slip differential and 19-inch flat-spoke Fuchs wheels. It came standard with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) and Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB). The bodywork featured a 1973 RS-style ducktail, Turbo-like flares and a stylish double-bubble roof made of lightweight magnesium. The only color scheme available was a Sport Gray Classic exterior with massive amounts of brown leather in the interior with Pepita seat inserts.
Complaints about the 2010 Sport Classic were that it was not sufficiently mechanically advanced versus the 997.2 C2 or C2S and did not provide added performance. That would be flipped when the 2023 Sport Classic arrived on the scene.
These 2010 cars had an MSRP of about $230,000. Resale value in Europe in 2013–14 was typically below MSRP but jumped significantly for one of the few that were imported and EPA modified in the U.S. One of the early resales here was at RM Sotheby’s Scottsdale auction in 2019 for $654,000 after buyer’s premium (SCM# 6893290). As a few more were imported, sales stayed high: $611,250 for a 386-mile example on PCarMarket in February 2023, $643,000 for a 1,000-mile example at RM Sotheby’s in December 2023 (SCM# 6963302), and $617,000 for a 4,000-miler on BaT in November 2024.
Sport Classic sequel
The 992.1-series Sport Classic is a fine sports car, combining styling pluses taken from the 2010 car with stellar new mechanicals. That includes a 3.7-liter twin-turbocharged 543-horsepower flat-6, down from 572 in the Turbo. It has 442 lb-ft of torque, a large drop from the 553 of the Turbo in order to keep the two rear tires on the road. Power is delivered through a 7-speed manual gearbox through the rear wheels only — not all-wheel drive, as found on Turbo models since 1995. The suspension uses adaptive shocks and roll bars, plus rear-wheel steering from the Turbo S. Best of all, this 2023 Sport Classic was available to North American buyers at launch. Recognizing a hot seller, Porsche produced 1,250 for the worldwide market — five times as many as the 2010 Sport Classic.
At 3,440 pounds, the Sport Classic loses 200 pounds compared with Turbo models, so performance is strong and, frankly, more fun. The specs are a driver’s dream — straight from the lineage of the 1996–98 993 GT2, the 996 GT2, and the 2011 and 2018 GT2 RS models. Car and Driver said it well: “The Sport Classic is … about winding roads, driver involvement, and a rollicking good time. On this front, the Sport Classic absolutely delivers.”
Styling changes include the classic 1973 RS-style ducktail rear spoiler, carbon-fiber “double bubble” roof, Exclusive Design flat-spoke wheels, and the Heritage Design black leather interior with Pepita seat inserts and inner door panels. Standard equipment on a Sport Classic includes PCCB, front-axle lift system, rear-axle steering and Porsche Communication Management (PCM) with navigation.
To collect or flip?
Finding a 2023 Sport Classic to purchase is not difficult. No less than 20 of them were on the market from January through September 2025 — about half at public auctions and half at high-line dealers. Of interest, all but two reported 1,000 or fewer miles and many had just delivery miles. Those two “used” cars had 2,775 and 5,887 miles. These numbers are indicative of the “resale” state of this market. Get an allocation for a limited-production Porsche, store it for a few months, and flip it to the highest bidder for profit.
Most Sport Classics sold early in 2025 went between $425,000 and $435,000, from a base MSRP of $274,750, not including options. One Manaus Blue example at RM Sotheby’s Miami brought $577,000; a dark gray car on BaT brought $522,000 in May; and our subject Ruby Star example sold at $589,500. This is a small sample size, but the market seems to be trending upward.
PTS Porsches are hot
Our subject car, the 2023 Sport Classic sold on BaT in September, generated a 100% profit over MSRP in just two years. How did that happen?
This example was thoughtfully but not excessively optioned, with a Paint to Sample (PTS) color costing $12,830 — more on that later. It also had Power Steering Plus ($280), Power Folding Mirrors ($370), Burmester Surround Sound ($3,980), Surround View Camera system ($1,430), aluminum pedals ($630), Ambient Lighting ($580) and Lightweight Glass ($1,250), for a total MSRP of $296,100, including destination and gas-guzzler tax.
The car was Paint-to-Sample Ruby Star, Porsche’s latter-day interpretation of the 1991–94 paint color known as Rubystone found on 964-series 911s. PTS Porsches in bright colors — especially blues and greens but also oranges and pink — are hot. Premiums of up to 50% are possible just because of a good PTS choice. As this trend has developed over the past decade, savvy buyers have increasingly paid premiums and taken delays on deliveries to obtain Paint to Sample cars, with one eye firmly set on resale.
Our subject car had only 921 miles, one owner, a clean CARFAX and all the purchase paperwork and service records you’d expect. At auction, viewers were split on the color, but if you like it, you want it. (I owned a Rubystone 964 Carrera RS for a few years. I loved it at first, tired of it later — and have a Maritime Blue car now.) Several bidders loved the color and the bidding was steady until it was sold at $589,500 with buyer’s premium. That’s a strong 99% increase on MSRP. Well done.
