Two-liter sports racing cars have always had a place to compete within the ever-changing regulations of international motor sports: the World Sports Car Championship from 1953-1961; the Speedworld Challenge from 1962-1963; the International Championship of Makes from 1964-1971; and the World Championship of Makes from 1972-1981. There was even a European Championship of Makes for cars up to two liters from 1970-1975. This allowed manufacturers to showcase their design and engineering excellence by producing a limited number of purpose-built racing cars to compete at the world’s greatest racing venues including Silverstone, Nürburgring, Le Mans, Monza, Daytona and Sebring. On the right circuit, these nimble cars could often get the better of their larger competitors. Today, these historic cars are highly sought after by collectors, not just for admiration of their technology, but also to participate in reenactments of these famous racing events. Most historic groups, both in Europe and the United States, break the categories down into pre-1960, 1960-1965, 1966-1970, and 1971-1978.
Porsche 550-550A-RSK-RS60 — What are they worth?
During the 1950s Porsche AG of Stuttgart Germany became world renowned for their beautiful aluminum-bodied Spyder racing cars. It started with the 550 in 1953, the 550A in 1956, the RSK in 1958 and evolved into the RS60-61 in 1960. As the cars evolved, they became technically superior, had enormous competition success and were made in much smaller numbers. For the life of the Porsche Spyders, value was determined by this hierarchy, as well as by design, technology, low production numbers and competition success. Then add to that condition and event eligibility. The 550, with 90 cars built and with the simplest technology and least impressive race success, was always the least valuable of all the Spyders. Astute collectors would value cars by the individual chassis number’s race history. Factory cars were always worth more than customer cars. The car’s structural integrity—did it survive as an original car or was it restored from a wreck—was key. Values were determined by looking at the past five or six recent sales, as well as what the other cars it competed against were selling for and what cars you could buy for that much money. In the past three years, these criteria seem to have been dismissed and prices have soared to record levels, largely stemming from a small amount of auction sales to a new type of buyer.
In the past three years, “a few” Porsche Spyders have sold at auction with the highest sale being $3.6 million paid for a regular 550 Spyder. When at the same time, those in the know could have purchased two 550s for that money, or a factory RS60 Spyder with a Le Mans history, and had a lot of money left over. At the time, private sales did not support those auction results, and years ago others would have just said, “It is a fluke. Someone just paid too much.” Now sellers say, “Well, why isn’t my car worth that much?” Although neither an RSK nor an RS60 has brought the money of the $3.6 million 550 Spyder, those few highly visible auction sales have influenced values to move upward. Eventually, other sales have taken place and the market values of all of the Porsche Spyders have increased to close to that mark. So, what then is one of the 34 RSKs worth? Based on the recent upturn in prices, they should be worth $4 million—as all Spyders do not have the same value and a 550 is not the most valuable one. The RSK did what no 550 or other Spyder ever did, and therefore there is a reason why an RSK should always be worth more than a 550 Spyder. On its way to finishing in 2nd place in the 1958 Manufacturers World Sports Car Championship, the RSK won at the Nürburgring, Monza, Spa, Reims, Avus, Zeltweg and in the USA, with a class win at the Sebring 12 Hours. At the Le Mans 24 Hours RSKs were 3rd and 4th overall. The RSK was also raced as a Formula 2 car, winning at Avus and Reims, and took 6th place at the German Grand Prix against the F1 cars. In 1959, the RSK won the Targa Florio outright. So then, why are the Spyder values out of line? Why hasn’t its competitor, the Maserati 150S or 200S, done the same? The 200S was worth more than a 550 Spyder just three years ago! How fast and how long can this rate of appreciation continue? Or does one say, “Well the cars are finally valued where they should be?” After all they are an example of Porsche’s design and engineering excellence and will never be built again.
For a variety of economic reasons, which have made other places to put your money less interesting, tangible assets have become good investments. That is understood. Where is the investment in paying twice what something is worth at auction? Clearly, the buyers have that much extra money to spend, and if they trade among themselves, theoretically the investment should be secure. However, with these ever-increasing values, the number of buyers becomes ever smaller.
Criteria Used For Assessing Valuations for this Guide:
- Degree of Originality
- Overall Condition, Restoration
- Technology, Design, Coachbuilder
- Production Numbers/Rarity
- Competition History
- Ownership History, Documentation
- Modern Event Eligibility
Regional Variances
The prices stated in this guide are based on U.S. values. The values of historic racing cars can vary as much as 25%-35% in other countries, depending on local market appeal, currency rates, import duties, and VAT. Most of the time, we are able to document known sales or closed escrows, as they say in real estate. When this is not possible, a logical estimate of the car’s value is given, based on its sales history and relationship to cars of its type.
The prices stated in this guide are based on U.S. values. The values of historic racing cars can vary as much as 25%-35% in other countries, depending on local market appeal, currency rates, import duties, and VAT.
LEVEL |
VALUATION CATEGORIES |
|---|---|
I |
The best combination of all criteria. |
II |
Satisfies mid-range of criteria. |
III |
In need of restoration. Meets only a few points of criteria |
