This is certainly a sight you don’t see often: an abandoned Porsche Carrera GT, left like any other forgotten paperweight in a former Ferrari and Maserati dealership in southern mainland China. The Porsche is one two supercars left in this otherwise empty dealer, with the other modern-icon an exceedingly rare manual transmission-equipped Ferrari Superamerica. The details are hazy, but the dealership’s demise is loosely tied to government mandates that sought to strike down corruption by limiting “excessive consumption,” according to the article posted here on the Periodismo Del Motor website.
The Carrera GT was evidently a high-end trade in for one of the dealership’s Italian purebreads, and is rumored to have just 4,581 kilometers. That’s not uncommon for one of Porsche’s most significant vehicles made in the last 20 years, as most of them went directly into mothball status given their immediate collectibility. The article notes that relatively few Carrera GTs wore Zanzibar Red Metallic paint, as it is suspected this is one of just three that exists in this color. I seem to recall that the car actor Paul Walker of The Fast & the Furious franchise died in was also a red example, so it may be true that even fewer of these cars remain than the cited figure.
The Porsche is believed to have been sitting since 2012, and the coating of dust certainly validates that claim. Even though this is a modern supercar, sitting for prolonged periods can have the same effect as it does on a vintage model. As a model basically bred for high-speed cruising on a daily basis, long periods of stagnation will leave the next owner with significant reconditioning costs, even though mileage remains quite low. Still, the limited production and high performance hype that surrounded this car when new means it remains a sought-after collectible today, and should it ever be made available for sale, I doubt the rightful owner would have a hard time finding a new owner.
The painted calipers and wheel insets that coordinate with the surface paint are hallmarks of the Carrera GT, and both show next to no signs of pitting or chipping. I doubt this Porsche saw much in the way of regular use before it ended up a static display in a showroom, and it’s hard to fathom a car like this simply sitting in plain sight and not finding a billionaire aggressive enough to sway the shuttered dealership to sell it. The article notes that one of the other Ferraris that sat in dusty storage with the Superamerica and Carrera GT has since found a new owner, so it seems possible the cars can be extricated with the right amount of cash and government connections.
In the words of a great man, “Don’t trust China, China is @$$hoe!”
But seriously, check out what recently happened to Steve Saleen’s excursion into that country.
Thanks for bringing that up.
Steve R
Here is a link showing what the Chinese government may be doing https://usaherald.com/china-uses-covid-19-to-nationalize-american-automotive-company-based-in-china/
I’m sure now that Porsche is going somewhere with a little help ($$). One YouTube channel I watch is ADVChina, where a South African living in that country explains the culture while riding around on a motorcycle. Very interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxP2fAqamZQ
Mike: thanks for posting that video on Chinese culture; being a mechanic/tool guy, that garbage I have to go through with some of their “products” (think Eastwood, Harbor Freight, etc) would bore you for hours. (this does NOT include items from Taiwan, whose products rate quite highly). YOu or your dad may have heard that items from Japan after WW2, were terrible, but look how far they have pulled up their grade. China COULD do the same, but it would take a true changing of their mind culture–we’ll see.
Yeah, when I was a kid “Made in Japan” was a bad thing. China will need years to cancel the negativity associated with Chinese products.
Really nice car but sounds to me that its a problem right out of the gate!!
I’m sure no one has thought of trying to get the car out of there. So go ahead and go for it! A few phone calls and it should be yours. I have nowhere to keep it but otherwise I would go get it.
If collectors had known about it they would have tried. Why wouldn’t they. Dealers all around the world make a living selling cars like this, to think none of them would have made a run at it is rather unlikely.
Steve R
I don’t know if the sarcasm came through there. There’s probably 5,000 Porscheophiles,10,000 dealers, and another 70,000 amateur opportunists thinking they’re going to get it right about now. This story has been all over social media for the last several days.
I’ll ride shotgun for you.
China might rather scrap it than let it leave, as a lesson that excess consumption is a crime against the state. Ya just can never predict their response.
The U.S. is heading in that direction now!
A lot of real classy comments here, and I thought I had the reputation as the trouble maker.
Sounds like a potential premise for the next installment of “Fast and Furious”!
It’s amazing to me (not really) that a car like this ends up in a communist country to begin with. Hope that doesn’t violate BF’s restriction on political comments. I could say more about how two faced their system is but I’ll leave it at that.
The owner is probably rotting in jail, on a life sentence for buying the car.
I strongly advise against any attempt to sneak in and try to, uh, appropriate it.
As a regular traveller there a few times each month for a few years, ending a couple years ago, my experience leads me to assume it will end up in the hands of a government official.
If dealers finance their inventory there like they do here, think of the flooring charges to date!
I have this exact car rotting in my backyard
Well exact is not the exact word
I have a very similar car rotting in my backyard
A pretty incomplete fiberglass replica on a stretched collector orange boxster !
Well , ok then , it is similar …
Claudio, isn’t that what we used to call a Chinese copy?