Call it how you see it: the Porsche 968 is either over-priced or a smoking bargain that’s sure to increase in value. There’s good arguments on both sides of the coin, with the rear-wheel drive, front-engined 968 ultimately being a fantastic driver’s car no matter which side you’re on. The car shown here is equipped with the preferred manual gearbox, which isn’t a foregone conclusion given how many of these were (shockingly) ordered with the optional automatic. The 968 is offered here on eBay with a tick under 100,000 miles and bidding sitting at $13,100 and the reserve unmet.
The 968 is effectively the final fling of the venerable 944 line, featuring an updated front and rear end that helped the car slot in with the styling of the day. It seemingly paid a stronger tribute to the 928 than the 911, which is fitting considering both cars opt for the big front-mounted, water-cooled engine recipe versus the air-cooled rear configuration. Unlike the 944, the 968 was never offered in turbocharged form, but the 3.0L inline-four was practically massive for a car with less than six cylinders. This one appears to be in mostly stock condition save for some painted factory alloys.
Whether this is an underrated Porsche or an overpriced car that will never be a true collector’s item is the debate in front of us. If you believe Porsches should only come equipped with an air-cooled flat-six, then a 968 will never strike you as a model with much potential. After all, the 944 and 924 haven’t exactly become major collectibles and the 928 is available as a cheap, neglected project by the dozens on your local Facebook Marketplace page. The world doesn’t have a whole lot of love for Porsches that don’t fit a certain recipe, no matter how good the 968 is – and a lot of drivers agree that it’s actually a fantastic driver.
Given how pricey 911s have gotten, there has to be another Porsche in the family that’s worth owning. The 968 isn’t nearly as much of a pain to service and keep running for a reasonable annual budget as the 928 is, so it will avoid becoming a forgotten money pit. It’s a fairly simple platform without major maintenance needs beyond the must-do belt service every few years, and the seller claims to have documentation showing that this work was done in 2019. From what we’ve seen, decent 968s tend to reliably sell for $20,000, which is a far cry from the $60,000 entry price for a 911 that isn’t from the 996 generation. Do you think this front-engined, liquid-cooled 968 is a smart buy?
I prolly should change my handle to…Iconoclast. I have never understood the appeal of the typical rear-engine Porsche. If there was a way to adjust my search engines to remove them (“-Porsche”) I could be happy. Er.
OTOH I really enjoy the front-engine Porsches, esp the 944S or Turbo. Wifey likes the 928 (a bit complex for me, like I prefer the 840 to the 850). This one looks wonderful AND affordable with a LOUD pedal, a WHOA pedal, and a YAY pedal!
Fun cars with plenty of power.
The fact that this car’s owner apparently also owns a GT3 is a good sign that it has been properly cared for, or at least that they have the cash to properly care for a car.
dont know that, as I dont follow them. Several come in for servicing tho.
I like the cheep pocsches (928, 944, never heard of this 1) as to looks and
more conventional DL (also just cuz the ‘followers’ abandon them to more affordability for me). No room for ‘sports cars’ even of the ‘luxury’ makes/models here. That was for my younger daze. Hada few “executive car” while the kids were still @ home, the wife drove the utility (mommy bus). All pure utility these days, this is not one…
I owned a 1993 968 coupe – 6spd for a couple years. It was really “too good” if there is such a thing – too refined, too easy to drive, etc. As a daily driver, this would have been ideal, but as a weekend sports car (what I wanted), I found it boring/uninspiring. I tried some things to change that – tuning, exhaust, suspension work, etc. but it never could get it to scratch the itch. It reminded me a 90s/early 2000s Japanese car re: its characteristics. I replaced it with a 78 SC. Itch scratched – every time.