Cast your mind back to 2016 and the release of the 911 R, and you’ll understand why Porsche knew it had to do something different when it came to that car’s successor the 911 S/T. The 911 R had an MSRP of just under $190k but there were far more buyers than cars and some of the lucky souls who did manage to secure an order quickly flipped their cars for huge profits.
Porsche later made the conceptually similar 911 GT3 Touring a full production model, which helped put a pin in silly R values, but for the S/T it’s come up with another way of deterring greedy flippers. Instead of taking full ownership of the car at the point of delivery, which is estimated to be spring 2024, buyers will be forced to lease their 911 for the first 12 months.
Only after that first year has passed will they legally become the car’s owner and be able to sell it on if they wish. Hopefully, by that time the hype over the S/T will have subsided so cars won’t be changing hands for crazy money, and with a year to enjoy the car, maybe owners will decide they don’t want to sell at all.
“When the 911 S/T – marking 60 years of the 911 – was announced, we received unprecedented interest in the car, far outnumbering the number destined for the U.S.,” Porsche’s head of the 911 and 718 model lines, Frank Moser, told journalists, including reps from The Drive, at last weekend’s Rennsport Reunion.
Related: 2024 Porsche 911 S/T Has GT3 RS Engine, Manual Gearbox
“We want to ensure that cars are available to reach true enthusiasts, to be driven and enjoyed for years to come. For this reason, those allocated a 911 S/T in the U.S. will be required to adhere to an agreed minimum retention period, set at one year.”
Though Porsche’s cult appeal means its most desirable cars are regularly flipped for a profit, it’s not the only automaker struggling with greedy owners. Ford forced GT buyers to sign a contract stipulating they’d not sell their supercars for two years and Chevy recently told people holding Z06 orders that they’d void parts of the Corvette’s warranty if the car was flipped, and ban the flipper from buying future GM cars.
We understand that the S/T lease stipulation is specific to the U.S. market and the S/T only. Porsche in the UK tells us it has no plans to introduce a similar purchase system in the UK for its S/T buyers. Do you think Porsche North America is treating its owners unfairly? Let us know in the comments section.
Source: The Drive