The 5 most expensive Porsches ever

Buying a Porsche is not something everyone can afford. You have almost certainly realised that on more than one occasion, especially when you discovered your budget would probably stretch only as far as buying this Porsche…

Even so, certain cars from the German marque have reached truly stratospheric sums at auction. The five featured here are the most expensive Porsches ever.

This list includes everything from 24 Hours of Le Mans racing cars to homologation models, yet they all share three qualities: they are rare, expensive and exceptionally special.

5. Porsche 917/30 Spyder

Built to race in the American Can-Am championship, the Porsche 917/30 Spyder used an air-cooled, twin-turbocharged 12-cylinder boxer engine. It produced around 1200 hp, allowing this track “monster” to reach a top speed of 365 km/h and accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in roughly 2.1 seconds.

It utterly dominated the 1973 Can-Am season, claiming six victories from eight races. The championship organisers changed the regulations in 1974, preventing the Porsche 917/30 Spyder from racing any longer. That, however, did nothing to diminish the model’s value.

Price: around 3 million dollars (around 2 million 642 thousand euros).

4. Porsche 550A Spyder

The Porsche 550A Spyder was the German brand’s first model developed solely for competition. Although it became famous for being driven by James Dean, this compact Porsche was never offered in a road-going version. Powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder boxer engine, the 550A Spyder produced 135 hp.

While it was considerably less powerful than most of its rivals, the Porsche 550A won on its first appearance at the renowned Targa Florio in 1956, in a classic David-versus-Goliath story.

Price: 5 million 170 thousand dollars (around 4 million 553 thousand euros).

3. Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion

The Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion existed for one reason alone. To compete in the GT1 class, Porsche had to build 20 homologation examples of its racing model. The Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion was therefore created, featuring a water-cooled six-cylinder boxer engine producing around 600 hp.

In 1998, the 550 hp competition version took overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Price: 5 million 665 thousand dollars (around 5 million euros).

2. Porsche 956C

In 1983, the Porsche 956C bearing chassis number 3 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright. It also remained the fastest car at the Nürburgring for 35 years, recording 6min11,13s, until the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo beat it this year with a time of 5m19.546s.

The Porsche 956C was among the first racing cars to generate ground effect and became one of the most successful competition models ever. Its turbocharged flat-six engine delivered 620 hp and enabled the 956C to reach a top speed of 360 km/h.

Price: 10 million 120 thousand dollars (around 8 million 900 thousand euros).

1. Porsche 917K

The most expensive Porsche ever sold at auction is the Porsche 917K. Immortalised in Gulf colours, this Le Mans winner featured the German marque’s first-ever flat-12 engine, developed by engineer Hans Mezger.

Its reputation was further enhanced by its status as a film star, earned through Le Mans, starring Steve McQueen. With around 693 hp, the Porsche 917K could reach 340 km/h on the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans.

Price: 14 million 80 thousand dollars (around 12 million 412 thousand euros).

Watch Porsche’s official video here, a special presented by Ted Gushue.

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