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Sales debate: How will the 991 R affect the GT3 RS 4.0 market?

With PDK gearboxes now mandatory in the latest GT-badged 911s, Porsche enthusiasts have had to turn to early variants to get their self-shifting thrills. This has had a knock-on effect on the market, with values of 997 GT cars rocketing.

The undisputed king of this rise has been the 997 GT3 RS 4.0, marketed by many specialists as the last manual performance 911. However, then Porsche decided to launch the 991 R, so has the RS 4.0 had its day?

“Unless you would like to sell your RS 4.0 to me right now,” jokes Paragon Sales Executive, Jason Shepherd, “I think that if you have one of these cars it may be best to sit tight for a little while.”

Shepherd doesn’t see any major movements in the RS 4.0 market in the immediate future and nor does JZM’s Sales Director, Russ Rosenthal, despite “the 991 R throwing a spanner into Porsche’s PDK-only product planning.”

Porsche at Knockhill race circuit. Photo: James Lipman / jameslipman.com

So why are they both so sure that the GT3 RS 4.0 won’t be affected by the latest (possibly greatest) manual Neunelfer? Shepherd puts it down to the number of people interested in the 911 market right now:

“I believe that there are still enough wealthy people in the world to support the value of both cars,” he explains. The Paragon man also identifies that both cars are “worlds apart”, and both Shepherd and Rosenthal point out that the 997 GT3 RS 4.0 will still be seen as the last in a legendary line of RSs.

As Rosenthal puts it, “an end-of-the-line moment that we will never see again, in a similar vein to how the low production 1974 3.0 RS was desirable in a different way to the 1973 Carrera 2.7 RS.”

991 R badge

JZM’s Sales Director also feels the premiums charged for GT3 RS 4.0s will be protected by the 991 R’s own entry into the used market, with “prices for good, left-hand drive 4.0s some way below where we expect the 991 R to debut,” according to Rosenthal.

Where does he feel that price will sit then? “Our current best guess is around the £350,000 mark to start and then settling slightly over time.” Shepherd is more cautious though, believing the R will hit the market “at £100,000 over list price.”

The Sales Executive at Paragon feels north of £200,000 will be the likely asking price “in the early days, assuming the numbers are as low in the UK as we are led to believe.”

It looks, therefore, that if you’re a GT3 RS 4.0 owner, you have nothing to fear from the 991 R. And, if you’re lucky enough to be on the list for the latter too, you will have a garage home to two of the best 911s around (and two of the safest investment-wise, too).

For market advice on any generation or style of Porsche 911, check out our full selection of sales debates, where we ask the 911 experts the pertinent market questions so you don’t have to.

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