It’s Only A Matter Of Time Before The Coolest Porsche SUV Becomes A Full-Blown Collector Car

Every once in a while, I see a post online asking the public which car is set to jump in value in the near future as it ascends to true collector status. The Lotus Elise? Maybe. The first-generation Miata? Sure, that makes sense. But neither of those cars is the first that comes to mind. Any time someone asks me about this, my answer is always the same: The first-generation Porsche Cayenne GTS. Specifically, those optioned with the six-speed manual transmission.

A late 2000s SUV might sound like a strange choice, seeing as how most collectors don’t really give a damn about cars that aren’t low-slung, low-production, sporty, analog machines. But the truth is, the manual Cayenne GTS ticks a majority of those boxes, plus, it’s a Porsche, which means there’s no shortage of people obsessed with the brand who have enough money to blow on an oddball SUV to add to their collection.

Weirdly, though, despite the rarity of these stick-shift, V8-powered SUVs, they haven’t exploded in value like I expected they would. Used examples have certainly climbed in price since they bottomed out a few years back, but no manual first-gen Cayenne has broken the six-figure barrier at auction … not yet, anyway.

Any Day Now

I predict it’s only a matter of time before that happens. To understand why, all you have to do is look at recent market trends. If you were anywhere near car internet back in December, you’ll remember that a V6-powered Cayenne—a later 958-generation car with no sporting intentions—sold for a whopping $125,000 on Cars & Bids.

As my colleague Thomas pointed out in the wake of that sale, a base Cayenne selling for over six figures—more than any manual GTS has sold for at public auction—is sort of strange. Before that sale occurred, most similar examples sold in the $30,000 to $40,000 range. The most expensive GTS the market has seen is this grey example with 30,000 miles, which sold on Bring a Trailer for $91,000 back in 2021. Usually, examples with reasonable mileage never crack the $70,000 barrier. A Cayenne S Transsyberia with a six-speed, of which only three exist, sold for $70,500 back in 2023.

Some will say that Cars & Bids’ sale was a fluke, but I think it points to where the market is eventually heading. As younger people get richer, the taste in the collector market shifts. While the manual Cayenne probably wasn’t on anyone’s bedroom wall, it’s still weird and interesting enough to be aspirational. And the people who were growing up when it was new certainly understand that, and want it for themselves. The GTS model, in particular, checks a couple of boxes that few cars can: It’s an SUV with three pedals, which is rare enough on its own. But it also has a 405-horsepower V8, which makes it exciting. Porsche’s decision to restore one through its factory “Sonderwunsch” program last year is proof that these things have staying power.

The final piece of the puzzle is, of course, rarity. I’ve asked Porsche about manual GTS production numbers in the past, and it couldn’t give me a definitive answer. But the number is somewhere between 134 and around 300 examples, depending on who you ask. That means these things are incredibly hard to come by. And because many of them were used as daily driver workhorses, finding one with low miles is especially difficult. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before a minty, ultra-low-mile example appears on Bring a Trailer and breaks all the records.

A Collector Car You Or I Could Own

If you don’t care about mileage, a manual Cayenne GTS could be a unique way to break into the collector Porsche market at a reasonable price. Because of their rarity, these trucks only occasionally pop up for sale—you’d be hard-pressed to find more than two or three for sale in the U.S. at any given time. While examples with low miles usually only appear at fancy dealers or auction sites these days, high-mile versions still pop up on Facebook and Craigslist from time to time.

The car you see here is one such example. I found it this morning while browsing Facebook, showing over 217,000 miles on the odometer. With an asking price of just $18,957, it’s far cheaper than any of the other results I’ve mentioned so far, and even comes in the car’s GTS Red launch color.

This GTS isn’t perfect, of course. All those miles mean there’s a bunch of stuff that needs replacing, including the windshield, the center support bearing, and the driver’s side fender (due to rust, according to the seller). It also has a check engine light and needs some suspension work, going by the listing.

At this mileage, it probably won’t gain much value as time goes on, but still, for a car I believe won’t lose any value, it’s a solid buy. And because the miles are already so high, you don’t have to worry about adding any more. For a daily driver you can actually use to haul cargo or people, you can’t do much better than something with a manual and a V8.

I think I’m right here, but maybe I’m totally off. If I were a rich Porsche collector, I’d definitely have one of these in my airport hangar. What do you think? Will the Cayenne GTS be the next hottest thing at this year’s PCA club meetup? Or is there something else that’s taking off in value that I’m not aware of? Let me know in the comments.

Top graphic image: Facebook

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