Forthcoming Amelia Island Sale presents rare air-cooled Porsches as event’s star attractions

Gooding & Company is returning to Florida with a powerful line-up of star cars set to wow at the auction firm’s twelfth annual Amelia Island sale, which takes place Friday 4th March. A 1959 718 RSK ranks high among the Porsches ready to go under the hammer, but there’s a fine selection of other special sports cars from Zuffenhausen due to make an appearance, including a 2005 Carrera GT and a 1993 964 Carrera RS 3.8. A 1998 RUF Turbo R Limited is also sure to generate interest at the event, scheduled a day ahead of the weekend’s Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

“Over the past decade, Gooding & Company has sold many significant Porsches at our Amelia Island Auction and we are excited to continue this tradition into 2022,” said Gooding & Company Senior Specialist, David Brynan. “This particular 718 RSK has been in single family ownership for decades,” he added, referring to chassis 718-018, purchased new by California privateer racer and Porsche-Volkswagen dealer, Emile Pardee, who campaigned the car successfully in various SCCA events. Demonstrating speed and ability, Pardee won his class in ten races with the car from 1959 to 1961, racking up three overall wins.

718-018 eventually made its way to the East Coast after being purchased by the consignor’s father from a physician in South Carolina back in 1970. The car remained in static storage until 2014, when it underwent a painstakingly complete, photo-documented restoration over the course of four years at the hands of Porsche four-cam specialist, Ray Morgan, head of Vintage Motorcar Restorations in Jasper, Georgia. The restoration was meticulous in its attention to detail, and the car was even painted in nitrocellulose lacquer, as originally presented by Porsche. Antique spray guns were used in the name of ultimate authenticity. The lower estimate is set at $2.5m, with the upper estimate a million more.

Porsche manufactured only fifty-five examples of the 964 Carrera RS 3.8. Of these, only eleven were Clubsports. This specification made these cars as close as a customer could get to buying a road-going 911 RSR 3.8. As the most highly optioned RS 3.8 assembled, the car set to stun at Amelia Island was a factory one-off built by special request for Tobias Hagenmeyer, CEO of transmission giant, Getrag. Presented in black with yellow accents, the air-cooled rarity features seven wholly unique characteristics not found on any other RS 3.8 and is offered with a well-documented history file, including factory notes confirming the special build details. As the lowest-mileage, most original 3.8 Clubsport extant, and arguably the finest RS of its kind, this 911 has never before been publicly exhibited or offered for sale, making the auction opportunity second to none. The iconic 964’s lower estimate is a cool $1.8m.

The same figure is applied the Carrera GT up for grabs. The sole US example finished in paint-to-sample Polar Silver, this Porsche is very highly optioned — Dark Grey leather and more than $27k in factory extras make for one of the most unique and highly optioned Carrera GTs ever offered for public sale, joining a slate of extremely desirable Porsches at the Gooding & Company auction, plus the aforementioned RUF Turbo R. Introduced in 2016, only seven examples of the 993-based Turbo R Limited were built, all in tribute to the original Turbo R, launched in 1998. The Limited makes use of the same twin-turbo 3.6-litre flat-six as the Turbo R, but with power increased to almost 620bhp and 553lb-ft torque. A true collector car. Visit goodingco.com for further details.