Celebrity 968s
Whenever a production car has its run of being new it draws the attention of high profile individuals who are willing to pay the premium for having the latest offerings in the automotive world. Things were no different for the 968 during the early nineties and a few of the cars were fortunate enough to acquire that extra celebrity affiliation. I once had the opportunity to purchase a rare 1994 Amaranth violet (purple) 968 cab. This car was originally purchased, driven, and written about by the late David E. Davis of Car& Driver/Automotive magazine fame. A few months ago a rather ordinary red 968 coupe was listed on eBay while noting that the original owner was none other than baseball great Wade Boggs. But of all the 968s that reached some form of notoriety none is more famous then the “pink” 968 movie car.
This unusual 968 cab was featured in two 1994 movies. It had a couple of brief appearances in “Beverly Hills cop 3” being driven by Eddie Murphy and had an even larger role in “The Specialist” being the driven by James Woods with Sharon Stone in the passenger’s seat. Now, both of these movies aren’t very good and if not for the 968 I wouldn’t even be writing about them but when it came time to pick a special new car offering of the day for some on screen action someone chose the 968 cab in this most visible of hues. I wondered to myself what happened to the car?
Armed with a DVRed copy of “The Specialist” and “Beverly Hills Cop 3” I watched the scenes that featured the car with the intention of identifying and locating it. Being the “968 production data focused” guy that I am I already knew the color. The car was painted in the very striking optional and rare 1993-only A7-Raspberry. That fact helped narrow my search down considerably as only six 968 cabs were painted in that color. Watching the movies also told me a few other things: 1) The car had 17” Cup1 wheels, 2) the top was classic grey in color (see the grey boot) and so was the interior, 3) the car was a tiptronic (there is a scene in The Specialist where you can see the shifter). Looking at my database I could see that only 1 of the 6 A7 cabs met those specifications so I had the car and the VIN identified.
Next up was a Carfax which showed the first owner took delivery of the car with 16K miles on it which also supported the car’s early life use by Hollywood. CarFax also told me this car had been in the hands of only a couple of owners but it had been driven. It had visited the dealer often and had accumulated over 160K miles by 2013.
I proceeded to make a call to the dealer in North Carolina to see if they knew the car and to see if I could leave my contact information for the owner. Sure enough, they did know it (how could you not notice the pink 968 cab) and went on to tell me the owner had the car for sale! Now, I don’t need any more 968s, I already have the two, but I wanted to find the car and make sure the owner knew how special this car was and that it didn’t get lost. The dealer provided me the contact information and I placed a few calls and finally got in touch with Lori, the owner. I explained to her who I was and how I got her number and she was more than happy to tell me about the pink 968. First off she asked, did I know the car was in the movie “Beverly Hills Cop 3”? Secondly, she informed me she just sold the car and she gave it away! (low price).
We went on to have a nice conversation about the car and her experiences with it. The second owner purchased and traded it in back at the same Porsche dealer that she purchased it at so she was the third owner and knew of its celebrity status right from the start. She said the new owner was happy with it but forwarded my contact information in case the car was to come up for sale again.
So, will this be a future, high dollar Porsche collectable because of its history? Probably not. The movies are largely forgotten at this point, they weren’t car movies, and the car played a very small role. That said, for the 968 community this car will always be the Hollywood A-lister so if you are ever in Louisville NC and you get passed by a pink 968 cab make note of the fact that you just experienced a “Hollywood 968 sighting” and can you get me a photo???!!!
Below is a photo of another Raspberry 968 cab.
Car show season is upon us.
That’s right, spring is here along with the opportunity to show off that great looking 968 of yours. The PCA Hershey swap is now behind us. It was a sunny but cool day and approximately 20 968s where in attendance, most of them white in color. J
Next up:
2013 PCA Zone 1 Concours
Held in Portsmouth New Hampshere this year on the weekend of May 18th. We are looking to have a small collection of speed yellow 968s attend as 2 of them live nearby and I’ll be there as well for a total of at least 3. Portsmouth is a seaport town just north of Boston MA and should be a beautiful location.
The link below will give you more details:
2013 PCA Parade
Held in Traverse City MI during the last week of June. This should be quite the event with many activities planned and a great drive.
If you are planning on attending any of the above let me know and we can arrange to meet. As always, if you are interested in promoting an event or an activity within an event just let me know and I’ll be sure to pass the word to the other 968 register members.
Enjoy the nice weather and your 968!!!
Sincerely,
Jeff Coe
PCA 968 Register advocate
