‘Flat nose’ Porsche 911 breaks UK auction record at Salon Prive sale

A rare 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo SE ‘flat nose’ cabriolet broke UK auction records when it sold for £245,250 at the Salon Privé sale on 2 September.

The car, one of only ten made, went under the hammer at the Silverstone Auctions sale at Blenheim Palace. Finished in Minerva blue, the flat nose is hugely sought after by 930 enthusiasts. The previous record price, which stood at £211,500, was set by Silverstone Auctions in 2016.

Another UK auction record fell earlier in the afternoon when a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI ‘Tommi Makinen’ edition sold for £46,688 – beating its lower estimate of £34,000.

A 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray ‘Split Window’ Coupé also attracted a great deal of attention and sold for £102,938 - almost £23,000 clear of its lower estimate and another UK auction record. American car fans were also impressed by a multi-award winning 1969 Shelby GT500, which sold for £102,375.

Enthusiastic bidding for a 1974 Lamborghini Urraco P250 pushed its price £11,000 beyond its lower estimate to sell for £96,188.

Classic Porsches performed strongly in the wake of the record-breaking ‘flat nose’ with a 1962 Porsche 356B 1600S Coupé selling for £118,125 and a 1960 356B ‘Super 90’ Cabriolet sailing past its £160,000 lower estimate to achieve a final sale price of £191,250 after a two-way battle in the sale room.

One of the longest and most intense bidding battles was for a 1988 Porsche 911 (930) Turbo Targa, which eventually sold to an internet bidder for £93,375.

Silverstone Auctions achieved a total of £2.75 million in sales on the day, with 52 per cent of the cars on offer finding a new home. To view the full list of results from the Salon Privé sale, visit: silverstoneauctions.com.