When thinking of the type of storage dream cars like the Porsche 918 Spyder often enjoy, one would imagine an environment cleaner than a surgery room. However, that’s not always the case. And, as this hypercar shows, leaving the vehicle unwashed in such a garage for a full seven years will do the machine no good.
When Porsche released the production form of the 918 Spyder almost a decade ago, this swept the world off its feet as the most electron juice-sipping of the Holy Trinity of hybrid hypercars that also involved the Ferrari LaFerrari and the McLaren P1.
The 887 horsepower gas-electric beast, which features an N/A V8, came with everything you’d expect from a Zuffenhausen halo car and more, from a Nurburgring record to a production limited to 918 units, of which around 300 came to America.
Given the $845,000 MSRP of the machine, which would climb towards the sky when options were inevitably applied, many owners kept the odometer reading light to preserve their investment.
This is one of the world’s lowest-mileage 918 Spyders
However, this example, which reached its home in 2015, got the hard garage queen treatment. The vehicle only has 162 miles (260 km) on the clock and was was never washed or maybe received a single bath over the past seven years.
Alas, as many of us have found out the unpleasant way, many storage areas have a nasty habit of leaking hard water (think: minerals), with traces of this being all over the car.
Now, the dealer that’s currently finding a second owner for the 918 Spyder, knew just the person who could make the German machine shiny again. That would be social media-famous New York detailer Lawrence Paul Kosilla III (aka Ammo NYC).
The man was called in to give the Porsha some TLC. And, due to the said issue, a simple wash wouldn’t do the job, so the had to polish the vehicle—subsequently, you’ll notice the paint, wheels and tires, as well as the carbon surfaces getting dedicated coating.
Speaking of the wheels, these showed signs of old glue (possibly from the original stickers), which obviously had to be removed as gently as possible. Luckily, the cabin was in much better shape, as dust and some fingerprints were the only ones getting in the way of this mighty machine enjoying the condition it deserves.
A Porsche Carrera GT was also in need to attention
Together with a collaborator, Kosilla did this as a one-day job with a surprise. To be more precise, the Carrera GT sitting next to the 918 Spyder in the dealer required a similar treatment.
However, the V10 toy also showed tire blooming. As the detailer explains in the video below, this discoloration is owed to factory tire additives such as antioxidants and antiozonants losing their quality over time.
And while this form of ruber degradation is inevitable for old tires, in the case of cars like these Porsches it’s most likely owed to the vehicles not being driven for long periods of time—the 918 Spyder had even received a new set of tires due to this problem.
They did it all inside the dealer, only taking the 918 out for a quick visual check under the sun. As the detailer points out, this makes for an uber-rare occasion. And since he mentions the words “poster car”, a label that’s obviously fit for both hypercars, please notice that their ancestor, the 959 of the 1980s, is showcased on the wall for a more complete Porsche halo car scenery.
Even without the Weissach Package that brought extra downforce, carbon and Alcantara and made for a $84,000 option back in the day, this Porsche’s mileage means it could sell north of $1.5 million. For the record, both the 918 Spyder and the Carrera GT can trade hands for around $2 million in the current sky-high market.
And with the cleaning expert, who happens to be a Porsche driver himself, treating the paint like it was his own skin, the Porsches seem to be just fine. But please, people, take better care of your rides, even if they’re not all hypercars.
