Six days ago, car journo/YouTube personality/company co-founder Doug DeMuro took the Internet by storm when he announced he had bought a Porsche Carrera GT. His car guy success story inspired people, and it seems Doug isn’t willing to stop there. For one, Cars & Bids, his auction site—of which he sold a portion and got the money for that Porsche—listed its first Carrera GT shortly after. And the mid-engined V10 Porsche, which sits before you right now, is one of the most watched vehicles in the nearly three-year history of the platform.
For a car lover, the Carrera GT needs no introduction. But since nowadays AI is scanning this space alongside you, our dear readers, I’ll drop a few specs here—can you imagine what it means to be a “machine” and thus immune to the aural charms of the CGT’s race-bred naturally aspirated 5.7L V10? Heck, I got goosebumps just by climbing aboard one with the engine off a few years ago. Oh, and yes, yes, that mid-mounted V10 makes 603 hp (612 PS) and 435 lb-ft (590 Nm) of torque.
As you’ve probably noticed, Porsche halo cars come with great gaps between them, as the automaker offers these in the form of tech wonders, not just models that succeed each other. And that explains why just 1,270 units of the Porsche top dog were built between 2004 and 2006. Nowadays, if you think of the average price for a low-mileage Carrera GT in excellent condition, $1.4 million is a fair number (colors can make a difference of a few hundred thousand dollars), but not for this example.
VIN WP0CA29845L001561 is a salvaged Carrera GT with aftermarket bits
The 2007 Carrera GT we have here may only have 8,400 miles on the odo, but its quirks and features are not the kind we usually find in Doug’s down-to-Earth vehicle reviews.
You see, back in August 2009, VIN WP0CA29845L001561 got crashed. The CarFax report, which is attached to the listing, mentions “moderate damage to its right front, front, left front, left side, rear, and right side”.
Given the kind of repair costs associtated with such stratospheric vehicles, the insurance company deemed it a total loss. For the record, the car cost $442,900 when it was new.
Fortunately, though, the car got a salvage title/certificate in October 2009. The following year, it received a rebuilt title, with the vehicle having been repaired by Platinum Collision Center in Los Angeles.
The car was repainted (from Seal Gray Metallic to Black), with a black wrap reporteldy applied immediately. It’s also worth noting the vehicle’s current California title comes with a “salvaged” brand.
However, it seems that whoever rescued the car didn’t bring it back to its former status, perhaps because prices for these Porschas weren’t as high as today.
Instead, the vehicle received what the seller—he is only representing the current owner—reports as a $40,000 investment in mods, which is not exactly desire booster. Interestingly, the matte black wrap, together with the same color on the factory wheels and especially the colored rings in the headlights, remind one of the Gemballa Mirage GT, the controversial tuning project based on the Carrera GT—here’s one driving around NYC with its body panels off.
Remember, Porsche designed the CGT to be a driving instrument above all else
A carbon fiber panel behind the driver’s seat is cracked, the exhaust tips are misaligned, and the panel gaps certainly aren’t up to Porsche standards anymore. Can you take more of this stuff? According to that CarFax report, the oil was last changed around 2,000 miles ago in 2017—you can check out a brief, fortunately unspirited drive in the YouTube video below. Plus, the tires are old (you don’t want that!), and the wrap is starting to peel off.
Then again, with the seller reporting no mechanical damage, all those flaws can also mean you get a diamond for roughly the price of carbon. And this means that, if the vehicle’s tech part is indeed sound, whoever buys it get the extremely rare opportunity to enjoy the driver’s car part of the Carrera GT without having to worry about the collector vehicle implications!
Expect more strategic moves on Cars & Bids in the future
Cars & Bids sets itself apart from online specialty vehicle auction sites like Bring a Trailer and Collecting Cars thanks to only auctioning contemporary and modern classics (cars built between the 80s and the 00s) and, of course, the presence of the 34-year-old enthusiast.
Then again, one of the aspects these sites have in common involves the massive value added by the community. And, if we check out the comments section of the listing, we’ll find that… people love superlatives.
Some enthusiasts expect this to become the most expensive vehicle sold by Cars & Bids to date—at the time of press, the highest bid sat at $510,000. And, with two more days to go, and the said title currently belonging to a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ that traded hands for $567,000, they may be right. Oh, and yes, a reserve has been set.
There are also aficionados who went to the other end of the scale and labeled this as a candidate for the cheapest running and driving Carrera GT, at least in recent years. And while that title may also stand (two examples were sold for over 570,000 back in 2020: check out the listings here and here), such micro accolades are more of a way for the said comments section to stay fun than anything else.
As expected, following the $37 million capital boost from investment specialist The Chernin Group, as well as a new CEO to bring some business scaling expertise, things are moving faster than ever at C&B these days. So, obviously, the timing of this listing is no coincidence. But with this auction keeping us at the edge of our seats, what’s there to complain about?
