Last Air-Cooled Porsche 911 Is a Costly Toy: $625K for a One-Owner, Low-Mileage Turbo S

The U.S. was the biggest single market for Porsche in the late 90s. Hence, the large portion of the 1997-made Turbo S units allotted to the region makes perfect sense. To give you a reference point on how important America was for Porsche business, remember that the American love for SUVs ultimately convinced the company's white-collar board executives to put the Cayenne on the roads in the early 2000s.

It became an instant classic, a coveted collectible, a cherished car, and a good investment (for the gearheads that had both the money and passion for preserving it). How good exactly is debatable, and many variables need to be included in the complicated equation of the dollar-piston conversion rate.

But we can get a solid idea of what a great 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo S is all about from the current market prices for these precious crown jewels. One low-mileage, single-owner, spick-and-span example is valued at $624,900 today. That's a lot of money, considering the alternative list of brand-new automobiles that fall under that price threshold.

Even the "classics" options are limited: for cars with less than three decades on their nameplate, this Porsche is not at the bottom end of the menu. It doesn't have a unique history; it didn't give any royalty addictive bursts of gearbox-injected adrenaline; it has no individual or holy grail features.

It's just a limited-production series automobile, a milestone marking a turning point in the family tree of the German brand. However, it does come with radical performance – hats off to the wrench-turning no-nonsense engineers who gave us this marvel. Even by today's standards, the car deserves a red-carpet welcoming ceremony.

3.7 seconds for the 0-60 mph (97 kph), 188 mph (303 kph), all-wheel drive, precise handling (thanks to a vastly improved rear suspension that sorted out the lift-off oversteer), lightweight road manners, and luxurious interior.

424 hp (430 ps) and 423 lb-ft (574 Nm) torque, come from the 3.6-liter twin-turbocharged flat-six linked to a six-speed manual. The all-wheel-drive system – a premiere for the Turbo variants of the 911 – was transplanted from the 959 "wonder-Porsche" that preceded the 993 generation.

The 911 Turbo S of 1997 wasn't the mainstream high-performance, low/no-comfort sportscar that manufacturers usually put out at the feet of money-clad buyers. The Porsche had everything from heated seats to a CD Player, air-conditioning, rear wiper, headlamps washers, cruise control, and leather and carbon fiber interior. Extravagant customers could even order a fax machine - and Porsche would put it in!

At 34,782 miles (56,000 kilometers) of road experience, this Porsche barely stretched its legs during its 26-year ownership. The owner bought the car new in Greenwich (Connecticut, not the U.K.) and kept it to this day. The reason behind the sale is not disclosed, but it makes no difference – the vehicle has showroom-level good looks.

Black over black with subtle white and silver touches, this Porsche is the epitome of driving pleasure. No fighter-jet-style interior with buttons and commands, indicators and panels, no button-clad steering wheel, no computer-age references anywhere.

The 911 Turbo S – class of '97 – is the ultimate car for the ultimate drive. Three pedals (the correct amount for people who like to have unaltered, non-AI-induced four-wheeled fun), one round, flat, discrete steering wheel, a stick on the right, and a Porsche bloodline. An air-cooled engine that sounds like nothing else (the quad-pipe exhaust tune might have helped with the symphony), and that's it.

Simple, elegant analog dials (that means it has clock-like hands, as opposed to the digital panels of today) kept the driver informed on the essentials without unnecessary distractions. Still, the $625K price tag for this machine is right on that border where cars cease to be automobiles and morph into something else, never precisely defined by anyone.

It's not art, and it's not a long-term investment nor a spending-frenzy obsession. What exactly is it is tough to define, let alone explain in general-use vocabulary. But gearheads with transmission oil running through their arteries and solid-lifter hearts don't need explanations, reasons, or much talk.

A rare Porsche is not something to talk over, but to stand up, give the salute of honor, and acknowledge for what it is. Probably one of the last "modern classics," this Porsche symbolizes a generation of 911 models and the end of a cycle.

What followed in its tracks was already exhibiting the transition towards all-too-perfect driving devices, a precise array of ever-so-carefully machined parts governed by computerized algorithms and sophisticated software.

This air-cooled Porsche Turbo S is a soul in the body of a sportscar, bonding poetry of valves and mechanical preeminence. It is driving essence distilled to a solid state, grafted to a timeless shape, and offered – unaltered and pulsating – as a never-ending reminder of automotive majesty.