Rarity gets thrown around a lot in the Porsche world. Almost every listing has a production figure attached somewhere, and some of those figures deserve a raised eyebrow. What we look for at Elferspot is the car where the rare part genuinely matters, where it changes how the car looks, drives or feels to own, and where the paperwork backs it up.
This week's three all clear that bar, just from very different directions. One is a 997 you'll spot from the far end of a parking lot. Another is a 993 most people would walk straight past. The third is a RUF so thoroughly personal that you'll either love it on sight or need a minute to work out what you're looking at.
2011 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS in Paint to Sample Riviera Blue
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Riviera Blue is what stops you. According to the seller, only five 997 Carrera GTS Coupés were painted in this Paint to Sample color worldwide, and this German-market example still wears its original finish, with an accident-free history and maintenance kept entirely within the Porsche service network. Automotive Passion GmbH in Appen, Germany, is offering it with 121,174 kilometers on the clock, which we'd count in its favor. A PTS GTS that has actually been driven is far easier to enjoy than one that has spent its life as a delivery-mile ornament.
The spec behind the paint holds up, too. Porsche introduced the Carrera GTS in 2010 as the bridge between the Carrera S and the GT3, giving it the wider body, center-lock wheels and a naturally aspirated 3.8-liter flat-six rated at 408 PS. This one has the dynamic options you'd hope for, with RS Spyder wheels, Sport Chrono Package Plus, the sports exhaust, PASM and a mechanical limited-slip differential all ticked, while the cabin pairs black full leather with an Alcantara headliner and Porsche Exclusive touches like stainless-steel door sills and embossed crests on the headrests. The caveat is the gearbox. It's PDK, and a good share of 997 buyers will only look at a six-speed manual. If you're not one of them, this is one of the most desirable naturally aspirated Carreras of the generation in a color you'll almost never see twice.
1995 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 With the Factory X51 3.8-liter Engine
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Black, narrow-bodied, no wing. Park this 993 Carrera 2 at any Porsche meet and most people would stroll right past it, which is exactly what makes it fun. Porsche fitted it from new with the X51 factory Motorsport engine package, taking displacement from 3.6 to 3.8 liters and output to 285 PS while keeping the early non-Varioram architecture. The seller, Popea Auto Collec in France, estimates that roughly 80 Carrera 2 X51 cars were built. Treat that number as theirs, but it goes a long way toward explaining why you so rarely see one come up for sale.
The rest of the option sheet is unusually serious for a standard-bodied Carrera. Alongside the X51 you get the 033 sports suspension, option 220's 40 percent limited-slip differential, the six-speed G50/21 gearbox and 17-inch Cup wheels, and code 09991 points to Porsche Exclusive involvement. Air conditioning, heated seats and an electric sunroof suggest the first owner wanted the engine without giving up any comfort, which we find oddly charming. Now the honest part. At 209,500 kilometers this car has been used properly, the seller openly acknowledges age-related imperfections in the body, and the chassis now runs Bilstein B16 suspension with reinforced H&R anti-roll bars, a change that will please a driver more than an originality purist. What steadies the picture is the file: a service booklet, invoices from Porsche Centers and recognized specialists, and a recent round of work covering the clutch, brakes at both ends, rear tires, the air-conditioning condenser, plugs and fluids. Just under EUR 100,000 for a matching-numbers X51 manual with that kind of history is hard to argue with.
2002 RUF 3400S in Light Purple Opal and Amparo Blue
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Then there's this. The paint on this RUF 3400S starts in Light Purple Opal at the nose and gradually becomes Amparo Blue Metallic toward the tail, and the idea doesn't stop at the bodywork. The convertible top is purple. The cabin mixes blue leather and Alcantara, the 996 GT3 bucket seat backs are finished in Amparo Blue Metallic, and even the brake calipers follow the progression, purple up front and blue at the rear. According to the listing, the first owner was close to the RUF family and chose the colors as a tribute to her own hair. You can think whatever you like about the result, but nobody can say it was done halfway.
Under all that is a proper RUF. The 3400S started from the Boxster concept and moved well beyond it, with a 3.4-liter 996-derived flat-six tuned to around 305 PS, a six-speed manual, upgraded suspension and a dual exhaust. This car adds RUF mirrors, side skirts, 19-inch RUF wheels, a removable rear wing and a 996 GT3 front bumper, and it carries a genuine RUF chassis number, which is the first thing any collector should check. The seller states only twelve 3400S examples were built. It has covered 75,700 miles with three owners, and it comes with invoices, manuals, spare keys and a service record spanning RUF Automobile, Porsche Centers and specialists in the UK, Germany and South Africa, plus a full restoration by Black Falcon in Meuspath between 2015 and 2019 that cost more than EUR 25,000. The obvious caveat is that a specification this personal narrows the pool of buyers to people who truly love it. For the right person, that's the whole point.
