There’s a Salvage Porsche Carrera GT on Copart, But Is It Still Worth the Price?
Damaged goods don’t necessarily mean a bargain.
A fistful of cash and a bit of mechanical knowledge can be your ticket to a deal at the repo or salvage auctions. Things get a little more complicated with supercars, though, as even what looks like modest damage can total a multi-million-dollar car. Still, someone out there may get the deal of a lifetime on Porsche's last analog halo car, the Carrera GT, by buying the broken one that just popped up on Copart.
Listed for sale in St. Louis, Missouri is a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT said to be in running and driving condition, with just 8,384 miles on its wailing 5.7-liter V10. Its reason for being there is to be found up front, where the bumper has been clobbered and the hood possibly pushed up. There's no immediately apparent damage beyond that, though whoever has had a closer look at it has issued it a Missouri Salvage Certificate of Title. That means it can't be registered in its current condition.
Supercars can indeed be totaled despite a lack of obvious damage, though there's a fair chance this Porsche can return to the road. For starters, unlike that Bugatti Chiron sold through Copart about a month ago, which was titled in such a way that it couldn't be driven on the road again, there are provisions to allow for Missouri Salvage Certificate cars to be driven on the road again. They need to be properly repaired, and then pass a specific inspection for a DOR-551 certificate.
Attaining said cert may be possible, as this Carrera GT doesn't look to have taken all that big an impact, and its chassis has been proven capable of rolling away from a far more serious crash than this. What's more, fixing this Porsche may just be a matter of replacing damaged components, as a diagram of the car's front suspension shows it mounting directly to the carbon monocoque—no hard-to-find replacement subframe to hunt down here.
It's entirely possible there's underbody damage, or that the suspension has been wrenched from its mounting point. But if you have the money to compete with the current high bid of $362,000, you can afford to fly out to the car yourself and examine it before the auction wraps on Dec. 17. Caveat emptor, y'all.
Updated at 10 a.m. ET on 12/08/2021: A reader emailed me with a Rennlist forum link involving the supposed owner who claims the tub is cracked. That's a mighty expensive repair, indeed, and it was obviously enough for the insurance to total the car. Still, if you're brave enough, maybe it's still worth the price.
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