While underground at the Wunderground mini-museum at Porsche Santa Clarita, I had a chance to visit the flagship Porsche Design store there too. Porsche Design is technically separate from Porsche itself, acting as specialist boutique brand. It sells various high-end accessories and random Porsche stuff and this model of a 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 race car which caught my eye.
Car(s): 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 scale model
Location: Porsche Santa Clarita, Santa Clarita, CA
Photog: Chris Rosales (Instagram: @chrishascamera, Twitter: @chrishasacamera)
Camera: Sony A7R II with Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L
Porsche Santa Clarita says its Porsche Design shop is even more stocked than the Porsche Experience Center’s in Los Angeles or the P-car dealer in Beverly Hills. So I guess it makes sense that it has toys listing for the same price as a nice used car. The list of Want But Cannot Afford begins at a barrel stool wrapped in the pink pig livery, a model of the Porsche GT3 Cup, and the list ends with this model of the ’98 911 GT1.
Once I heard that GT1 model was priced at $15,000, I didn’t bother to ask about the price on the others.
There will only be 50 models like this made, and this one’s signed by the Le Mans-winning drivers from 1998. The detail work beggars belief and my 42-megapixel Sony hardly does it justice. It’s the wildest model I’ve ever seen, and I wish I could put it on a plinth in my imaginary Los Angeles mid-century home. Being in its presence makes me feel wealthier.
My favorite fact about this model is that it may be one of the most valuable runny egg Porsches in existence, and will almost certainly appreciate beyond the price of your average 996 Carrera. Chew on that!
As big as we could get it:
