Will the 2012 Cayman R become the "new" Ferrari 246

It just hit me that the Dino 246 was unloved for decades, now you can't touch one for less than $375,000. It's not a V8 is what we were told in 1974 when we paid $18,504 for one in Atlanta. Not a real Ferrari. Now if you have one, man you are ahead of the game and welcome everywhere. I just wonder if the Cayman R people will all of a sudden realize the experience you get with the R is just enough to make you realize that out of the box it was an amazing car. I hear people lately saying I going to go back and pick up the cayman R. Even saw an article as why they thought the Cayman R was the best Porsche in the past 10 years. Now that caught my interest. Porsche has done some amazing stuff in 10 years. What does everyone think.......

I liked the 246 from the jump, it doesn't surprise me at all that it gained a following as IMO it's one of the prettiest Pininfarina bodies ever rendered. Frankly, (and this is just my opinion) I think the Cayman R and Spyder variant make a better case for being unique than the new anniversary addition Boxster . The R and Spyder weren't about "special color toned accents and number plates", in the case of the Spyder (and I think the R too) the articles I saved say they had technology born in the GT3 department and not just CF buckets. Both 987.2 have: the last hydraulic steering, no start stop technology, a real handbrake that doesn't suck and no silly dash silhouette of the body in the gauge cluster which I dislike. As for the Spyder , the lightest production Porsche in decades and until batteries are small and light that's a benchmark to last a while. So yes, I think they will rise in value but even if they didn't that wouldn't bother me because it's my last sports car and whatever it's worth when I can't use it anymore will be.

No. The 246 is one of the most beautiful cars ever penned and it was its own design. The Cayman R is a variant of another car not its own car. The 246 has was touched by the Ferraris, the R, not by the Porsche family. The R is not unappreciated and put down like the Dino was. The R is respected as a special car. I applaud you for seeing what the dumbass masses did not in 1974 because it is a masterpiece in automotive body design and you saw it, but the comparison to the R is so far, that it crosses the threshold into a simple, NO. I have actually told the the story a few times about the 246. When I was young, I saw a book on Ferraris and with Magnum PI, loved the 308 until I saw the Dino 246 in pictures. As a young boy with no automotive prejudice or any bias, I just thought it has the most beautiful lines I had ever seen. I heard there was Ferrari meet and I asked my mom to drop me off. I walked around looking for a 246 but didn't see any. I finally found a 308 and as a fan, I started to check it out. The owner, nice enough to a kid starts telling me about it and I told him this is one of my favorite Ferraris. He asked, what other Ferraris do you like. I said, my Favorite is the Dino.. the 246. His whole demeanor changed and somewhat sternly he says, you know, that is NOT a REAL Ferrari. Since I was just a kid and he was an older person that actually owned a Ferrari, I shut up and left truly heartbroken because I thought Ferrari was the guy that designed it. I let it go and got married, got old and fat and bought many cars along the way. Then one day my friend says, let's go to a car auction in LA, I want to bid on a Thunderbird. So off we spent the entire day and across the auction block comes an almost perfect Ferrari 308 and it sold for about $40K, then a Red Dino 246 goes by and I had no idea of values at the time and it goes for over $320K. I remember having the biggest grin and my friend turned to me and said, why so happy and I told him, man I would give anything to find that Ferrari guy and remind him how much his REAL Ferrari was selling for compared to the Dino. As a boy I was not into the snobbery of V8s, V12, Ferrari, Porsche, whatever, I just saw a car as something beautiful that inspires me or not, and in the end, I feel like the little kid was right all along. : ) So my sincere admiration for recognizing the artistry in 1974, but no, the R is not that car.

For those of us in the know (former Motor Trend Road Test Editor) the Cayman R has always been a special car and garners big bucks even now so people already realize its value. It will only increase in the future. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Agreed Neil. I also believe that the driving experience of the R and Spyder at 987.2 prices represents a very compelling bargain when contrasted against new equivalents with similar options. A stellar used example could get a new engine one day and still be less than current costs.

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Just for extra perspective a 1974 Fiat 124 Spider was roughly $3,200. Also, in 1980 I was working in medical imaging making $10,500 gross pay so $18k was not in most people's budget, at least in my town.

If you put $18,504 in the Dow Jones in 1974, you would have $919,029 at the end of 2020, and probably over a million dollars today. If you bought and kept one you would not be ahead of the game, you would $600K behind the game. Even very special cars are bad investments. Mass market cars (and the Cayman R is mass market, relatively) are awful investments and should not be viewed as such.

Funny, in 2011 I was finally able and ready to buy my first BMW M car after lusting over them for 20 years. While the E90 M3 had the V8 and all the pedigree of a "real" M car, it had gotten so big and heavy and tech-laden but BMW also brought out the smaller, lighter BMW 1M Coupe and it was like the Dino all over again. The 1M is not a real M car, it has a pedestrian motor, only a mother could like the looks. It was savaged by the current generation of M snobs that were now more about a luxury car you can take to the track vs what the M3 was originally, a race car you can drive your kids to school in. After more than two decades of wanting an M3, I felt drawn to the smaller lighter 1M but it was brutal with all the negativity around it. One of the first reviews that came was Car and Driver written by Daniel Pund. I was so desperately flummoxed by the whole thing that I sent him an email because they compared it against other cars not the M3. I told him my situation and asked him, you've driven both, which one? He replied by email the next day!!! I was shocked and he said. Get the 1M, you won't regret it. I did and the rest is history. While the motor in the e90 M3 is a work of ///M art, the 1M is one of the coolest modern BMWs made. Yes, I know motor trend was the only of the Big magazines that preferred the e90 M3 over the 1M, but still, I just wanted to say how much I have appreciated great automotive writers over the years. I remember locking myself up in the bathroom for hours with my Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Road and Track and Autoweek since that was the only place my mom would leave me alone. : ) I still have toilet seat burns years later. : ) Thank you.

PS Just in case you didn't know, Fiat helped Ferrari in homologation for racing, behold the same engine hiding in Fiat trim. https://www.snapfish.com/share?via=link&token=ftRAo_P1n9y_jFIhgPbKiQ/AUS/27952325178070/SNAPFISH

I know. I never bought a car as an investment. I can't afford to play the spread. You have to already have big money. That is the reason we always drove all our cars. I had 49,000 miles on my Ferrari 550 and 23,000 on my 458. They are just cars, gas pedal and brakes and repair bills etc. But.... i don't mind owing a car that treads water or breaks even a few years down the road. But I have yet to own one of those except for the 550.

I agree with Mr. Montoya. I owned a Searay Sundancer, the experiences were worth the cost. When I was still young enough to go to Club Med I was fortunate to have a career that could accommodate that whim and I made over one hundred dives there and elsewhere. Life experiences are often time sensitive, I used to have an annual ski pass at one point too.

Trying to stay on topic, I see how the R (or Spyder ) is the most visceral experience for the money, stock. Many journalists while comparing different Porsches, when having R in the lineup - admit that it's the archetypal sports car. This is not something that you can improve with safety features, lowering emissions and adding electronics. Just become a curator of the car and it will be some sort of investment. What kind of investment... I guess in half a century this will be a true cherry, and a bit like the 356. Pinky Lai, 987ns designer said recently - if you own the 987 - keep it. Nothing like this is coming around in the future. And as others pointed out, probably financially a better investment is Dow Jones. But if you are like me and like to ponder your existence while circling around a car that you know is an achievement of motor design, this is where the money is.

While stocks are a great investment you can't drive them around, enjoy them the same way or get that ownership high that you get from owning something special and rare. It's not quite a fair comparison. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Exactly. And why oh why is this car so praised... The answer is simple - all other non-track Porsches are power pigs, highway haulers masking weight or rear weight bias. You don't have to throw this thing into a tight corner to appreciate it. This car is nimble and tapered. This is why it will always be the weapon of choice for people who want to get one with the road. You don't need rear wheel steering, massive tires and a complicated suspension. One of the journalists said that Caymans tiptoe. And what better tiptoeing than in the shortest and lightest Cayman out there.

In some ways, modern motoring reminds me of Skiing in the 90's. Oh I have Atomics, Well I have K2 well I only buy Rossignol. Cool, do you have any skills? Cause my pal over here on Olin Mk II, (skis so old at the time people were asking what they were) Will show you his derrière all the way down the mountain because he's a naturally gifted athlete.

Well, my uncle once told me he could have had Mae West's Duesenberg for $175.

Having owned both a 987.1 Base and S and now owning both a 981 Spyder and GT4 I have the say that the 987.2 R and Spyder are perhaps the pinnacle of the 'entry level Porsches'. While I love my Spyder , I miss chasing 911 's in the Base and surprising them at how I could catch them in the corners (and then watch them walk away in the straights). When I traded my base in for the Spyder the dealership sold the base on to another track rat. A year later when the wife traded her S in for the GT4 the S went to auction... crazy.

I drive the Base 987.1 often enough that I am sometimes just a little jaded by it. Not much, but a little. When I notice it happening I purposely stay away from it for a few days. In fact I recently did a long stint of 3000 miles in an ultramodern 2021 well equipped luxury sedan. (Company rental) You acclimate to whatever you sit in for 3000 miles straight. When I returned home and jumped in the Porsche , it was so raw. Almost crude, but in a good way. The opposite of being jaded, that's for sure.

My uneducated guess is probably not. I have never been a Ferrari fan. That's why I'm in this forum. I would certainly choose the Cayman R over any Ferrari as I like a car that can be driven daily and is still a lot of fun. That said, I had to Google the Dino to see what it looked like (like I said, uneducated) but that is one of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen. I expect the 2012 Cayman R, like my 2014 Cayman 981 Base, will certainly be treasured for decades to come but it's not a Dino 246. If anyone does figure out what the next one is though let me know cuz that would be a helluva investment.

I cringe when I hear people talk about cars as an investment. I get bitter when a model comes out like the R, GT4 or now the GT4 RS and they get snapped up by speculators instead of REAL drivers who actually want to DRIVE the car like it was meant to be. My 2006 Cayman S is my daily driver, I wouldn't say it's exotic, but I haven't seen another one on the road in months and months where I live. It's very unique with it's thick "hips" and scooped out rear deck. On the other hand, I am a little grateful some people never drive their car and after the hype has passed you can finally get one (for a price). For some people like me the Cayman R hits the "Goldilocks zone" in looks, price (sometimes), performance and driver engagement. I'm still keeping an eye out that lands in the "Goldilocks zone" in price and mileage, I still believe that unicorn is out there. Some of us remember how awesome the Cayman R is, and if you don't, check out this video of Randy Pobst all giddy and gushing about the Peridot Green 2011 Cayman R with the PDK while hot lapping it at Laguna Seca. BTW, Even back then (a decade ago!?) Randy noted that the gearing was a bit long and Porsche FINALLY addressed this issue with the 2022 718 Cayman RS. "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" ― Hunter S. Thompson, The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967 Cheers!

I don't buy any car for investment. It always goes south. I have 56,000 plus on my Cayman R, my Ferrari 550 had 49,000 fun miles, and me Bloody Ferrari 458 23,500 miles. If I can't drive it, I don't want it. The cayman R reminds me the fun I had 41 years ago in a new little car called the RX-7. Fun in the curves but no super video fast.

For me it was a Datsun 280Z. Cheers!

I completely understand Patek's sentiment. However, circumstances matter. When I put an Isky cam, big carburetor and more into my X1/9 the redline was surpassed EVERY DAY. Of course like a professional race driver, There were three engines in the shop rebuilt by my dad ready to go, so if it blew up there would be no crying, parts or labor charges. I drove it like I stole it before that was a phrase. However, now? I have never used launch control the next owner can try it. Never go above 4k rpms till warm, I treat the car with respect because the circus net under my high wire, was leveled for Burger King, my dad is long diseased and my funds to handle a serious repair are not without limits. Oh and the X/19? Sold it when I went back to college to the first guy who drove it. Bought a Malibu classic in old person powdered blue with 5,000 on it ridiculously cheap from an estate sale. I hated it but it never broke down, had amazing heat and I sold it later when I got my first company car for the same bank I paid. OH and PS (again) Sure Hunter, that's a great sentiment, don't leave anything on the table. Thing is, it's not dying that's hard, it's the several years that precede it that are sobering and if you are completely reckless those years are quite likely to suck more. All of us former medical workers know that.

What Inigo said in post #3. I own a Peridot CR and a Guards Red 1996 993. I've owned the CR since 2013 and the 993 since 1997. If I could only keep one, I would keep the CR, and that is taking nothing away from the 993. It took me a while to accept that fact without the bias of the 911 iconic status. I drive SE WI public roads for enjoyment. The market value of each car, in the current market, is probably more than what I paid for them. Yet, I consider neither of them an investment. The CR does not have the characteristics of the Dino, as Inigo explained.

Good point, I hadn't thought that many here wouldn't even know what the Dino 246 is. I usually like it in Yellow or Red but I found pics of a green one to match the green Cayman R. As I said the Cayman R is amazing but it's a derivative of a 987. The Dino is a whole new car on to itself and while the Cayman R is cool, for me it is not as timeless as the Dino in the body design. That's not Porsche 's fault. In the 60s and 70s cars were penned by artists and submitted whole, then they would make components fit. By the 2000s, cars are built with pre-set limitations like one piece pedestrian friendly bumpers, hood lines and in many cases design by focus groups not a single artist's vision.

Cromodora Magnesium (lightweight for the day) wheels on that Dino. Made their way onto some Fiat's too.

What sort of a comparison is that? Next month? We run a brand new Camry against a 356. The Fiero and the Dino are almost a ten year spread in production. My GF had a Fiero GT, never liked it. I had a 280ZX and although it was a heavy iteration of the Z I liked it better than the Pontiac. Reminds me of the "Conquest TSI can beat a 944" commercials, yeah OK I'll still take the Porsche

I'd take the Conquest TSi and yet I still own a 944. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Thought it would just be of interest and they were both the exact same year and the same specs but I guess you just had to say something negative.

I just looked you can have a TSI for less than a good used motorcycle if you want one. Dude wasn't trying to besmirch your post, sorry. It's just a lot of years difference. They should have run Magnum's 308 if they were feeling so confident, much closer in model year. I'm sure maybe Higgins would drive it to give them a chance.

If I could go back to my 1974 High School parking lot with my Ford F150 Powerboost pick up truck, I could smoke all them muscle cars and they wouldn't even hear my exhaust . Actually I can stop faster and out corner them too. But I'd rather show up in the little ND Miata . It'd be a hoot and still very few could hang trying to get their Era rubber to hook up while the Michelins do. Eras are more disparate than our nostalgia sometimes afford us. Having said all that, my oldest sister got married and moved out and her husband's next door neighbor had a Dino. It was the most beautiful car I had ever looked at and I stared at it plenty.