2016 Porsche Cayman GT4

Perhaps this is not the paint-to-sample version you find elsewhere in our inventory. But flashy loud colors are not for every Porschephile. This is a good old black-over-black coupe, the timeless mean looking, and stealthy-appearing classic color combination entertained by every single marque for decades, for its most stealthy clients. One of our best friends acquired this GT4 new from our local dealer. He added tasteful options enjoyed it for 5,000 miles in the three years since it arrived on his doorstep.

That’s conservative enjoyment. Almost pleasure denial! Hell, Cam has 25k miles on his. Can you hear us laughing out loud at his noble stoicism!?!?!

Let the debates begin!  With Porsche announcing specifications for the new GT4 earlier this week, and suggesting first deliveries are coming next spring, everyone will be talking about how this affects these first iteration versions. Honestly, we’ll leave all the banter to those who get caught up on the national blogs, international forums, and opinionated discussions at Porsche dealerships across the country.  Sure, with slight design modifications and 35 brake horsepower more, these new 4.0-liter GT4s will most certainly be popular and über cool. And with that comes a boastful (über) base price of nearly $100,000.00.

Hmm. Are they worth the extra bread at this moment? Hmm. Okay, maybe so. But we assure you that sitting yourself behind the wheel of any GT4 is a great place to be.  And (candidly, just between us kids, a GT4 in the garage is worth umpty-ump “cool points” you may attract sitting on the waiting list for a new GT4.)

All we know is our experience from when the GT4 was first launched. And that taught us to love this platform. Which, in our mind, is a great mid-engine purposely built sports car that is a blast to drive, and that has perfect usable power for the streets. All the streets. Any of the streets. Pretty much every one of us in this operation has spent a day or more driving one of these. It really, simply, is a driver’s “dream” car. And a driver’s choice, recognizing that it doesn’t get much better for a hundred grand purchase price.

Now, we recognize that black-on-black is not everyone’s cup of fantasy. We get that. But everything is fixable. See our dissertation on Professor Earl Scheib, doctor of cheap repaint in Chicago, America. And if you’re of the mind set a black car is hard to keep clean … don’t be lazy!

Ah, but those of you thinking a GT4 might be collectible one day with no miles on the clock, well, honestly, shame on you! Really? Truly? You believe this? Hope this?

They manufactured way too many. Could the gen 1 versions be worth something one day? Doubt it.  Perhaps only delivery-mile examples—which is a discussion for AT LEAST 30 years down the road (when fossil-fuel vehicles are no longer road legal)…(and most likely never ever near-911 money).

Where were we in this discussion (and why aren’t you arranging to try out this car…)?

Confused by all these parentheses? So are we. Those of you who are stuck in this mindset that a first generation Porsche of which they manufactured more than, say, 12 or even 120, could be valuable, well, you have decades to wait (even your kids will likely be waiting decades).

So, umm, Good luck.

Earl Scheib, a Los Angeles, California, car paint and body shop company that went nationwide – and then expanded to Germany and England – with the advertising boast “We’ll paint any car for Twenty-nine, ninety five” has been gone a long time. But if you really hate black-on-black, others will make this car whatever color you wish you had ordered. That’s up to you. Because if you haven’t already got one in your garage and if you miss out on this car, you have missed out on what a Cayman GT4 is all about.