Wayne,
Your Spyder looks great! Yours is the first aqua blue with black decals I've seen. Everyone I've seen come with Silver ones.

Now you need to join the Spyder registry!
www.dspyda.com

 

I have seen two numbers floating around: Either 1667 or 1883 cars have been produced until the production ended on December 31, 2011. Pretty rare species, the Spyder, compared to the over 19'000 Porsche 911's produced in 2011. In Switzerland, there are less than 30 cars. I have not come across another one, yet. Mine is black/black, manual gearbot, bucket seats, SatNav, Soundpackage, Alcantara trim. Great car, indeed!

 

I grabbed a one proprietor, 2011 Boxster Spyder in Jan 2012 with 5200 kilometers on it. Its Turquoise Red Metal, wonderful shade. I have only seen one other, in white-colored. I really like the point that the Spyder is so unusual. Everyone requests me about it because it doesn't look like anything else.

 

Do you have a picture of "turquoise red metal?" I am not familiar with that Porsche color?

 

Kinda curious myself.

 

I just posted this thread over at Rennlist where I have been historically a more active member than in this fine Teamspeed forum. However, I think it's worth adding to the information being discussed here. In total, only 1944 Spyders were ever built. Those are incredible low numbers for a modern Porsche production model!

"Official Porsche Archive Production Figures for the MY2011/MY2012 987 Boxster Spyder!

Over the past few years, we have had some very interesting conversations on this forum regarding the Boxster Spyder, its success or failure as 'seller' for PAG and its total production numbers. I have followed this model with particular interest since the late summer of 2010 and have written several threads (see various links below) that hopefully furthered the discussion on the subject. Recently Rennlist member Only1Buck (Steve) asked me to give him the name of a contact I had in Germany which could shed some light on final Spyder production numbers. Only1Buck got a response from a representative of PAG in Zuffenhausen (I will let him identify the source if he wants to) which claimed that their official archive (Historisches Archiv) records show the following data:

33 Spyders built in Calendar Year 2009
1418 Spyders built in Calendar Year 2010
493 Spyders built in Calendar Year 2011
0 Spyders built in Calendar Year 2012

Only1Buck then asked me yesterday via email "Eduardo, My interpretation of the numbers provided by Dieter would be for model year 2011 there were 1451 cars and for 2012 there were 493. Would you agree with that?"

Because I think this subject needs to be discuss publicly at this forum, let me answer that question here in the hope this subject can be talked about & debated openly:

My answer is: No, I believe MY2012 Spyder production was smaller than 493, perhaps as few as 150 units. Zuffenhausen started producing MY2012 Spyders very early in calendar year 2011 (late March or April of 2011) for reasons never fully explained by PAG. MY2012 production was short-lived and ended in July 2011. In my opinion, total MY2011 Spyders produced were 33 (all of CY2009) + 1418 (all of CY2010) + most of the 493 (first 3/4 months of CY2011). PAG's calendar year 2011 built figures include MY2012 Spyders. Note that MY2012 Spyders have a different code on the 10th position of Vin #. It's a C and not a B. I personally believe most of the MY2012 Spyders came to North America. I was told in the summer of 2011 by someone close to PCNA that only 125 were delivered to US dealers*. Rennlist member Jabbey (John) believes he has been able to identify 141 for US & Canada in the research he has done independently using clever Vin # deciphering methods:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...roduction.html

Regardless the fact that I loved the Spyder so much that I custom-ordered one in May of 2011, I believe for Porsche this model was a less than a SALES success for them worldwide! Only in the US, where with extremely positive reviews in the enthusiast auto press and also where the more forgiving climates of California & the West made the 'Bimini' top less of a 'deal-breaker', did the Spyder fared OK, although it was never truly appreciated by the dealer network or the typical sales force that unfortunately populate these establishments! I still believe that even in these United States the Spyder did NOT meet sales expectations as set by PAG & PCNA! In this forum we had a very telling discussion on this subject back in September of 2010 when nobody knew for certain the limited nature of Spyder production and we were speculating on how PAG & PCNA was marketing the model:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...y-is-huge.html

Nevertheless, half of all Spyders produced by PAG from 2009 to 2011 found a home in the US! For Porsche's world markets other than PCNA, the Spyder was NOT a factor in Porsche MY2012 models sales projections. PAG didn't push the Spyder at all with the ROW markets for its limited run of MY2012 production. After terminating the MY2011 production in late March or early April of 2011, PCNA was apparently given a limited allocation of units (less than 150) for MY201. Perhaps (and this is pure speculation on my part) to used up all the pre-ordered Spyder parts they had already subcontracted to in their 'just-in-time' delivery system and Porsche would have had to pay for these parts in any case! That is why, in my opinion, so few MY2012 Spyders were built and why most of them ended up in the US market, where niche models like it (and the 356 Speedster which preceded it) had historically sold best! My dos centavos, for whatever that is worth. For a nostalgic view at where the last MY2012 Spyders ended up going here in the US, please see link below:

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...to-the-us.html

I recently had this public exchange with fellow Rennlister Al Dias on the subject of the Spyder's place in Porsche's history:

Posted by Z356
'But I have yet to meet a former owner that doesn't reminisce about the Spyder ownership experience, regardless how brief, or who fails to get nostalgic just thinking about it! Everyone of them knew this was a special car, a unique driving experience, a memory to treasure! The fact is that historians will probably judge this model as ONE of the most significant Porsches ever created! In time, it might be perceived as 'special' as the classic 356 Speedster of the 1950's!"

Posted by ADias
'And then hyperbole has risen. The Spyder is a Boxster variant for fair-weather only, designed as a minimalist lighter-weight Boxster, and at that with a number of controversial design aspects. Some cars were bought with minimal options and those fulfilled the design objectives. However, many others abound with leather everywhere, stereos and other doodads negating the design objective and are generally garage queens. Will those survive and become a classic? I think not. Like many Porsches they will be a footnote among many other Spyders continuing with a 981 variant, and another, and another. I note that several multi-car Porsche collectors I know who purchased the Spyder sold them quickly after they got it (or used it for a summer).'

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...r-value-5.html

I don't agree with Al's conclusions. Let me relay this short conversation I had with Dr. Wolfgang Porsche at the 2012 Porsche Parade in Salt Lake City after my 'Crystal Blue' 1970 911E Targa was selected by him & his brother Hans Peter for the coveted 'Judges' Choice' Trophy at the Parade Concours in July of this year! Dr. Porsche asked me what other Porsche I owned. I told him an 'Aqua Blue' MY2012 Spyder. He opened his eyes wide, cracked a big smiled and enthusiastically said 'Me too!'. His 'Carrara White' Spyder resides at his private 'barn' garage at his estate in Zellamsee in Austria. If it is all hyperbole, as Al Diaz claims, at least I am comforted by the fact that there are significant others that have drunk the Kool-Aid too about the 'specialness' of this rare production model!

Saludos,
Eduardo

PS Only1Buck 'Steve' has custom-ordered two Spyders. His first one was a beautiful 'Carrera White / Carrera Red' with the full alcantara package. This one he sold in 2010. He then ordered a gorgeous 'Guards Red / Black' Spyder which he still has! He also owns a very special PTS 1997 'Signal Yellow'/Black 993 Turbo and until recently Steve also had a vintage longhood early 911!

The story of custom ordering my 2012 'Aqua Blue / Carrera Red' Spyder can be found here:
http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...tom-order.html

************************************************** ***************

*Here is one of my previous posts on that subject which summarizes research by me & others on the subject of total Spyder Production numbers before we got official confirmation this week from PAG's Historisches Archiv!

From Rennlist's MJones (real name Brian W). Allocated MY2012 Spyders
to US dealers - 125. Emailed to me by him last summer (2011).

From Jabbey (John) - Sales of MY2012 Spyders in US and Canada - 141.

In summary: So these two figures for MY2012 are fairly close. Perhaps the mix is 125 for US dealers and 16 for Canadian dealers. I don't think it includes any sales in Mexico, although that country is part of North America.

-----
From Jabbey (John) over on Planet 9

"Re: Spyder Production Numbers
So an update. Had some free time and analyzed the VIN data. Although the last digits of North American bound VINs are sequential, VINs incorporate a series of patterns on digits left of the year designation, and rolls at each 100 units. By observing the pattern, I was able to fill in the blanks, find the bounds, and validate what's real. So what I found/confirmed:

MY2011
First VIN: WP0CB2A81BS745001
Last VIN: WP0CB2A80BS745751

750 MY2011 units to North America

MY2012
First VIN: WP0CB2A86CS745061
My VIN: XXXXXXXXXXX745195 (only 7 built after mine)
Last VIN: WP0CB2A89CS745202

141 MY2012 units to North America

So, confirmed total for North American Spyders is 891 units.

John"

Here are two explanations of his methodology. I include both so that we don't miss anything that helps explain what he did:

As explained by Jabbey (John) in Rennlist:
"First VIN: WP0CB2A86CS745061
My VIN: XXXXXXXXXXX745195 (only 7 built after mine)
Last VIN: WP0CB2A89CS745202

141 MY2012 units to North America

The runs typically start with XXX1. Knowing that, I did a VIN validation using a variety of web services that validate North American VINs. I also had to figure out how to bump up the 9th digit of the VINs as it's not constant. Only the bump up in the final number "5195...". So that's how I figured out 5061 was the beginning of the MY2012 run. I also had the advantage of knowing about 5202 being right near the end. But I validated that there is no 5203. So, that's how we get the 141 vehicles.

I'll post it again sometime, but for MY2011 there was a comprehensive Excel file created. It has hundreds of MY2011 North American VINs, but not all. I just filled in the gaps, bumping up the VIN number and validating them against the VIN checker sites. Note: Even with a valid VIN sequence, you have to make sure it's really a car. That is, you can put in a VIN for a Spyder and get a false positive hit on things like CARFAX. But, it's easy to cross check it. And, those sites will state "Boxster Spyder", but there will be 0 records. I stopped at the VIN number that brought back a Spyder, and was the last one with vehicle history records on one ore more of the sites."

As explained by Jabbey (John) in Planet 9:

"First, rather than using a simple web search that would have quickly shown me the meaning of the 9th digit in a VIN, I looked at all the historical VIN number data I had from published documents on the Spyder which had hundreds of cars. Essentially, I found the pattern in those numbers and thought this was p-car unique. It's not, but it was fun to mine the data. That digit is just a check-sum value and can be calculated. With that, I was able to construct any VIN and validate it through things like Carfax and Autocheck. So, I found the first MY2012 Spyder VIN that had record hits. Then I went to my VIN knowing it was one of the very last cars built (5195). I bumped up the VINs using the pattern and did the search on Carfax and Autocheck. It ended at 5202. I also know that you and other posted information about these last cars coming into the US and it aligns with those last cars built in July 2011.

For the MY2011, there was pretty good data out there, but I used the same technique. I kept bumping up the VIN with the right technique, and validating against the sites until I got bad results. A bit crude, but I have a high degree of confidence in the number of vehicles for North America. I can't imagine this task was on the top of my wife's Honey-Do list, but it was cool to get closer given that PCNA wasn't going to help me out here."

My note on figures above: We have less confirmation of the MY2011 Spyders for the US and Canada but I accept the 750 figure as very plausible. Hopefully, Jabbey (John) can read this post and fill in on any thing I left out re: his methodology!

------
Over at Pistonheads, two figures have been bandied about UK sales for both MY2011 and MY2012 Spyders. 212 from a source at Porsche UK or 230 according to UK registration figures. But close enough to give you a general idea of the size of the population. Folks seem to think most of the UK cars are MY2011 models.

------
Total World Wide Production of MY2011 and MY2012 Spyders

A) A German employee of PAG at last August's 2011 Quail-based Porsche test drive center confirmed to me in person that total MY2011 & MY2012 combine worldwide production of Spyders was approx. 2000 and not exceeding that number!

B) Over at Pistonheads in England, someone has reported on that website that total worldwide Spyder production was 1883. But that person now can't find the exact source of his information but he claimed came from PAG in Germany.

C) Over at Planet 9, an individual sent a letter/email to PCNA to get production numbers and was told that information was proprietary and would not be released.

"Hello Mr. Mancini,

Thank you for taking the time to email us. Unfortunately, we cannot
provide you with the production details you are requesting. This
information is considered proprietary and is not released.

If you have any questions or concerns you would like to further discuss,
please feel free to contact our Porsche Contact Center at 1-800-Porsche
option 3.

Kind regards,

Beth
The Porsche Contact Center
1-800-PORSCHE
(1-800-767-7243)"

D) I asked an employee of PAG at the Salt Lake City Parade two weeks ago for the information and he said he would try to get it for me. Will confirm if/when that figure is sent to me.
--------
I will let others opine as to what all of these figures means in terms of value and collectability. However, no other recent Porsche series model other than the gt2 RS & the Limited Edition 4.0 gt3 RS have been built in such low production numbers!"
__________________

 

Very thorough thread - found it through a Google search instead of regular Teamspeed thread. I was looking at numbers as I've just bought a Spyder which I collect this week from OPC Wilmslow. Silver, manual with sports shift and PCCB. Been eying these up since they launched, but couldn't resist when this spec came up - it's going to look pretty darn fine next to my 1966 Magnus Walker 911! Perfect stable mate.

Already planning a Grantour that takes in Col di Turini, Stelvio Pass, Furka Pass, Grimsel, etc. Can't think of a better car to drive on these roads... though I guess JonBKay might disagree as he'll be in his V12 Vantage Roadster!

 

There's a fairly decent App that shows how many are in the UK. 109 still in existence, 2 are unfortunately no more... #RIP