You signed up for this a while ago and then heard nothing from me. Sorry about that. Here's the first one.
What moved
Monterey broke its record in August. Five auction houses did about $756 million, up from $433 million the same week last year. The number I keep coming back to is the sell-through, though: 76%, exactly where it was in 2025. So more money went into the week, but it went into fewer, better cars. If you own something special, this market likes you. If you own something ordinary, not much has changed.
What people are paying up for is the analog stuff. Manual gearbox, no turbo, no hybrid. You saw it first at the top with the Carrera GT and the F50, and this quarter it finally showed up in cars people actually drive.
The hot one: Porsche 997.2 GT3 (2010 to 2012)
Hagerty's October price guide update has the 997.2 GT3 up 64% on average in one quarter. A higher mileage driver is now around $300,000. Sales this year have run roughly $270,000 in May, $240,000 in July and $355,500 in September.
It's not hard to see why. A 3.8 litre flat six that revs to 8,500 rpm, and a six speed manual, because that's the only gearbox it came with. There was never a PDK 997 GT3. Buyers are getting the same thing that made the Carrera GT a $3 million car, for about a tenth of the money.
I don't expect another 64% quarter. If you own one, find out what it's worth now. If you're shopping, the clean, documented, original cars should hold up fine. I'd worry about the tired car someone talks you into at today's price.
The one people are sleeping on: Porsche Cayman S 987.2 (2009 to 2012), six speed manual
Mid engine, 3.4 litre direct injection flat six, and it doesn't carry the IMS bearing worry the earlier cars do. The manuals have already started pulling away from the automatics. CLASSIC.COM has manuals around $42,500 and climbing, and automatics around $33,600 and slipping.
A clean, original 2011 manual with 31,000 miles brought $56,500 on Cars & Bids on September 9. And a 2012 Cayman R manual just sold for $99,000 on Bring a Trailer, so you can see how much room there is above the S.
Hagerty already had the 987 up about 15% back in January, and the people who wanted one new are now old enough to buy one. If you go looking, get a manual that's original, documented and hasn't been driven into the ground. I'd pass on the modified ones.