Still unemployed, James May auctions off his 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera

By Ronan Glon June 17, 2015

A 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera owned by former Top Gear host James May is scheduled to cross the auction block later this month at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that will take place in England.

Finished in an eye-catching shade called Guards Red, May’s 911 is a remarkably clean example that has never been restored or modified in any way. It was delivered new in the United Kingdom and it has only covered 55,000 miles over the past 31 years.

Unsurprisingly, the 911 has appeared on television several times, notably in the Airfix episode of James May’s Toy Stories and in an online film dubbed James May Drives to Work. It was also displayed on Top Gear Live, where it won a runner-up prize.

May explains that he’s used the 911 very sparingly since buying it almost on a whim in 2007. He points out that he has spared no expense in properly maintaining it and he has a huge stack of service records to prove it.

“It was donated to my dad to use for the past four years, as he never owned a proper sports car,” explained the former TV host. “Recently he decided that he was getting on a bit to be seen in a retro stockbroker’s car, and my mother hated it.”

Fully functional and in good shape for its age, May’s 911 is powered by a 3.2-liter air-cooled flat-six engine that sends 231 horsepower to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission. It can reach 60 mph from a stop in 5.3 seconds, and 100 mph from a stop in 13.6 seconds before going on to a top speed of 152 mph.

Auction house Bonhams estimates the 1984 Porsche 911 will sell for anywhere between 28,000 and 34,000 British pounds, figures that convert to approximately $44,000 and $53,000, respectively. If the price sounds right, fly over to Goodwood, England, on June 26th to put in a bid.

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Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…

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