PORSCHE Cars Australia (PCA) has opened its first local Classic dealership with the expansion of its existing Porsche Centre Melbourne facilities to accommodate the servicing, display and sale of retro cars.

Two dedicated classic workbays will now be set aside for work on old-school Porsches at the brand’s flagship dealer, while the existing Classic Corner will display pristine examples of vehicles from yesteryear.

Porsche Centre Melbourne will now be staffed by nine dedicated Classic specialists encompassing service advisors, technicians and parts interpreters – all of which were flown to Germany for 13 days of specialised training.

According to PCA, services provided include “pre-purchase inspection and authentication, discounted hourly servicing rates and privileged fast access to more than 52,000 (and growing) rare Porsche Classic parts”, as well as “total restoration project management”.

The German sportscar-maker will also grant all new cars ‘classic’ status 10 years after the completion of model production, meaning the first-generation Cayenne SUV – which was produced until 2010 – will be eligible in 2020.

Melbourne becomes the 49th outlet worldwide to become a Porsche Classic Partner following centres in Canada, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, the US, Thailand and Porsche’s home country of Germany.

Attending the opening event over the weekend were over 250 guests, 31 classic vehicles and Porsche international director of Classic centres, Alexander Fabig, who said “our aim is not to have as many as possible (Classic dealerships), but the right partners”.

“Porsche’s history is still played as defining role in shaping the company’s future and the job of Porsche Classics is to keep the fire burning,” he said.

“There are 650,000 classic Porsche cars around the world and we are reaching out to all their owners.

“More than 70 per cent of all Porsches ever built are still on the road and with our rolling programme to include newer models in the Classic programme, if you own a Porsche today it already is, or soon will be, a Porsche Classic!”

Many retro Porsches have been known to appreciate in value as the years pile on, bucking the trend of depreciation of other motor vehicles, with some owners of the 993 series 911 Turbos asking as much as a brand new 2017 model.

However, PCA public relations director Paul Ellis warned that the inflating prices of classic Porsches may not continue forever.

“No one can forecast 20 years down the track – which car is going to be a classic, and which car is not,” he said.

“Right now we’re seeing prices of the final air-cooled generation 911s, the 993 model, just going through the roof. The 993 turbo has doubled in market price inside the last three years, which is significant.

“How long is this sustainable? I’m not sure.

“We have very low interest rates, so the cash market is pretty strong in terms of there is money there to be lent, but that bubble…there’s going to come a point in time where there’s going to have so much air that is blown into the bubble, that it’s going to burst.

“When? I don’t know, but this can’t be sustained for too long.”

By Tung Nguyen