How Many Are There Really? The Hunt for the Rarest Modern Turbo

There are cars that loudly shout "limited", and there are cars whose rarity is so genuine that not even the manufacturer states a number. The 997.2 Turbo with a manual belongs to the second, more honest sort. And the deeper you dig, the clearer it becomes: this car is dramatically rarer than most people suspect – and the truly desirable example exists for sale only a handful of times on the entire planet.

Let's set off on the hunt.

Porsche stays silent – and that's part of the story

An official breakdown by transmission? There isn't one. Porsche publishes no figures on how many 997.2 Turbos were built as manuals – even the total production figures have to be pieced together by enthusiasts from various sources.¹² It's precisely this silence that has given rise to a small community of researchers who collect VINs, keep registers and do the maths. We've followed their trail.

The number everyone knows – and almost everyone cites wrongly

In forums and buyer's guides, one magic number circulates: 488. It's often cited as "manuals built worldwide". That is wrong – and the correction only makes the matter more exciting.

The most reliable sources (the Rennlist forum, backed by PCNA data) show: the 488 refer to North America – that is, the USA and Canada combined, across all model years, coupé and Cabriolet.³ In other words: the "worldwide" misreading alone already contains a massive understatement of the global rarity, once you place it correctly.

It gets even more concrete with the US coupé. Via an archived forum document, the US manual coupés can even be reconstructed year by year:³

Model year	US coupés, manual
2010	28
2011	145
2012	88
2013	0
Total USA (coupé)	261

Let that sink in for a moment: across the entire USA, only around 261 manual Turbo coupés were delivered over the full production run. For comparison: there are more of many a celebrated "Limited Edition".

And worldwide?

A counted worldwide figure simply doesn't exist. What does exist is a traceable calculation: with an estimated manual take-rate of at most 15–20 % (PDK was the mass choice, "nearly 100 %" left the showroom automated) and the known production base, you arrive at roughly 570 to 800 manuals worldwide – and that's coupé and Cabriolet combined.⁴¹

Take out the Cabriolet (which is second choice for collectors anyway), and for the coupé only an estimated roughly 400 to 550 examples worldwide remain. That's our estimate, cleanly derived – and it lies well below the "under 1,000" mark that posts have ascribed to the car for years without deep research.

The real bombshell: the scarcity funnel

But "built" is not "buyable". Anyone looking today for a truly collectible example – accident-free coupé, manual, original, with a complete history – is competing for a tiny stock. Our assessment, stage by stage:

Stage	Estimate
Manual coupés built worldwide	~400–550
of which still existing / roadworthy today	~360–500
of which accident-free & largely original	~250–380
of which with good, complete history & moderate mileage	~150–250
of which on the market worldwide at any given moment	~5–10

This is the point where "rare" turns into "practically impossible to get". And that is exactly what we're seeing live right now.

The reality check: Europe, June 2026

If you think this is theory, look at the current European market. As of June 2026:

On mobile.de there is exactly one 997.2 Turbo coupé with a manual – and it's an accident car (approx. 119,000 €).
Alongside it, a single Cabriolet with a manual (~55,000 km, ~149,000 €).
A flawless meteor-grey manual with Clean Dash and only 41,000 km has just sold for 179,997 €, from the Porsche specialist German Sports Cars / Thomas J. Schmitz, Telgte – this was the only serious collector's piece in the entire market.

In other words: across all of Europe, at this moment not a single accident-free, original manual coupé is freely available. Anyone who wants one has to wait, search, cultivate networks – or import.

Update: Just how tight it stays is shown in our up-to-the-day Market Report July 2026 – worldwide there are currently two manual coupés for sale, both in the US (asking range roughly $170,000–245,000).

Why all of this matters for buyers and collectors

Rarity is the hardest currency in the collector market – and here it isn't artificially created but genuine: it arose because hardly anyone ordered the manual in 2010, and it intensifies because the few good cars stay in firm hands. That's the dream constellation for anyone who's in early:

Supply can no longer grow. There will never be a manual 911 Turbo again. The production figure is fixed for all time – and dwindles further through losses.
Demand grows. The "last analogue Turbo" is discovered by more collectors year after year.
The good car is the exception to the exception. Accident-free, original, original paint (meteor grey!), good history – this combination is the real treasure.

That's why we're building an open register here – to finally make visible just how few there really are. Every documented car makes the story of this extraordinary car a little more complete. More on this soon.

Sources

The funnel/coupé figures are a traceably derived estimate, not an official count; the anchors (488 North America including Cabriolets, 261 US coupé) are documented. Live market figures are snapshots in time (June 2026). This is a fan site with personal, enthusiast opinion – not investment advice.

StuttCars – „Porsche 911 (997) Sales & Production Numbers" / Ian Bevis – „997 Production Numbers" (keine offiziellen Getriebezahlen). [B/C] – https://www.stuttcars.com/porsche-911-997-sales-production-numbers/ · https://www.ianbevis.co.uk/porsche-911-997-series-production-numbers/ ↩ ↩²
Car & Classic / Carscoops – PDK-Take-Rate „nahezu 100 %", Handschalter sehr selten. [B] – https://www.carscoops.com/2020/07/remember-when-the-porsche-911-turbo-was-sold-with-a-six-speed-manual/ ↩
Rennlist – „997.2 Coupe Information / Production Numbers" (über Web-Archiv rekonstruiert: 488 = Nordamerika; US-Coupé-Handschalter 2010=28, 2011=145, 2012=88, 2013=0). [C] – https://rennlist.com/forums/997-turbo-forum/888583-997-2-coupe-information-production-numbers-where-to-find-colors.html ↩ ↩²
duPont Registry News – „The Last Porsche 911 Turbo To Feature A Manual" („1 of 173 US units MY2011"-Inserat, Seltenheit). [C] – https://news.dupontregistry.com/blogs/for-sale/last-porsche-911-turbo-to-feature-a-manual-transmission ↩