§ V.01What a 1978–1983 Porsche 911 SC is worth
A 1978–1983 Porsche 911 SC sold for a median of $51,000 across 889 completed auctions from January 2016 to October 2026 (BidBetter, as of 3 November 2026).
The middle half of those 889 sales fell between $40,000 and $66,500 (the typical range), and the full range after cleaning was $6,500 to $280,500.
Data as of 3 November 2026 · 889 sales · January 2016 to 30 October 2026 · auction results only
§ V.02What moves a car within the band
Within that band, coupe cars are the most frequently traded body style in this set (531 of 889 sales), and manual cars account for 747 of them. Condition, originality and documented history move a car further than any single specification, which is why the middle half of the range is wide.
The spread by variant, printed in full above, is usually wider than the spread by year: a coupe at $56,789 and a targa at $43,150 are not the same market, and a single median that mixes them describes neither.
§ V.03Recent sales
| Car | Sold for | Date | Mileage | Sold by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 Porsche 911SC Slicktop (Lot 74) | $50,000 | 30 October 2026 | 94,700 mi | Hagerty |
| 1979 Porsche 911SC Targa | $75,000 | 30 October 2026 | 138,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1979 Porsche 911SC Coupe | $62,000 | 29 October 2026 | 125,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1978 Porsche 911SC Targa Project | $28,250 | 23 October 2026 | — | Bring a Trailer |
| 1981 Porsche 911SC Coupe | $90,000 | 14 October 2026 | 124,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1981 Porsche 911SC Targa | $51,981 | 13 October 2026 | 129,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| RoW 1980 Porsche 911SC Targa Project | $23,500 | 10 October 2026 | 248,000 km | Bring a Trailer |
| Modified 1981 Porsche 911SC Coupe | $66,000 | 9 October 2026 | 66,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1981 Porsche 911SC Targa | $55,521 | 8 October 2026 | 82,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1983 Porsche 911SC Cabriolet | $37,000 | 6 October 2026 | 148,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| Original-Owner 1983 Porsche 911SC Coupe | $60,000 | 5 October 2026 | 63,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 31-Years-Owned 1981 Porsche 911SC Targa | $40,911 | 2 October 2026 | 171,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1980 Porsche 911SC Coupe | $71,000 | 1 October 2026 | 56,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 37-Years-Owned 1983 Porsche 911SC Targa | $50,500 | 29 September 2026 | 18,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
| 1981 Porsche 911SC Targa | $87,000 | 18 September 2026 | 48,000 mi | Bring a Trailer |
§ V.04Price by model year
| Model year | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | $50,000 | 149 |
| 1979 | $54,000 | 111 |
| 1980 | $52,000 | 164 |
| 1981 | $48,706 | 104 |
| 1982 | $51,013 | 162 |
| 1983 | $51,500 | 199 |
§ V.05Price by body style and transmission
| Variant | Type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coupe | Body style | $56,789 | 531 |
| Targa | Body style | $43,150 | 218 |
| Convertible | Body style | $48,500 | 105 |
| Manual | Transmission | $50,500 | 747 |
§ V.06Questions
What is a 1978–1983 Porsche 911 SC worth?
A 1978–1983 Porsche 911 SC sold for a median of $51,000 across 889 completed auctions from January 2016 to October 2026 (BidBetter, as of 3 November 2026).
The middle half of those 889 sales fell between $40,000 and $66,500 (the typical range), and the full range after cleaning was $6,500 to $280,500.
What affects the price of a 1978–1983 Porsche 911 SC?
Model year: by year, medians run from $48,706 for 1981 (104 sales) to $54,000 for 1979 (111 sales).
Body style: a coupe holds a median of $56,789 on 531 sales, against $43,150 on 218 for a targa.
Condition, originality and documented history move a car further than any single specification, which is why the middle half of sales spans $40,000 to $66,500.
Is the Porsche 911 SC 1978-1983 going up or down in value?
Up. The 120 sales in the 12 months to 3 November 2026 had a median of $63,310, against $59,000 on 129 sales in the 12 months before, a rise of 7.3%. That compares whichever cars came to auction in each year, not the same cars sold twice, so read it as the direction of the market rather than a rate of appreciation.
How many Porsche 911 SC sales is that based on?
889 completed auction sales, from January 2016 to 30 October 2026. The table above lists the 15 most recent, each linked to its auction record. The figures were last rebuilt on 3 November 2026.
What is the difference between the typical range and the full range?
The typical range is $40,000 to $66,500: half of all 889 sales fell inside it. The full range is $6,500 to $280,500, the cheapest and dearest sale that survived cleaning. The full range is set by outliers, so it is a boundary rather than a guide to what most cars bring.
Which body style holds its value best?
On this set, coupe is the most frequently sold at 531 sales with a median of $56,789. The highest median among body styles is coupe at $56,789, though it rests on fewer sales. Each variant's median and count are in the table above.
Do manual or automatic cars sell for more?
In this set, manual cars account for 747 of 889 sales. Too few cars of the other transmission type sold to publish a comparison, so this page does not make one.
Does mileage change the value?
Mileage is recorded for part of this set, not all of it, so it is not used to adjust the median. It is shown in the sales table wherever the auction record carries it, and you can see the effect directly by comparing rows.
How current is this figure?
Data as of . The figures are rebuilt from completed sales on a schedule, and the date above is the date of the last rebuild, not the date this page was loaded.
§ V.07Method and sources
What these figures are. Every number on this page is computed from completed auction sales of Porsche 911 SC cars built between 1978 and 1983. The median is the 50th percentile of the sale prices; the typical range is the 25th to 75th percentile; the full range is the lowest and highest sale that survived cleaning. Percentiles are linearly interpolated on the sorted prices.
What is excluded. Asking prices, reserve-not-met results, withdrawn lots and unsold cars are not prices and are not counted. Parts, memorabilia, literature, scale models and other non-vehicle lots are excluded. Sales not made in US dollars are excluded, so these figures describe the dollar market. Duplicate records are removed. Sales below a plausibility floor (5% of the median) and above a ceiling (10× the median) are set aside, because a $22 "911" is a data error rather than a cheap car.
What it is not. This is not an appraisal or an inspection, and it does not predict what any particular car will bring. Two cars built the same year can differ by more than the whole typical range on condition, originality, documentation and provenance.
The set. 889 sales from January 2016 to 30 October 2026, drawn from 13 auction sources, principally Bring a Trailer (741), PCARMARKET (98), Bonhams (11), Barrett-Jackson (10), Gooding (6), Broad Arrow (4), Hemmings (4), RM Sotheby's (4), Cars & Bids (3), Collecting Cars (3), Hagerty (2), Sothebysmotorsport (2). Data as of .
See the disclaimer for the limits of a valuation of this kind.
§ V.08Compare with
- Porsche 911 Turbo (996) 2001-2005 — $61,988 median · 913 sales · as of 3 November 2026
- Porsche 944 1982-1991 — $18,825 median · 964 sales · as of 3 November 2026
- Porsche 928 1978-1995 — $26,000 median · 811 sales · as of 3 November 2026
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