1989 Porsche 3.2 Carrera Silver Anniversary Coupe- Brilliant Silver over Silk Grey, 36k miles and true #1 condition example, as good as it gets!

I consistently get the question, how do you find such “amazing” cars? I will let you in on a few (but not all!) of my trade secrets… The most important thing is that one has to be willing to understand there are certain things that you can NEVER remedy regardless of budget. I call this the cars “DNA”, if it has bad DNA it can NEVER be my quality. So first and foremost I look for all the hallmarks of excellence; then I work tirelessly to improve upon the car in dozens of subtle ways. This 1989 is just one such car, read on….

When the car arrived at my shop I was in awe at the condition of the car, it simply was “that” car. I could hardly contain my excitement, which only grew once I drove the car as I was instantly transported back to the early 90’s when I drove one of these when I worked at Porsche of Bellevue (yes, the same store this was sold new at!) as it drove like a “new” G50 Carrera! I couldn’t say yes fast enough and then embarked on the process of making this #2+ car a true #1 car! Here is what I have done:

• Inspection w/ leak down at Chris’ German (www.chrisgerman.com) Leakdown was 1% in every cylinder!
• Service: Adjust valves, new valve cover gaskets, new sparkplugs, oil and filter, air filter. 
• Chassis Detail: the car was SO nice I really wanted it SHOW ready, so I had the entire chassis dry-ice blasted, its now cleaner than the day it was sold new underneath! Take a look at all the plating and fasteners!
• Full paint correction and detail at Metropolitan Detail. The paint on this car looks incredible!
• AC service- blows nice and cold even in the 90 degree day we had this week.

By 1989 the G-body or “impact-bumper” 911 was getting a little long in the tooth, having been around since 1974 with minor changes over the years. Porsche was just launching the then new 964 and wanted to send the final torsion bar cars out with a bang, so they put together the 25th Silver Anniversary edition, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 911 introduced in 1964. They built 300 25th Anniversary Coupes; 240 in Silver and 60 in Black Metallic. The package included the following:

• Silver Metallic Exterior w/ coordinating Silk Grey Full Leather Beltline interior with Black Piping
• Color Matched 16×6″ and 16×8″ Fuchs
• M473 Front and Rear Spoilers
• The following options: M243 shortened shift lever, M286 intensive washers, M288 Headlight washers, M425 Rear Wiper, M454 Speed control, M490 Hi-Fi Sound System, M494 Amplifier, M980 Supple Leather
• In addition the interior included a unique Porsche Special Wishes center console w/ exterior temperature gauge and a 25th Anniversary Dash Plaque.

So now that you know about the Anniversary package, lets talk about this specific car… This G50 Coupe was sold new on January 11th 1990 at Bellevue Porsche to a Porsche enthusiast who lived in Bend, OR. It came back to Washington with the 2nd owner in September of 2000 with just 17,569 miles. This owner would cherish this car for almost exactly 20 years bringing total mileage to 36,271 miles. Do you want to be owner 3?

The pictures will tell the story but suffice it to say cosmetically this car is remarkable! The real tell on these cars is the interior, especially since the Silk Grey does not take well to abuse. The seats, steering wheel, shift knob and carpets usually are the tell of a car that wasn’t well taken care of. This car looks fresh and new everywhere you look. On the exterior the story is similar, there are a few very small chips on the leading edge of the hood and that is about it. The lenses, glass, trim, rubber, etc are all nice and crisp, it’s the small things that separate good from great! I feel confident one could take this car to any PCA Concours, Werks Reunion or your local judged European car show and be a podium finisher, it’s that good!

The car is 100% original with no modifications from new. All of the Anniversary cars were optioned identically with one exception, option package P60 was the standard Anniversary coupe and option code P61 was the Anniversary Coupe with the then new Porsche CD-2 Radio and the lower console also substituted cassette holders for CD Holders. This option added $593 to the $4,803 option price for the Silver Anniversary Package. For nerds out there, the original list price of this car was $58,058 or $121,696 in 2020 dollars! 

Being persnickety I have all the items a good one should come with:

• All the original books and manuals, including the stamped VIN matched maintenance book in the correct maroon folio.
• Show quality tool kit right down to the correct fuse pack
• Porsche air compressor, Owafix gloves, tire storage plastic and the original jack with hold down strap.
• Full service history.
• The all important “25th Anniversary Special Edition” dash plaque.

So what are you waiting for? 1989 IS the best year for the 3.2, the Silver Anniversary cars represent a pinnacle and this exact example is nearly as good as it gets. Why compromise and buy a so-so car?