1989 Porsche 930 Turbo Cabriolet

A True #1 930 Turbo Cabriolet with 21k miles!

Being a life long German car aficionado means that that I can appreciate the various qualities of cars made by Japanese manufacturers, but they rarely capture my heart. Such is the case with Lexus; they have a tagline “The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection”. I have decided to give them a new tagline “The Quest to Build the Perfect Appliance” and to steal their slogan for my most recent 930 Project….

1989 Porsche 930… “The Relentless Pursuit for Condition #1”

Anybody who has been to one of my presentations on the Porsche marque will be familiar with my description of a True #1 condition car. I call it the “Unicorn”, often talked about but never seen in the wild. I truly believe condition #1 cars are only created through hundreds of hours of work by skilled and knowledgeable enthusiasts.  Such is the case with this 930. Almost 9 months ago a gentleman who was the long-term owner of this 1989 Porsche 930 contacted me. He has used it exclusively as a fun car at his vacation home in Lake Tahoe. He had loved, cherished and enjoyed the car for the better part of 20 years and it has travelled just 21k miles. He had finally decided to part with the car and wanted to work with me to sell it. He agreed to ship the car to me and allow me full reign (and an open checkbook!) to make the car “Perfect”. Thankfully this client was quite patient and understanding, because in his mind his car was really close already (for 99% of people it was…) but I had other ideas…

I wanted to create the nicest 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo anywhere. I had scoured the market and was so disillusioned at what I saw. Most of the cars on the market were tired, abused, modified and simply tarted up for sale. As prices on these cars have risen, so has the desire to make greater profit. One would think with higher values that sellers could afford to invest more to bring their cars up to par. Sadly I almost feel like the opposite is true!

So my first task was to do an inch-by-inch inventory of the car and make an extensive punch list of to-do items. Anything not up to Full Concours standard was identified. From there I assembled the “dream team” of Porsche knowledgeable experts to help me achieve my vision. The list stretched into well over 100 individual items, down to the minutiae of .04 washers and some involving items such as a full restoration of the Fuch’s wheels. I haven’t the time and you probably don’t have the patience to read through the list, put the proof is in the photos below. I am happy to go through the process with any interested buyer but the overall vision centered on absolute originality and the ability to win at the highest level. If it wasn’t perfect it was rebuilt, polished, replaced with OEM or addressed, you get the idea…

The funny thing about a project like this is that the deeper you go the more you see. I finally decided it was time to reveal the car to the world, even though I still have a few more items to finish. Let me see if my eagle-eyed customers can spot the few open punch list items….

Lest I forget the basics on the car, here is the overview:

1989 Porsche 930 Turbo Cabriolet- Porsche imported just 600 examples of this car, its final year of production. That in of itself would be special, but most importantly this final year is the only year to receive the much-vaunted G50 based 5-speed transmission. It seems crazy now, but believe it or not the 930 utilized a 4-speed transmission from its introduction in 1975 through 1988. It seems antiquated but it actually fit the original mission of the 930 quite well, which was a German executives Autobahn missile. You could simply cruise at 100+ plus in 4th, a quick downshift to 3rd for a pull to 130 mph and it was 930 magic! In the US where real world speeds topped our around 70 mph and the 4-speed was more frustrating. The G50 5-speed was a HUGE leap forward both in shift quality, power handling and most importantly gear spacing. This coupled with the fact that this was the final open top air-cooled Turbo and you have a recipe for a long term collectible.

Other key items worth noting:

• Same owner since 1994, always a West Coast Car
• 100% original and unmodified
• All original paint with exception of the right rear quarter, which was painted prior to 1994.
• All panels are original to car- VIN tags match on Hood, front fenders, both doors, deck lid and front/rear bumpers.
• Numbers matching as verified with Certificate of Authenticity and VIN tags on both engine/transmission.
• Comes complete with show quality tool kit, air pump, jack, drop plastic and gloves, books and manuals
• EVERYTHING works as designed right down to the freshly serviced (original R12) AC System.
• Service is 100% complete and current, the car needs NOTHING!

If you want a VERY special 930 and compromise is not in your vocabulary, here is your car.