One of the undisputed supercars of the baby boomer generation was the Porsche 911 Turbo. First introduced in 1975, it was nothing short of sensational, a trailblazing high performance car capable of giving a contemporary Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer or Lamborghini Countach a run for the money. More curvaceous than Jayne Mansfield, it was pure car porn, prominently displayed on colorful posters in male adolescents' bedrooms all over the globe.
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Driving on the fast lane of the Autobahn, a flared and winged, black Turbo approaching in the rear view mirror had the same effect as seeing Darth Vader menacingly raising his light saber in attack mode.
Panic!
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The turbo is still being built today, much more refined, heavier, and much more benevolent, with numerous black boxes protecting the driver from his own car. But no modern turbo can touch the original in pure enjoyment and visceral excitement as a real man's driving machine that was years ahead of its time, capable of 0-to-60 sprints in less than 4.6 seconds -- almost forty years ago!
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The breathtaking 1978 Porsche 930 presented here, VIN *9308800245*, is one of only 461 U.S.-spec turbos manufactured during the model year. A cherished rarity, it's a fanatically well-kept, 100% matching numbers example, boasting very low actual miles and an interesting provenance.
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A three-owner turbo, the car was purchased in Chicago by the wealthy heir of a flight simulator manufacturer. He met an untimely demise in 1991 when his own plane became disabled; he bailed and fell out of his parachute. An attorney from Urbana acquired the car, which had barely covered 36K miles, and sold it after 13 years of ownership, just to buy it back in 2011, because he missed it so much. This timeline is fully documented through various emails, old title copies and a plethora of maintenance records, totalling $24,376.50.
The vinyl pouch with owner's manual and stamped service booklet it also included.
Let's now inspect this supercar in more detail, starting up front, with the trunk.
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Still dressed in its fabulously preserved gray felt Josef-Beuys-memorial carpeting, the trunk contains the complete Porsche tool roll with factory tools in pristine condition, the tire inflation compressor, and a like-new, fitted Porsche car cover in its own storage bag.
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Below the trunk mat we discover all the factory-original finishes. The unused factory spare is date-coded 11/77 and original as well.
Note the working trunk light and hood struts which, along with the presence of all the factory-supplied extras, is always a good indicator regarding the level of care a Porsche has received.
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Battery is near new and -- unlike many others -- our 930 shows no corrosion in this area. Since the torsion bars are mounted to the front suspension pan, its condition is of paramount importance for safety, especially on a 172mph car. No worries here; this one's perfect!
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The Turbo's pristinely preserved undercarriage is of reference quality. There is no corrosion present now, nor has there ever been any previous rust, and neither has this car been in any kind of accident, ever, and that's guaranteed! Remnants of the factory-applied, honey-colored, protective Cosmoline wax can still be found here and there. Click on the image to the left for an XXL-sized view |
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Above photos show the undercarriage in more detail. Make sure you enlarge them to their full size by clicking on them. On the left one, note the large, front mounted oil cooler that helps keep things under control, thermically.
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Turbo's fully zinc-plated body shell is straight as an arrow, with perfect gaps on doors and hoods. Apparently, the car has never been apart.
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According to our electronic paint thickness gauge -- measuring in 1/1000s of a millimeter -- almost all of this turbo's paint is factory original. Only the passenger door seems to feature some extra paint, a fact that's invisible to the naked eye. Click on the image to the right for an XXL-sized view |
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The big 7 & 9 inch alloys present excellently, with factory-looking finish of rim and painted centers. Check out the huge, Porsche 917 race car-derived vented disc brakes that were introduced for the 1978 model year lurking behind the wheel!
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A potent car like this deserves the very best, which is why we ordered and installed a brand new, $850.00 set of Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 extreme-performance radials of the correct size 205/55-16 and 245/45-16, respectively.
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The traditional 911 dash is covered in genuine leather. The cowhides have shrunk a bit during the past decades, but the dashboard is otherwise free from imperfections.
Note factory original sport steering wheel.
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Turbo features five large, circular instruments, with white-on-black dials and bright orange pointers, a timeless design. They all look like new and work like new. Unique is the the boost gauge adjacent to the tach.
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The turbo also comes with a power sunroof ("electric sunroof" in Porsche lingo), which -- again -- works perfectly. Factory white, perforated headliner and sunvisors are original. Both dome lights work as they should.
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Upfitted, classic turbo 6-way power seats still wear their original black leather hydes, fabulously preserved.
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Leather-clad rear fold-down seats look like they have never been used. They provide plenty of extra space for luggage, the seven dwarves, or a four-legged family member.
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Let's see what's lurking behind the huge tea tray rear wing, shall we?
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Engine compartment looks toothbrush clean. Partially hidden by the huge Andial intercooler and motivated by a slightly-larger-than-stock K27 turbo, the car's 3.3-Liter Boxer puts out over 300 healthy Teutonic horses, allowing the car to sprint from 0-to-60 in under five seconds and keep on accelerating until the advertised V-max of 172mph has been reached. If you have never been strapped into the seat of a violently accelerating 930, just imagine being catapulted off an aircraft carrier to get an idea of what it's like.
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The engine is as healthy as the proverbial ox, doesn't leak, doesn't smoke, doesn't burn oil, and doesn't make any untoward noises. Within the last 500 miles, some major, engine-out work was performed by Rick's automotive, including a transmission rebuild as needed, clutch, engine mount, steering wheel bushing, new fuel injectors, all new belts, hoses and oil lines, crankshaft pulley, vacuum advance unit, alternator, turn signal relay and A/C work.
"Steady .95 bar boost at the RUF gauge" was noted on the invoice.
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With over 300 days of blue skies per year and mild temperatures in our neck of the woods, we took the 930 out for a test drive and photo session.
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This particular Porsche provides a tremendous, omnipresent awareness of build quality. It handles like it's on rails, and in order to lose traction in a turn, you'll have to be deep into triple-digit speeds (or commit the cardinal sin of rear-engined motoring: take your foot off the accelerator).
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The turbocharged flat six has a unique soundtrack, ranging from a bassy, phasing hum at idle, to morphing into a barrage of cannon-fire exhaust as you work your way up through the rpm range. Once boost is built, you better hold on tight as your noggin will be pressed hard into the headrest and you may forget to breathe, fighting minor cardiovascular discomfort along the way. We've managed to get from zero to over 100mph by the time we reached the end of a very short freeway on-ramp!
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We were sad to put the Turbo back into the showroom after our test drive. It's one of the most impressive cars we've ever had the pleasure to drive, and -- short of all-out race cars -- the fastest.
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Porsche's 930 has always been an iconic model. Now, 40 years after its introduction, collectors all around the globe yearn to put a nice example into their driveway. With only 461 examples built in '78 -- and none officially delivered to the U.S. between 1980 and 1985, an early Turbo is a rare beast indeed, currently experiencing phenomenal annual gains in value.
Addendum:
We sold this early Porsche 930 in Summer of 2015.
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