Lot Ended
Description
Five owners,
the current for 24 years; 104,800 miles with lots of history to prove; early
'Slantnose' conversion; good running order; would benefit from light
recommissioning following 10 years in storage
Iconic is a much
over-used word these days, but if any car ever deserved such an accolade, it is
indisputably the air-cooled 911. Launched way back in 1963 at the Frankfurt
Motor Show, it remained in production right up until 1998 and simply got better
as time went on.
The Carrera 3.2 ran from 1984 – 1989 and is regarded by
many as the sweet-spot of the range before the 964 generation brought
significant changes like power steering and coil-spring suspension.
The
heart of the car was its 3.2 flat-six engine, an unburstable unit with Bosch
Motronic fuel injection that upped the power from 188bhp in the preceding SC 3.0
to 234bhp, sufficient to launch the 3.2 to 60mph in 5.4 seconds on its way to a
top speed of 150mph.
Three main body styles were available, a Coupe, a
Cabriolet and a Targa. A ‘Flachbau’ (Slantnose) version was also available
through Porsche’s ‘Sonderwunsch’ (Special Wishes) department but with only
around 948 made (most, if not all, based on the earlier 930 Turbo model), these
are extremely rare and for wealthy collectors only.
This particular 3.2
Carrera Cabriolet was sold new by Charles Follett of London in January 1985 and
has covered 104,883 miles to date, as warranted by service records, invoices and
no fewer than 21 old MOTs on file.
The service book shows eight stamps,
the last in April 1993 at 79,749 miles (see photos). From 1987 – 1995 it was
looked after by Chris Turner Porsche of Willesden, with dozens of invoices for
regular servicing and new parts fitted over this period.
It has had five
owners in total, our vendor acquiring the car in October 2002 when it had
covered around 97k miles. He used the car lightly over the next 14 years, adding
another 7k miles to the clock. It passed its last MOT in March 2016 with just
one minor advisory for an oil leak and it has only covered 300 miles since,
being kept tucked away in a nice dry garage for the last 10 years due to the
advancing years of the owner.
As you can clearly see, it has
been converted to look like a ‘Slantnose’ at some point in the past, with
lightweight GRP front wings. Although there is no documentary evidence of who
carried out the conversion or when it was done, there is a faded photocopy
of an article about Western Classics of Trowbridge which shows a photo of the
Porsche looking exactly as it does today (see last photo).
Although the
article isn’t dated, the Trowbridge area code is given as 0225 so the photo must
have been taken before 1995 when the area code became 01225. HPI records a
colour change from the original Guards Red to the current Pearlescent White in
February 1986 so perhaps the car was converted to the ‘Flachbau’ look within the
first year of its life – who knows?
Despite barely being used for the
last 10 years, this Porsche has been starting instantly and running very nicely
as we have moved it around on site, with healthy oil pressure and that addictive
‘grip-and-go’ acceleration that is the hallmark of these charismatic
rear-engined sportscars.
Okay, the interior could do with a bit of a
tidy up and a precautionary check-over and service would be advisable before any
long journeys are undertaken, but this intriguing Slantnose look-alike
air-cooled 911 looks mighty tempting at the guide price
suggested.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 –
james.dennison@brightwells.com