• Extensive history file dating back to mid-1990s

• Thousands of pounds of work undertaken in recent years

• Crackling straight-through exhaust will delight any confirmed car-lover

• The perfect car for fast, enthusiastic summer motoring
•The car has just undergone a full check up and service by Weston Porsche in August 2021

There can be few cars as enduringly popular as the Porsche 911. Introduced in 1963 and still going strong, its clean design and rear-mounted, air-cooled flat-six engine won it legions of fans who appreciated its unconventional but clever engineering. The fact that it continues in production today, still rear-engined and still possessed of the same streamlined profile, is why it has come to be regarded as a landmark in motoring history.

What’s more, unlike some other long-lived models, no incarnation has ever really missed the mark. Each generation of the 911 has its admirers, and the 964 is no exception. Introduced in 1989, the 964 (to use its factory codename) was the third generation of the 911, and when it went out of production in 1994, besides its integrated bumpers and flared wheel arches, it still looked very much like the first 911s of 1963.

The main changes were to be found underneath the skin, where it was reckoned the 964 was ‘85 per cent new’. It was the first Porsche to be offered with Tiptronic automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. The four-wheel drive model was appropriately called the Carrera 4, whereas the rear-wheel drive model was the Carrera 2. 
 
 The M64 flat-six was all-new, and other new features for a Porsche included power steering, ABS brakes, and coil springs and shock absorbers instead of torsion bar suspension. Airbags were fitted to the interior as standard, and computers played a much bigger part than they had previously, with automatic climate control and an electronic spoiler which raised itself at 50mph being products of technological progress.

Besides the Carrera 2 and 4, high-performance RS models and tuned versions built by Ruf are now valuable collectors’ items, and it won’t be long before the basic Carreras start catching them up.

Also important to note is that the 964 was the last truly hand built Porsche to roll off the production lines. 

Delivered on 8th August, 1990, it was this Porsche’s considerable good fortune that it should be sold new through the renowned AFN Porsche of Falcon Works, London Road, Isleworth, which was Porsche’s first official British agent.
 
 The car was supplied new in Tahoe Blue Metallic with a Dark Blue hood and Marine Blue and Linen leatherette interior. It was fitted with the following optional equipment: Blaupunkt Toronto radio cassette, sports seats with electric height adjustment, two speakers on the rear shelf, and a top-tinted windscreen. 
 
 Its first private owner was a Mr. Gerald Farnaby of Abingdon, and he appears to have kept it until 1995, when it was shipped to Northern Ireland under the new ownership of Mr. Stephen Rutherford of Holywood, but this was short-lived as it had returned to Britain by October, 1996.  

The vendor bought it from a gentleman in Portsmouth who had owned it since 2010 and appeared not to have used it. 
 
The car received a top end engine rebuild at 121,000 miles in 2016, along with an extensive body of work to bring it to top notch condition. 

The owner has found it a pleasure to drive but is offering it for sale as he does not have as many opportunities to use it as he would like. The car is put on SORN, garaged and covered each year from November to March and starts on the button each spring. 

The Porsche boasts a superb paperwork file, containing the V5, MoTs dating back to 1996, and numerous invoices. The vendor has done an excellent job of keeping and organising his paperwork, and he has the invoices to show that thousands of pounds of work has been done during his ownership, as well as a full record of MoTs since he purchased the car.

We are pleased to note that the Porsche retains its Guarantee and Maintenance book, which contains a full service history up to 2008. The vendor has also obtained a file from the Porsche Club of Great Britain and two from Cridfords, the Surrey Porsche specialist, but we are most impressed by the Certificate of Authenticity supplied by the Porsche factory, which confirms his car’s identity and details its original specification.

There is also a booklet explaining the Porsche Lifetime Guarantee, to which the car is entitled, and an instruction manual for the Clifford Concept 300 security system.

The Porsche’s interior presents exceptionally well, with the Linen leatherette seats in excellent condition for 31 years old. There leatherette of the front seats is showing a few minor cracks, but nothing that detracts from the car’s appearance or which is likely to require repairs any time soon.

The dash, centre console and door fittings are all superb, and the rear seats do not show any signs of use. Everything ought to satisfy even the most meticulous scrutiny, save for the carpets which are very good but do sport some discolouring, which is normal for the age of the car. 

Bidders will note that the original Blaupunkt Toronto radio cassette player is no longer fitted. In its place is a modern Kenwood KDC-BT710DAB digital radio, and we can confirm that the combination of radio and speakers are capable of producing a powerful refined sound and provides hands free telephony – perfect for a blast along a rural A-road with the roof down beneath the summer sun. 

The Porsche’s external appearance is stunning, and helped considerably in that regard by the Tahoe Blue Metallic paint. Could there be a more attractive colour? Named after the glistening Lake Tahoe in California, the it certainly evokes Californian summers and the car would feel quite at home on the Pacific Coast Highway.

As far as its condition goes, it’s all pretty much as good as it looks. There is one noticeable paint blemish on the offside corner of the rear bumper, but otherwise we could not find fault. 

The wheels are superb, and the glass mostly very good, although we did spot a small crack in the offside front sidelight and there are some superficial marks on the rear light lenses. 

The electrically-operated hood and back screen were fully replaced in 2016 and  looks as good as new.

The vendor tells us that this Porsche is a real pleasure to drive, and we can well believe it. We can say for certain that it starts on the button and sounds phenomenal. 
 
The vendor has fitted a straight-through exhaust to fully appreciated the sound of the air-cooled engine, and when one blips the throttle, the car responds with a fierce bark. If you’d prefer something a bit quieter, the sale does include the original exhaust silencer which can quickly be refitted.

The power steering makes manoeuvring the car in tight spaces very easy and, from what we experienced, the brakes, clutch and manual five-speed gearbox all seem to be in perfectly good order. 

The car passed its MoT on 13th April, 2021, with the sole advisory note that it has an ‘oil leak, but not excessive’. The vendor has advised that the oil leak is extremely minor with only a few drops noticeable on the garage floor after sitting in the garage for six months over the winter months.

The car has just undergone a full check up and service by Weston Porsche in August 2021 prior to delivery.

The classic shape, the dazzling colour and the ferocious sound of the engine can only get better once the driving begins. This is a car which promises exhilarating motoring for those who are that way inclined, but would also suit slow cruise top down, catching the sun.  

As anyone with an eye on the market will have observed, RS and Ruf versions of the 964 are starting to fetch top money and, as demand for them goes up, so it surely will for the Carrera 4. ‘Strike while the iron is hot’ is what we say. You might not get such a good opportunity again to buy such a fine hand built example of air-cooled automotive history.