1985 Porsche 930 Turbo – Classified of the Week

The Porsche 911 is a supercar constant. With us since the 1960s, it has been through more evolutionary steps than some mammals, and is still as popular today as it was when it was first launched. It’s a car that transcends the world of the automotive enthusiast. Ask someone with no interest in cars what they’d buy if their numbers came up, and most of them will say Porsche. It’s a familiar supercar, which is not a claim any of its Italian peers can claim. Everyone knows what a 911 is, and that means that the 911 is always in demand. But within the sea of evolutions and options, there are some 911s that are more sought after than others. Cars like this, for example – the 930 Turbo. 

This was the car that put the 911 into the ring with the other supercars of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Before this, the 911 was a high performance vehicle, but it wasn’t something you’d pit against a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. That all changed with the 930 Turbo. 

Like many good things, the 930 sort of happened by accident. Porsche had been playing with turbocharging technology, but needed a homologated car in order to race with forced induction. As such, the 911 Turbo was going to be a stripped back, bare bones road racer built in small enough numbers to just satisfy the demands of the FIA. Then the FIA changed the rules, and stated that for Group 4 and 5 cars, there had to be a dealership version available to the consumer. Porsche, worried at the time that the 911 was perhaps coming to the end of its life (don’t forget, they built the 928 to replace the 911) wasn’t too keen. But to race, it had to. 

The worry wasn’t required. The 930, with its 250bhp air-cooled flat six was an instant hit, and one that the buying public was desperate to get hold of. Rather than build cars that Porsche had worried about selling, it turned out Porsche couldn’t build them fast enough. As such, the 930 was instrumental in the longevity of the model. The addition of a turbo transformed the car. It was no longer a semi-serious performance car – it was a supercar. 

By the mid ‘80s, the power of the 930 Turbo had grown considerably. By then, it was near 300bhp. The car became a poster child for performance. It also proved that you could have a supercar that could be used every day. The 911 was not, nor has ever been, a fragile, delicate thing like its Italian rivals. It’s a rugged, tough machine that can be used regularly and used hard. 

If you want a 930 Turbo, there are few finer than this black-on-black 1985 model that’s currently for sale with Fast Classics. It’s covered a mere 81,000 miles, it comes with a massive history file detailing a fastidious regime of servicing and maintenance. It’s in exceptional condition from bumper to bumper, and it’s just had over five grand spent on the engine and four-speed manual transmission. It is, make no mistake, an exceptional car. A classic that you can use hard, and that will still outperform a lot of modern performance models. Plus, just look at it, is there a cooler shape? Possibly not.