1989 Porsche 930 Turbo – Auction Car of the Week

The Porsche 911 Turbo, or 930 to give it its official title, was the first production turbocharged 911 produced by Porsche and remains one of the all time greats. And we’re not just talking about the German giant’s output here. We mean of all time. It’s up there with the likes of the VW Beetle and the Ford Mustang – those instantly recognisable, iconic cars that will forever be remembered and revered. It came into its own at a time of excess, when bigger was better and speed and performance were the ultimate signifiers of automotive dominance. Yep, it was the ’80s. The decade of excess. And what excesses the 930 Turbo displayed! From acceleration and speed to turbo lag and oversteer, everything was turned up to 11.

We say the ’80s because although the 930 was originally introduced in 1975 it was the subsequent decade that was considered its hey day and will always be the time we associate with this beast of a car. For us it was part of that holy trinity of boyhood wall art growing up, alongside the Ferrari Testarossa and Lamborghini Countach. We’ve been lucky enough to drive one in the past and whoever said “never meet your heroes” needs their head examining. It was a truly sublime yet terrifying experience.

Initially offered with a 3.0-litre, air-cooled, flat-six engine with a single turbocharger producing around 260bhp, the 930 was certainly fast enough. Porsche then decided to increase capacity to 3.3-litres in 1978, whilst also adding an air-to-air intercooler to help keep temperatures down, resulting in the larger and now iconic ‘tea tray’ spoiler. This also increased the peak power output to approximately 300 horsepower, slashing the car’s 0-60 time to under five seconds in the process. Things had just gotten real, as they say. A third iteration of the engine was offered in ’83 (as well as in the later ‘Slant Nose’ models) with an additional 30bhp. Madness.

The car we currently have available via Car & Classic auctions is a 1989 Porsche 930 Turbo. This is a late model, 3.3-litre, 300bhp version that also features the five-speed Getrag manual gearbox that was offered for this, the final year of production. It’s the perfect combination. Not only that but this particular example has benefited from a recent restoration of both its body and mechanicals, which only adds to the car’s allure.

As part of said restoration process back in 2015 the car had some fabrication and replacement panels installed before being stripped back to bare metal and re-painted in its original, all black colour scheme and boy does it look the part. Beautifully menacing the car has had little use since the refresh and so the paint and body still present incredibly well. As you would expect after such a recent resto there is not a spec of rust on the car and the original Fuchs alloy wheels are in top condition.

Moving inside the cockpit you’ll find swathes of white leather upholstery adorning the figure-hugging bucket seats, contrasting nicely against the black piping, over mats and dash. It’s in great shape overall with only some minor, age-related wear to the driver’s seat bolster.

The car has covered 177,000 miles but don’t let this put you off because the restoration was not just limited to the exterior. With a full engine rebuild and mechanical refresh at the same time by Porsche specialists, to the tune of almost £60,000, that six digit number in the centre of the speedo is merely that – a number. The fact of the matter is this is a mechanically sorted 930, fresh from a rebuild and ready for fun. To further assuage any concerns you may have the car has an impressive, comprehensive service history with 20 stamps in the original maintenance book from both Porsche main dealer and specialist garages. A brief look online at this 930’s MOT history shows a clean bill of health too. One that corroborates the current condition and level of care the car has received over the course of its life.

If you’ve ever wanted to own an iconic ’80s supercar, free from all of the driver aids of more modern fare, then this Porsche 930 Turbo is for you. An experience like no other the 930 is pure driving pleasure. But it’s not for the feint of heart. It deserves, nay, it commands respect because with that infamous turbo lag and propensity for oversteer it can all go very wrong, very quickly. It didn’t earn its nickname of ‘Widowmaker’ because it was a pussy cat. Tame the thing though and when you get it right there’s not much that can touch it. Go on, meet your hero, say hello and strike up a conversation. You won’t be disappointed.