This Porsche 930 has been in the seller’s possession for some time but has only racked up nominal mileage since he took possession of it in the early 90s. The 930 is perhaps the most iconic turbocharged Porsche ever made, known for its fat, flared fenders and twitchy handling that has exposed many inexperienced drivers. The seller’s car is in pieces but underneath all that neglect, there’s apparently a rebuilt engine and a chassis with 37,500 miles. Find it here on eBay with bids to $35,100 and the reserve unmet.
The seller includes this photo which I interpret as being the car in the pictures before it was disassembled. If it is the same car, it serves as a reminder that even a turbocharged 911 – one of the foremost exotic sports cars – was previously perceived as just a used-up “fast” car. It looks to have a non-factory paint job, aftermarket bumpers, and chrome wheels, and overall has a vibe of being modified on the cheap. These days, most 930s are in pristine, factory condition, or at least restored back to OEM specifications.
What’s left unsaid is why the 930 ended up like this. Was it an attempted total restoration? Was it wrecked and then bought back from the insurance company, awaiting a fateful day when it would be put back together? Or was it simply a case of things snowballing, wherein the seller began one small project and before he knew it, the entire 930 was stripped down to its bare bones. The good news is I don’t see any major collision damage or rot concerns in the photos.
The interior remains largely complete, with factory sport leather seats and an aftermarket steering wheel. Truthfully, it’s enormously tempting to drive this 911 as-is, with the “Mad Max”-style exterior and rip-snorting turbocharged flat-six cranking away out back. The seller notes numerous desirable spares will come with the 930, including an additional engine block, turbos, whale-tail spoiler, and more. Even in pieces, this 930 draws a crowd, and if I were in a position to buy it, I’d be sorely tempted.
Bumpers are original, front valance is not. If that picture of the car is that of the one for sale I’d have to question why you’d take the car completely apart in the first place. Too much money for nothing.
Agreed. I can think of many better cars to acquire at $40k that need another $40k added to represent as ‘whole’ I’m certain someone who owns a shop can justify adding it as a project to fill in between jobs to keep employees in hours, but us regular folks should defer to said operations that have the shop, equipment and resources to properly tackle it. A guy in his home shop is in over his head. As seen in the photos.
When I was at the Porsche dealer the owner had a beautiful 76 930 we used to keep in the basement of the dealership where other classics were kept. Car was bought out from its annual slumber and my lead Porsche tech had just got done going through it. We had to take a used car a Mitsubishi Eclipse to the local transmission shop for repairs and used the Porsche to run the car to the shop. Shop was in the country so I had a chance with my service advisor to open the taps as you will. The service advisor had a modified 95 Supra turbo with a single stage turbo kit. Crazy fast!
After I picked him up at the shop we were having fun with the widow maker and we were laughing hysterically about the turbo lag. Compared to a modern car turbo lag is extreme and the transition from a very lethargic low compression engine off boost to on boost was also pretty extreme. This is a car that you have to drive it like it was stolen to extract performance which is exactly why it’s been given the name the widow maker. People would push these cars get boost in a turn and then lift when the rear tires would break traction. And the rest we shall say is history. I do like the 993 and 996 and newer turbos. Incredible cars but give me normal aspiration in a G body all day long.
Don’t lift ;)
Exactly, but in panic to run counter to your instincts can be a real challenge until you have experienced it. I found out in my non staggered 76 911S and lived to tell about it. Even after rehearsing in my mind for the opportunity I started to lift and then quickly got back into it and rode out the understeer and let the car push wide.
Sometimes, you DON”T get what you pay for. Would have been better off with a nice little slant six Dodge Dart. At least some people would still be alive. Of course, not as nice people seeing you drive into the country club, but sure beats them seeing you in a box for one last time. (unless your last drive left you in less then presentable appearance)
Anyone else notice that a certain slant 6 lover / expensive car hater has stopped commenting and now we have Rank? Happens about every 6 months or so.
Leno has featured some cars that give a steady turbo boost in linear form, but doing so in low boost like 5 pounds. So the pedal is the pedal response you ask for. Nothing unpredictable or crazy. Which is probably also easy on valves, head gaskets, timing chains etc. I never understood the need for street cars having crazy horsepower you’re never legally going to be able to use, but the real curiosity? You know the drivetrain is going to die young when you bought the high output turbo. It’s like buying a Hayubasa to ride on a bicycle path. Although gently driven, the Suzuki is going to be reliable a long while. Except it’s definitely not going to be gently driven. Like Leno says often: I’d rather have a sports car that works to be fast that you can feel it trying, than something that is actually too fast to ever experience it’s limits safely. Heavy cars with obese engines need special brakes, suspensions, and transmissions. It’s a completely different way to build a car. And that is to say: Not cheap to do safely.
Since the mid-80’s, I’ve owned all sorts of turbo cars. They sure have changed over the years – you just learn how to drive them and you will never get into any trouble. The older ones, you kept the revs up to stay in the boost, so it was important to have a manual. Turbos with autos were terrible. Now, they’ve programmed them to have no noticeable lag. My recent ride in a Bronco with a 4 cylinder Turbo with 300 HP.. The 10 speed auto keeps it in the sweet spot most of the time – I drive it in Sport mode all of the time, though.
There is no way to successfully rehearse your actions in mind. The best way is to find an empty space or an empty wide enough road & to make it spin out of control & calibrate your moves there. Even better if it’s slightly wet. Of course all electronic control of the car should be off, although in the wet they are too slow to save anything
We had a red one on consignment at the Porsche dealer where I worked and I often drove it … it was a 1980 model (before the black market ones) and the owner had replaced the standard American market differential with one from Germany (so I was told) … dealer also sold BMW … one day the owner’s son-in-law challenged me in his 750iL – he never had a chance … the car was incredibly fast and would do 0-100-0 in a city block … first two gears were close, second two were overdrive – so, fast off the line and legs after that … this was 1986 and someone offered $28k for it and the owner refused – the dealer said it was one fool meeting another … worked there two years and it was still there when I left …
1980 would have ROW. The last 930 was 1979 in the USA, until they began bringing them back again in the mid-80’s.
Sounds like the BMW had a mechanical problem or the Porsche was running a nitrous bottle. More details? Or writer embellishment by Porsche club commenter?
Some folks have more money than brains these days it seems.
I remember when these came out in 1976. Car and Driver tested one at the Transportation Research Center in Ohio and got it up to 168 mph, I believe. Mighty fast for those days.
Alfa Romeo Montreal was not as fast but an all around better car. Just the old no primer on the body panels backside issues. Shamefully. Alfa was so much better than Porsche overall. If not for that oversight on rust proofing. Throwing the weight almost mid engine – just in front of rear driven wheels – meant on the track, Porsche is loosing traction on turns as Alfa blowing by. Using less fuel in the process. Porsche Carrera dominated 24 Hours of Sebring in 1970’s (and when it went to 12 hours) simply because Alfa was putting all of their manufacturing support focus on Grand Prix stable of cars, and Andretti left Alfa for Ferrari. Otherwise we may have gotten the next evolution of Alfa Montreal, which probably was some version of the V6 (GTV) of same displacement (2.5 liter) but lighter and more robust. With a proper transmission and final ratio. In the 3.0 fuel injection form, I believe that GTV 6 with low boost can make 375hp reliably. In a mid rear in front of driven wheels in a 2,200 pound car (probably need a 300 pound roll cage if racing it, so 2500 pounds 375 horses, but in proper geometry, not behind the driven wheels).