1987 Porsche 911 3.2 Sport Cabriolet

“ An exciting and VERY worthwhile project. ”
90% of the work has been done, so you can finish the job, and claim all the glory.

Background
The Porsche 911 first broke cover in 1963 and evolved over the years from a rather slender and spartan engineering oddity to the pumped-up, high-tech ballistic missiles that now carry the name and number.

The 911 3.2 Carrera arrived in 1984 as a replacement for the SC series. It revived the Carrera name for the first time since 1977 and introduced a new, higher-displacement engine - the 3.2-litre horizontally opposed flat 6-cylinder unit.

While the early cars were slow, pretty and quite delicate – and the later cars very aggressive, fast and almost indestructible – many enthusiasts think the 3.0-litre and 3.2-litre 911 from the late seventies and eighties are the purest evocations and the ones that best blend classic looks with excellent performance and better-than-average reliability – and a well fettled 911 is a very quick and reliable car indeed.

And the car’s reputation for being a little unforgiving of drivers who lift off in corners is, we think, largely undeserved.

Yes, some people did find themselves flying through the air backwards at great speed into nearby trees and bushes.

Often at shoulder height, usually in the rain, and mostly in a 930 Turbo.

But while the flat-six, air-cooled (actually oil-cooled, but never mind) aluminium engine might be hanging out behind the rear axle line like some monstrous pendulum, the handling is actually surprisingly benign - provided you don’t do anything really silly, obviously.

The 911 3.2 Carrera is still impressively quick, with 60mph coming up in 5.4 seconds (according to Autocar), thanks to a combination of engine power, low weight and excellent rear wheel grip. It sounds splendid, too.

The absence of water-cooling means that the raw, virtually unmuted engine blares directly behind you, accompanied, of course, by one of the world’s great exhaust notes.

The interior is simple, tough and built to last, which means you can forgive the slightly wayward ergonomics and tendency to stick switches and knobs in places where no other manufacturer would think to stick them.

It’s comfortable too, with supportive seats and one of the best driving positions in the business.  

Overview
The vendor, who has owned the car for around 10 years, tells us that this very attractive ’Guards Red’, G50 5-speed, sport pack-equipped example was up and running before the current project commenced but, as it’s been off the road and in storage for quite some time, it will need finishing before it’s advisable to fire it up in anger again.

We know it turns over because we’ve seen a video of it doing just that.

It has been living on the Isle of Man since 1998 and, although prior to that it was in the UK, it will need to be MoT’d and re-registered for use in the UK.

The car currently has project status and is a work-in-progress that’s gone a fair way to completion and now needs a little extra encouragement to get it back on the road.

The good news is that the car is very straight, and comes with its original paintwork plus everything needed to complete the restoration job comes with the car.

And we mean everything - from new piston rings, valve guides, 4 new Sachs dampers, and full Dansk S/S exhaust system including manifolds and heat exchangers to a brand-new cabriolet hood, new Goodridge brake hoses, all manner of new gaskets and fittings, and a new nearside gearbox for the hood mechanism from a well-known breaker.

It all adds up to around £12,000-worth of new bits and pieces to fit to the car.

Already fitted to the car are a new VEMS ECU with lambda sensor (the original Bosch Motronic system is also included), newly refurbished, painted and lacquered genuine 16” Fuchs alloys (6" wide at the front, 8" at rear) with new brake callipers, and new, unused Bridgestone Potenza S0-2 tyres.

Estimate: £25,000 - £30,000

View Current Bid Price HERE