Dream Car Spotlight – Porsche 964 Turbo

After I posted my list of some of the cars I’d buy if I won the lottery I got to thinking that I should have never stopped my “Dream Car of the Month” series.  At the time, I was running out of ideas on what cars to highlight.  I was trying too hard to find unique cars that people may have never heard of or at least didn’t know much about.  So, I’m going to try to bring it back, sort of.  It will be called “Dream Car Spotlight” and it probably won’t be monthly but I’ll try to post regularly if I can find cars that make the cut.

So, without further delay, the first car in the new series and one from my list of lottery cars, the Porsche 964 Turbo.

The Porsche 964 was the first real significant redesign of the venerable 911 model with over 85% of the car being new.  It appeared in 1989 and production lasted until 1994.  The 964 was available in various different configurations like the Carrera 2, Carrera 4, Targa, and Cabriolet.  The turbo, however, is the model I’m most interested in.

The 964 Turbo was introduced in 1990 as a replacement for the original 911 turbo, the 930.  Porsche had planned to use a turbocharged version of the new 3.6L M64 engine used in the base 964 but development delays resulted in them re-using the 3.3L 930 motor.  Several minor updates to the 3.3L made it less prone to turbo lag and produced a bump in power to 320HP.

In 1992, Porsche introduced the 3.3 Turbo S which boasted 350HP and was a stripped down lightweight performance machine.  The result was one of the fastest cars in the world in 1992, the only year it was produced.  Only about 80 3.3 Turbo S models were built that year.

The biggest changes to the 946 Turbo occurred in 1993 when the new 3.6L turbo motor was finally ready for production.  Producing 360HP from the turbocharged M64, the 3.6L turbo was again one of the fastest cars in the world during its very short production run.  Sadly, the 3.6L 964 Turbo was only produced for the 1993-1994 model year and less than 1,500 examples were built, making it very, very rare and highly sought after.

Porsche 964 Turbo 3.6 S Slantnose

As a final farewell, Porsche took the 964 Turbo chassis that were leftover after production had ended in 1994, about 90 cars in all, and came up with the 3.6S.  This special edition 3.6 Turbo S produced 380HP and could be ordered in the standard 964 Turbo body or with a special factory slantnose.  Prices for the Turbo S slantnose were over $150,000 in 1994.

The Porsche 964 Turbo was a very special car.  Not only was it one of the fastest cars on the planet during the years it was in production but it also marked the end of the “old school” 911 Turbos.  It was the last 911 Turbo model to sport a single turbo and it was the last available with rear wheel drive only.  Early 964 Turbos with the 3.3L are selling anywhere from the high $20,000 range to upwards of $40,000 and above.  The very rare 3.6L 964 Turbos are appreciating at a much faster rate.  Prices for a nice 3.6 Turbo start above $40,000 and only go up from there.  I’d gladly give up some redundant body parts for one.