1980 Porsche

The story begins with Porsche’s desire to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1980. The FIA’s Group 4 regulations required any manufacturer wishing to compete to first build at least 400 road-legal versions of their racing machine, a process known as homologation. In other words, Porsche had to put a race car in your hands before they could put one on the starting grid at La Sarthe. The result was the 924 Carrera GT, and just 406 were built of which only 75 were built in right-hand drive.

The Carrera GT was no token effort, representing a significant step up over the standard 924 Turbo in virtually every respect. The turbocharged, intercooled 2.0-litre engine was uprated from 170 bhp to around 210 bhp, while the car itself was made 150 kg lighter, resulting in a genuine road-going racer capable of nearly 150 mph at a time when turbocharging and intercooling on a production car remained genuinely unusual.

The changes went far beyond the engine. Extended rear arches allowed fitment of the wider wheels from the 930, while aerodynamic improvements increased downforce and stability at speed. Braking was entrusted to large Porsche racing callipers with internally vented discs front and rear. The suspension was comprehensively uprated throughout, with front independent geometry using McPherson struts and Bilstein dampers, and a rear set-up comprising semi-trailing arms, torsion bars and Bilstein gas dampers.

Combined with the inherent balance of the transaxle transmission layout, which delivers a near-perfect 50:50 weight distribution and weighing in at around 1,000 kg, the Carrera GT offered a level of dynamic ability that set it well apart from any standard 924.

The racing cars it homologated, the 924 Carrera GTR, finished 6th, 12th and 13th overall at Le Mans in 1980, beating full prototype machinery in the process. One of those cars was driven by Derek Bell, the five-time Le Mans winner, and when asked about the relationship between the road car and the racer, he was characteristically direct: “It’s got a bit less power, and it’s a bit softer, but the race car, although more rigid, has the same suspension, though a bit stiffer. But they felt very similar.” For a buyer considering the Carrera GT today, that lineage is everything. This is not a car that was inspired by a racer; it is the racer, detuned just enough to be registered for the road.

The Porsche 924 Carrera GT made its UK debut at the 1980 British Motor Show. The significance here is that this particular car is that very car: the official Porsche Cars Great Britain Press and Motor Show demonstrator.

A UK-market, right-hand drive example, first registered in October 1980, it is finished in the rarely seen and highly attractive combination of Diamond Silver Metallic with Black and Red pinstripe velour and Leatherette upholstery with contrasting red stitching and piping.

Following its debut at the Motor Show, the car remained in the ownership of Porsche Cars Great Britain for the next 14 years, serving as the company’s official press and promotional vehicle. During this period, it was personally driven by the then Managing Director of Porsche Cars GB before being loaned to Porsche Isleworth, part of the AFN Group, to compete in the 1982 British Sports Car Championship.

Driven by Tony Lanfranchi, the Carrera GT achieved a memorable victory in the final round of the championship at Brands Hatch on 16 October 1982, taking first place against a full field of production cars.

Following its competition career, Porsche Cars GB retained ownership, with the car spending much of its time in dry storage while also being used for display purposes and technical training. It finally entered private ownership in April 1994, when it was returned to full road-going specification by respected Porsche specialists ADDspeed Engineering and Autobahn Porsche. The current owner acquired the car in August 2008.

Accompanying the car is an exceptional history file containing the original Porsche 924 Carrera GT press releases, factory technical literature, Porsche Cars GB internal chassis enquiry records documenting its first fourteen years, British Sports Car Championship results, original Porsche-issued press photographs, service invoices, historic MOT certificates, tax discs and the original keys.

Presented in outstanding condition throughout, the car’s appearance is entirely consistent with its remarkably low mileage of just over 27,000 miles. The history file contains a letter confirming that the original speedometer was replaced in 1995 at 20,557 miles after the trip meter jammed, preventing the odometer from recording mileage correctly. Pleasingly, the original speedometer accompanies the car, while the replacement unit now displays 6,831 miles, bringing the total recorded mileage to just over 27,000 miles. Also included within the history file is a Porsche Chassis Enquiry Certificate, issued in 1994, confirming that no accident damage was recorded against the car at that time. Mechanically, the car has been maintained regardless of cost, having been serviced within the last 150 miles, while cosmetically it benefited from a glass-out repaint in May 2021 and a comprehensive dry-ice clean of the underside in March 2022.

Collector-grade Porsche competition and press cars rarely become available. There will only ever be one official 1980 British Motor Show Porsche 924 Carrera GT, and this is it. Its fascinating Porsche Cars GB history, documented competition success and rare Diamond Silver Metallic colour scheme combine to create one of the most significant and desirable UK-market Carrera GTs in existence.

Available now for viewing and demonstration at Pendine’s Bicester Motion showroom.