1976 PORSCHE

The 930 was the first turbocharged 911, and it was an instant hit from the moment it debuted at the 1974 Paris Motor Show. Critics loved it, and its styling took Porsche to the stratosphere, right alongside the Mediterranean monsters coming out of Modena. The whale tail, the Fuchs wheels and the “turbo” script on the rear deck lid, hiding that three-litre air-cooled flat-six, were the stuff of bedroom-wall posters. Now you can live out your ‘80s childhood dream, courtesy of Duke’s Quality Motors at Duke of London.

While Britain was busy watching The Sweeney chase villains around in Granadas, and the Lamborghini Countach was busy being everybody’s poster, Porsche built the one car you could actually drive to the shops. And then blast down an A-road at 4 am, Cannonball Run-style, between Newport Pagnell and the Watford Gap.

As any child of the ‘80s will remember, after hours spent thumbing through the car magazines, the 930 was the antithesis of everything else road-going. Its flat-six, a bloodline that traces back to Hans Mezger’s drawing board, came straight out of Porsche’s racing thinking. That made it a car to be worked: keep the revs up and the boost on, and it rewarded you with a shove in the back. Let it fall off the boil, and the lag, then the sudden rush when the turbo woke up, had earned it a nickname: the Widowmaker.

If it didn’t catch you out on a mountain pass one Sunday morning, it’d have a go at your bank balance instead. And yes, all this in 1976, in the long shadow of a worldwide oil crisis, from a company that would go on to make one of its most sought-after and influential cars ever.

Pedigree

Porsche wanted to go racing in Group 4, and that meant building enough road cars to qualify. The 930 was that car, and it became the basis for the 934 and, in Group 5 form, the 935. The message to customers was simple: this is a race car for the road.

The numbers match the bravado: a 2,994cc air-cooled flat-six, a single KKK turbo, Bosch K-Jetronic injection, and 256bhp at 5,500rpm with 253lb ft of torque at 4,000rpm. When it arrived, it was the fastest production car in Germany. Porsche reckoned sixty came up in around five and a half seconds, with a top end of roughly 155mph. In the seventies. In a car with a four-speed gearbox, no electronic nannies and a weight of under 1.2 tonnes.

Treat it with respect, and it’ll love you for it. Get cocky, and it’ll swiftly introduce you to the nearest hedge. That’s the deal, and honestly, it’s half the appeal. Does the Widowmaker name make sense now?

Our Example

This well-documented car comes with photographic evidence of a cherished life.

One that was done to the tune of 110,000 EUR +VAT; expenditure on the car that is photodocumented but not line-itemised on the respective invoice. Key information does include:

It’s had a full back-to-shell restoration, stripped and freshly painted in white. The engine was rebuilt, the brakes and suspension laid bare, and a retrimmed interior completed the look. Today, the clock reads a mere 2,396km.

It also spent part of its life in Greece, far from grit, road salt and Great British potholes.

In 2017 it was treated to a comprehensive fettling at Centro Assistenza Porsche in Padova, Italy; between April and May 2019 it received a new set of all eight fuel injectors, new rear spring plate bushings, a wheel alignment and a rear height adjustment, and in April 2023 it went to Porsche Centre West London for a service.

It’s safe to say this 930 is a gem, needing and wanting for nothing other than a good stretch of its legs.

Does this sound like a bit of you?

This 1976 Porsche 911 Turbo is a proper wedge of the ’70s that’s still got its marbles.

Come down to Duke of London in West London and let’s talk. Viewings by appointment. Enquire below.