Throwback 911 3.2 Carrera Cabriolet for sale
Suddenly keen to relive a guilt-free decade? Here's the perfect time machine...
A Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, and it’s red. Crikey, it’s so ‘80s that it’s almost comical. This one’s Guards Red, with red wheels, red carpets, red piping and contrasting black hood and black seats. Nothing that special there; by 1989, when this car rolled off the line at Zuffenhausen, I dare say they’d made a few examples barely indistinguishable from this one. But I dare say you’d struggle to find many in such splendid condition as the one we have here. Three decades may have slipped by in a blur of ever-more miniature mobile phones, but the years have been kind to this example.
Speaking of mobiles, I can’t help but look at this car and see a pinstriped, red-braced yuppie racing through the city, hood down and rah-rahing loudly into a ‘brick’, perhaps ordering a table at some swanky wine bar with a bottle of Bolly on ice. And if that all seems a bit obvious, just look again at the car. It’s a cliché on wheels. The 1980s was a giant shoulder pad of ‘F-You’ excess bridging the ‘70s and '90s, and a red 911 was the keystone in the middle.
That said, it’s adorable. Sure, the period it came from may have been crass and well short of humanity’s highpoint, but that wasn’t the car’s fault. We’ve since learned to love the Ford Capri all over again, and a 3.2 Carrera is rightly even more sought after these days. Between 1984 and 1989 Porsche sold more than 70,000 examples of the 3.2 Carrera, reputedly making it the most successful 911 in history by sales volume. That was a mix of buyers’ enduring love for Porsche’s classic but also just finding itself in the right place at the right time: to piggyback on the huge economic boom in Porsche’s key markets.
It very nearly didn’t happen, of course. In 1979 the company had famously made a plan to kill off its most iconic model and replace it with the 928 - yet the 911 refused to die. The story goes that Peter Schutz, who was Porsche CEO from 1981 to 1989, walked into the office of Dr Helmuth Bott, who was the board member for engineering and development, and noticed a chart on his wall. It represented the product development of the company’s three principal models. The 944 and 928 lines stretched well into the future, but the 911 stopped dead in 1981. So Schutz picked up a black marker, walked over to the wall and extended the 911’s line clean off the chart. Apparently, this raised a cheer from Bott.
It was a risky move, when you bear in mind that the 911 was pensionable. But the Cabriolet was introduced in 1982 and sold very well, despite costing a good chunk more than the coupe, and 911 sales in general remained very strong. It was when the 3.2 Carrera was launched that things went completely off the scale, and in doing so sealed the 911’s future and, some would say, the company’s, too.
All this is strange when you think about it. There was nothing retrospective about the ‘80s; it was all about the future and new technology. Yet here, centre stage, was a little, air-cooled Porsche from the ‘60s with pedals sprouting from the floor. The 3.2 Carrera had been updated, of course. Porsche claimed the engine was 80 per cent new and included Bosch electronic injection and ignition, and eventually the old 915 gearbox was replaced by the extra precision of the G50, but the classic styling and haphazard interior remained. I’m not sure what drew people to the 911? They could quite easily wound up parked next to a Ferrari Testarossa looking every bit the ‘60s throwback. Still, I'm very pleased that people were.
The world would be a sadder place without a car that continues as an outlier. It’s no longer air-cooled, the pedals may be top-hinged, and the interior doesn’t look like the product of an explosion in a switch factory, but its easily identifiable shape and funny engine configuration remain. And for a period-perfect, prime example of what kept the line going, look no further than the car you see here.
What a wonderful example, I would have this in a heart beat if I had the money, which actually seems pretty reasonable to me.
Come on Santa, be kind!
Struggling to understand this point. What was wrong with the 80’s compared to the 70’s or 90’s or even 00’s ?
The 70’s (I remember them just) are almost universally recognized by people old enough to remember them as probably the worst decade since world war 2.
The 80’s brought a huge amount of prosperity to the UK and wider world, and was largely quite a peaceful decade that I remember fondly. This weird demonizing of yuppies , basically young people who wanted to work and spend money, and turning them in to ‘loadsa money’ or ‘Dom Jolly’ meme is a bit lame
Guards red too (I think the colour was called « Indish Röt ». High spec with full leather, wider Fuchs wheels, etc.,…
It looked lovely but suffered from body flex.
I remember sitting in the back as a teenager and putting my finger in the gap behind the door near the lock and each time it got pinched going through a bend at speed.
My dad eventually sold it. In 1990, he bought a 964 cab which was way more rigid.
I’d take a coupe 3.2 Carrera which is better sorted.
Struggling to understand this point. What was wrong with the 80’s compared to the 70’s or 90’s or even 00’s ?
The 70’s (I remember them just) are almost universally recognized by people old enough to remember them as probably the worst decade since world war 2.
The 80’s brought a huge amount of prosperity to the UK and wider world, and was largely quite a peaceful decade that I remember fondly. This weird demonizing of yuppies , basically young people who wanted to work and spend money, and turning them in to ‘loadsa money’ or ‘Dom Jolly’ meme is a bit lame
Struggling to understand this point. What was wrong with the 80’s compared to the 70’s or 90’s or even 00’s ?
The 70’s (I remember them just) are almost universally recognized by people old enough to remember them as probably the worst decade since world war 2.
The 80’s brought a huge amount of prosperity to the UK and wider world, and was largely quite a peaceful decade that I remember fondly. This weird demonizing of yuppies , basically young people who wanted to work and spend money, and turning them in to ‘loadsa money’ or ‘Dom Jolly’ meme is a bit lame
The car however is wonderful and from before the 911 got too big/fat, has to be driven with respect but so characterful.
. Bring back the 80's! Struggling to understand this point. What was wrong with the 80’s compared to the 70’s or 90’s or even 00’s ?
The 70’s (I remember them just) are almost universally recognized by people old enough to remember them as probably the worst decade since world war 2.
The 80’s brought a huge amount of prosperity to the UK and wider world, [b]and was largely quite a peaceful/b] decade that I remember fondly.
Anyway a lovely classic car although not a fan of red.
Pip
Turned the key and Tina Turner came out of the stereo.
The clutch seemed amazingly heavy and I was off. It felt the nuts.
Took it round Holborn and it was was both exciting and terrifying, managing third a couple of times then scaring myself with the odd throttle dab.
Got it parked and got a "Did ya scratch it then?" from the boss.
He kept it for a couple of years then bought a V8 Aston, but I didn't get a go in that.
/My 911 story.
Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff