Porsche 968 Club Sport | Spotted
We're used to racy 911s being valuable - now it's the turn of the 968
It’s a close run thing, but probably Porsche is still the best out there at making road racer sports cars. The kind of things that are as thrilling on the circuit as they are the street, that are built tough enough to endure years of track days, and which are approachable enough for all abilities. That’s part of the reason why the new ones cause such a commotion. That and the fresh PTS options, of course.
Having made the cars for so long has helped Porsche hone its craft. The Renn Sport badge has been on the back of 911s since the '70s, and the GT3 one since the last century. Despite all that’s changed in those years, Porsche sports cars with those badges can always be relied on to deliver. Make them Club Sport spec on top and you’re definitely onto a winner; as the name suggests, Club Sport Porsches were originally designed with amateur competition in mind. These days, there probably won’t be many GT3s at the local hillclimb, but the stripped-out, race-ready Porsches have always made for some of the most exhilarating sports cars.
The 968 CS is most certainly one of them. While it hails from a time when Porsche was in the doldrums somewhat, and created to rejuvenate a transaxle range that was long in the tooth by the early '90s, that didn’t stop the Club Sport being raved about. Lighter, firmer, fitter and louder than a very impressive standard 968, it proved that a fantastic Porsche Club Sport didn’t have to be a 911.
Indeed it became much loved by track day goers, balanced in a way that rear-engined Porsches of the time could never be and supremely durable. Back when there wasn’t quite such a fuss about collecting rare, track-focused Porsches, nothing could match a well-sorted 968 Club Sport (or the slightly less extreme Sport) as far as affordable track day fun was concerned.
But we all know how it goes for cars that are brilliant to drive and not tremendously expensive. They get crashed, they get modified, they get driven to the end of their usable lives or perhaps even made into race cars. They seldom survive in the state that made them so loved in the first place. Which makes this 968 all the more special, because it’s a full house of Club Sport bingo: Speed Yellow with colour-matched wheels and seats, Lightweight spec, the sport chassis and limited-slip diff from new, few owners and low mileage from new. It’s actually been on display at the NEC and the Nurburgring as a prime example of the breed.
It’s a very hard thing to find any fault with, and that doesn’t happen often with old Porsches. The only modification from standard is the newer stereo (a Porsche item, naturally), and everything this 968 has ever needed has been done at Porsche, including a £30k restoration a decade ago. The service history is genuinely astonishing, showing almost 30 years of visits to main dealers. So now it presents as one of the best Club Sport still around, and actually one of the nicest '90s Porsche we’ve seen in a while. There’d be no reason not to find out what all the fuss is about, either, with a valid MOT and recent cambelt change. Nothing would stand out in a sea of silly Porsches quite like one with a 3.0-litre four-cylinder in the front. Although £65k is probably the most a Porsche 968 has ever been for sale at, this is surely the most desirable one has ever looked as well. And good luck buying any kind of Club Sport 911 for that money…
SPECIFICATION | PORSCHE 968 CLUB SPORT
Engine: 2,990cc, four-cyl
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 240@6,200rpm
Torque (lb ft): 225@4,100rpm
MPG: c. 30
CO2: N/A
Recorded mileage: 44,814
Year registered: 1994
Price new: £28,975 (1993)
Yours for: £64,990
)Re the engine, these have variable timing, and give their best above 4500rpm, so I enjoy revving it out. They have balancer tech too, so they’re not too harsh for a 4-cyl. Being a 3L, you can sense something a bit different with the big cylinders when starting it up. Many say these cars are lacking in performance, but I find my one (with a ProMax chip for most of its life) moves along well with c. 250bhp. Mine has the M030 Brembos and Konis too
Also a note on build quality. Usual cliches of “bank vault” and “hewn from granite” apply, switchgear all needs a good push, doors close with a “thunk”, etc. Very satisfying, and more than makes up for lack of toys for me
I’ve had it a few years now, and it’s one of those cars I’m not sure I’ll ever sell. Don’t think it’ll ever be worth period 911 money, but for something rare and a bit special they tick quite a few boxes
I note the one for sale has an airbag for some reason, whereas here’s my ClubSport Atiwe, the best steering wheel I’ve ever had
And before the sunroof gets mentioned as being strange in a CS, they nearly all had those fitted in later model years. I believe it was something to do with the provided bodies-in-white and limited availability when Porsche was already looking towards the new Boxster
)Re the engine, these have variable timing, and give their best above 4500rpm, so I enjoy revving it out. They have balancer tech too, so they re not too harsh for a 4-cyl. Being a 3L, you can sense something a bit different with the big cylinders when starting it up. Many say these cars are lacking in performance, but I find my one (with a ProMax chip for most of its life) moves along well with c. 250bhp. Mine has the M030 Brembos and Konis too
Also a note on build quality. Usual cliches of bank vault and hewn from granite apply, switchgear all needs a good push, doors close with a thunk , etc. Very satisfying, and more than makes up for lack of toys for me
I ve had it a few years now, and it s one of those cars I m not sure I ll ever sell. Don t think it ll ever be worth period 911 money, but for something rare and a bit special they tick quite a few boxes
I note the one for sale has an airbag for some reason, whereas here s my ClubSport Atiwe, the best steering wheel I ve ever had
And before the sunroof gets mentioned as being strange in a CS, they nearly all had those fitted in later model years. I believe it was something to do with the provided bodies-in-white and limited availability when Porsche was already looking towards the new Boxster
Here s one is blood orange because it s a fantastic colour and goes with the citrus theme:
Didn’t know that existed
Just to note the 968s were built in Zuffenhausen, unlike the previous transaxles like the 924 and 944 which were Neckarsulm cars. A sign of the recession and available production capacity in the early 90s, even with RS2 and 500E contracts
I remember the CS being very (to modern minds) un-Porsche in that it was mid-range; you lost the AC and leather, you got the revised set-up and it came out just a few grand more than the base model.
The idea that a spot of "grr... sporty..." would allow you to gouge the customer to 11 clearly hadn't dawned on Porsche at this time, either that or the market was just, well, canny.
N.B. the engine is an in-between thing; neither scintillating revver nor chugger (peak pw ~6k), not an aurally lovely thing nor is it rough. 230ftlb @ 4.1k - nothing to see here, typical of a N/A, period, 3-ish litre engine.
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