Know Your 911: Part 3 - the 964
The third 911 is known by the fans as the 964. At the time, Porsche said that 85% of the car was new despite having the same shell as the G Series with integrated plastic bumpers.
Looking for the other parts? Click here!
The 964 arrived under a cloud. In 1989 Porsche was in a fair bit of economic trouble (foreshadowing the near-flameout two decades later) and the 964 had to perform on the dealer floor.
Yeah, it did pretty well. Nearly 100,000 over the five years it was on sale from 1989 to 1994.
The flat-six remained, of course, now at 3.6-litres and producing 184kW (250PS), driving all four wheels. The Carrera 4 lead the launch of the car, before rear-wheel drive returned in 1990 Carrera 2. The 3.6-litre also featured twin-spark ignition, a result of the company’s work with aircraft engines.
There was indeed a lot of new stuff. A retractable rear wing eliminated (scary) rear aero lift, you could specify an automatic transmission with Tiptronic and power steering was standard. And twin airbags followed in the Carrera 2, a few years after their introduction in the 924.
964 911 Turbo – 3.3 to 3.6
The 911 Turbo returned with the old car’s 235 kW (320PS) 3.3-litre before moving to the 3.6-litre base engine from the other 964s in 1994. The latter spun up a handy 265 kW (360 PS). These are rare given the fourth-generation 993 was just around the corner.
In 1992 you could buy the 964 in RS guise again and American buyers could get RS Americas, of which just 71 were built.
911 Speedster
Amusingly, you could buy a 911 Speedster from 1993. This featured a chopped windscreen, double bubble behind the seats and a modified roof. Based on the Carerra 2 Cabriolet, Porsche built 930 Speedsters and a further 15 with the fat-bottomed turbo bodywork.
I don’t know about you, but I think they look horrific.
Thankfully the 993 was a little more tasteful. Mostly.
