Paul Stephens

911 and Porsche World - Wide Body Air Cooled 911s

If you’re thinking of giving these cars a berth, be
sure to make it a wide one! There, I’ve said it –
damned a trio of fine looking cars without so much
as driving them. Why? Call it logic if you like – three
911s wearing wide bodywork but without the turbo
thrust they’d ordinarily have to push those extra inches
through the air, it just doesn’t float my boat. If lesson
were needed, look at how Ruf’s narrow-body Yellowbird
blew off the broad bessies at Ehra Lessien with
211mph in the Road & Track shoot out – twin turbo’d, I
know, but it was the slender frame that worked the
magic – less bodywork equals less wind resistance. So
the opposite side to the Yellowbird coin are the
factory-built Turbo-look cars – wide-bodies but no
turbochargers, and we’ve got three from different
generations to play with: 3.2 Carrera Special Sports
Equipment, 964 Jubilee, and 993 Carrera 4S.
How better to confront my prejudice than a max-out
blast at Bruntingthorpe proving ground in Leicestershire –
home to the 200mph main runway where once Vulcan
delta-wing bombers cleft the air, and host to a few
magnificent flat-to-the-floor corners. I’ve arrived in the
black 3.2 Carrera Special Sports Equipment generously
lent by connoisseur Paul Stephens; driven it over from
Essex. Sam at PS gives the low-down: ‘by the early ’80s a
lot of 911 owners were retro-fitting Turbo arches and
wheels so Porsche decided to cash in. At first the Turbolook
cars were called Special Sports Equipment, marketed
with the M491 option code, then from 1986, simply Super
Sport.’ In fact Porsche wasn’t just exploiting a craze;
between 1980 and 1986 federal emissions legislation
ousted the 930 Turbo in the States, so there was a
market across the pond for the Turbo look-alike. It didn’t
please everybody though: doyen of Porsche historians
Paul Frère said dismissively in his definitive Porsche Story
(page 174), ‘How foolish some people are is indicated by
the fact that there was a bigger demand for a normal 911
looking like a Turbo, even at the expense of power and
economy, than for a 3.3 turbocharged engine in a normal
911 body.’

Born in the white heat of mid-’80s boom, when market
traders became stockmarket dealers, swapping
dungarees for red braces, and Porsche became the badge
of wonga, 911 ownership was all about status rather than
race-bred engineering excellence, and it’s easy to dismiss
the SSE as a mere niche filler – as much of a wide boy as
the wheeler-dealer, ducker-and-diver who bought it. ‘Wide
boys, delightfully unpleasant with our foxy adolescent
sneers,’ sang Ultravox back in the day. But in fact the
Turbo-look Carrera predated the UK stockmarket boom,
launched in 1984 and available from September 1985. Not
only did you get the 930’s flared front and rear
wheelarches – 123mm wider all told than the regular 3.2
Carrera – extended front spoiler and tea-tray rear wing
(though you could specify no spoilers), but also the
Turbo’s suspension - stiffer rear torsion bars and softer
rear anti-roll bar - and ventilated brakes with the much
vaunted 917 calipers, plus wider 7in and 9in Fuchs
wheels, were included in the package. Oddly, the car was
fitted with non-Turbo tie-rods, though some owners have
replaced these with pukka 930 items to good effect. Ride
height was half-an-inch lower and, of course, tyres
commensurately wider. There was a porker downside, as
the additional hardware brought a weight gain of 154lb
(70kg), so top speed was 12mph lower and acceleration
was also marginally compromised. From 1986 the Targa
and Cabrio versions of the Turbo-look 3.2 went on sale
alongside the coupé, known as the Carrera SSE (for
Special Sports Equipment) and, later in the year, as
Carrera Super Sport or SS. Cabin upholstery was either
leather and cloth or leather throughout. The following
year the 915 gearbox was replaced by the G50 and
hydraulic clutch, and our test car ran a very compliant,
more delicate version of the earlier transmission. What it
didn’t have was the sheer, back-shoving grunt of the 930,
though the brakes were every bit as useful. There was a
price to pay too: the Special Sports Equipment was
£6,250 more than the standard 3.2 Carrera in 1984, and
by 1987 when it became the Super Sport it was £10,000
dearer. More was certainly more.

Our second wide-boy is a decade newer, and no less
exotic in terms of numbers built. The 964 Jubilee – also
known as the Celebration (though not to be confused
with the 3.2 Carrera ‘Anniversary’, a run of 875 cars in
Marine Blue marking 25 years of 911 production), was a
limited edition Carrera 4 masquerading in the 964 Turbo
bodyshell but with the normally aspirated 3.6-litre flat-six
in the back. Performance figures were quoted as 0-62mph
in 5.7sec, top speed 158mph or 255kph, which is 5kph
slower than the narrow-body C4 due to inferior
aerodynamics. Unlike the 3.2 Carrera SS with its 930
running gear, the 964 Jubilee retained the standard 964
C4 brakes, requiring only the Turbo’s suspension arms and
wheels to complete the look. Cup-1 Design alloys were 7in
and 9inJ x 17, shod with 205/50 ZR17 Continentals front
and 255/40 ZR17 rear. Debuted in March 1993 at the
Geneva Show, the 964 Jubilee marked 30 years of 911
manufacture and, fittingly, the production run was 911
units. However, only 894 were positively invoiced,
according to Thomas Englert, worldwide Jubilee registrar
(www.jubi.pocg.de) and Dave Wilkinson, PCGB 964 register
secretary. Indeed, 17 alleged 964 Jubilee cars have
missing or inconclusive information, and the waters are
further muddied by another 174 works Turbo-look 964
Carrera 4s and 256 US-only Carrera 4 Turbo-look cars that
did not receive the Jubilee designation. There were 60
right-hand drive Jubilees, 39 of which were imported by
PCGB. Clearly something special paint-wise was
appropriate: the majority (M-Code M096) were Viola
metallic (like #542, our featured car) but factory colours
Polar Silver metallic and Amethyst, the rarest option, were
also available. There was also one in Guards Red and a
couple in black. The cabins had full leather upholstery,
including dashboard cladding, door-cards, gearlever and
handbrake lever gaiters, and seats in Rubicon Grey – even
with matching dial faces, and of course the turbo boost
gauge that would normally be at the bottom of the rev
counter was absent. The Jubilee was not a brash car by
any means – a discrete finish and its identity merely
proclaimed by a 911 badge on the engine lid underlined
with ‘30 Jahre’ bar.

Staunch DDK member Bert Roex, whose 3.0 Carrera
Targa was a wild ride for yours truly on the maverick
club’s northern run in the Yorkshire Dales a few years ago,
very kindly brought along the 964 Jubilee with the
approval of its current owner. It was Bert’s car for a short
while, acquired from its restorer after he’d sold an SC in
Switzerland. Also a former 930 owner, Bert valued the
outright performance of the original Turbo on the
autobahn for its overtaking prowess, but on a day-to-day
basis he much prefers a nimble narrow-bodied car, which
is why he sold the Jubilee and he’s having his 3.0 Carrera
Targa restored. Through his dalliance with the Jubilee Bert
also became something of an expert on its subtle
distinguishing features: ‘there’s a special alloy-tag
plugged into the gearlever and the backside of the rear
seats carries the embroidered letters “911”,’ he tells me.
‘The Jubilee was delivered with the option code m096 and
has a leather covered metal block on the rear shelf with
two metal tags: the outside reveals the build number of
that particular car and the other one is readable from the
driver’s mirror stating “30 Jahre 911” in reverse.’ Bert also
plays the numbers game: ‘I know of one UK Viola car
which was modified by Ruf to 465bhp – that was written
off at Silverstone, and another Polar Silver car which has
had a supercharger fitted.’

Values are sound though unspectacular for such a rare
beast. If a decent C4 coupe will fetch £16k, a topcondition
Jubilee is worth between £23- and £26K in the
UK – more in Europe, reckons Bert. So, are these the poor
man’s Turbo? Well hardly – if you can afford the rarity
prices of a 3.2 SSE or a 964 Jubilee you’re not going to be
far off the value of a turbocharged 911 of some kind. The
problem I have is that you should be able to put your
money where your mouth is, with any car, and something
that purports to be a Turbo but isn’t is kind of deceitful.
Sure, you have to be in the know to recognise the
deception, and maybe the aesthetics of the flared arch
car are more pleasing than the narrow car. Personally, it’s
not enough; I need to know that it does what it says on
the tin. Perhaps I’m missing the point: a wide-bodied car is
merely an exercise in spreading the message – the Turbo
chassis exists so why not release it with a regular engine.

And here’s where we come slightly more up to date:
another manifestation of the fattened-up bodywork is the
993 Carrera 2S and Carrera 4S. Sam at Paul Stephens
very kindly made this C4S available for us to evaluate.
This was built as a straightforward showroom model
rather than an anniversary special. It was the four-wheel
drive S derivative that received the Turbo body first,
introduced for the 1996 model year using the
turbocharged car’s chassis, brakes and broad-beamed
body. Ventilated, cross-drilled brakes and four-pot calipers
were perhaps slightly over the top, delivering five times
the decelerative power the blown engine was capable of
– though you can never have too much braking ability.
The Turbo’s 8in and 10in ‘Technologie-Rad’ wheels filled
out the bulging arches. Resembling ninja throwing stars,
these lightweight five-spoke 18in alloys were not to
everyone’s taste on a car that still retained the last
vestiges of the 911’s design, by then 35 years old. Plus,
they weren’t standard, though Sam says most C4Ss have
them fitted. In the absence of an intercooler the Turbo’s
fixed spoiler was ignored in favour of the normal 993’s
retractable wing. Not only did the C4S provide vice-free
handling and optimum traction via the multi-link LSA
(lightweight stability agile) rear axle and all-wheel drive,
the in-car equipment included leather upholstery, air-con,
electrically adjustable seats and ten speaker sound
system. As far as performance figures were concerned,
the factory acknowledged the top speed was 3mph
slower for the C4S compared with its narrow-bodied C2
sibling, at 168mph and 171mph respectively, with 0-
60mph in 6.3sec for the C4S against 5.7sec for the slim
Carrera 4. Completing the picture, the 993 C2S version
came out with the Turbo body in 1996. Production
numbered 6,948 units of the C4S and 3,714 C2S, and
Porsche perpetuated the Turbo-look with the 4WD-only
996 Carrera 4S, and the 997 in both C2S and C4S guise.
What the Wide Boys give you is the on-road presence,
the more aggressive attitude of the turbocharged cars
but without the extra complication of turbo replacement
or the delayed throttle response of early 930s. Economy
is better and, if you’re not the ultimate push-on motorist,
you won’t mind the lack of ultimate grunt. A few fractions
don’t make that much difference in practice. Plus, with
the Carrera SSE and the 964 there’s the undisputed rarity
value. It’s likely that fewer than 500 Special Sports
Equipment and Super Sports were built, with under 100
being right-hookers – there never was a factory chassis
designation for the Turbo-look cars so it’s almost
impossible to determine exact figures. Even rarer than the
964 Jubilee, then.

Proof of the pudding (geddit?) came, at least as far as I
was concerned, after a few tours of the Brunters
blacktop, and I was surprised at what I found. ‘I love you
fattie when you’re sliding,’ sang Ska star Clancy Eccles,
but the imagery failed when applied to the SS because
the wide-tyred chassis wouldn’t oblige. Until it drizzled,
though even then I was more confident in the SSE than
the 4x4s. Sure, it bucked and balked as I toughed it out
on the fast follow-through, but there was an honesty
about it that I didn’t feel with the C4s. Of the three, the
one I enjoyed most was the 3.2 Carrera SSE – strange
when I was expecting the 964 to be the one, if only
because of my sibling C2 familiarity. But out on the broad,
open spaces of the Bruntingthorpe proving ground, with
its combination of flat-out corners and full-bore straights
the oldster was more alive, more involving and predictable
than the all-wheelers. At 120mph it was well planted –
thanks be to those broad shoulders, which provided an
elbow to lean on the tarmac with.

Though more refined, the 964 Jubilee was gawky and I
couldn’t get the feel of it around the long horseshoe turn,
where it performed the desired 180-degree arc but all the
time wanted to understeer into the trees. I fought it more
than the rear-wheel drive car, and the brakes were
spongy though recently renewed. Its Turbo body
obviously had an effect on weight and weight distribution
– 1500kg against the standard narrow body C4 at 1450kg,
as well as the 1470kg 964 Turbo with its additional engine
weight but no front-wheel drive. In truth the Jubilee was
relaxing at cruising speed but seemed tetchy under
pressure, like it had a mind of its own. Well, they all do,
don’t they? And given more familiarity, on public road
rather than test track, perhaps it would have gelled.
In that context the 993 did the bizz, though my
expectations for the C4S on the track were similarly
thwarted – that too lacked the communicative
endowment bestowed by the rear-drive Special Sports
Equipment. However, in the real world the 993 C4S
made sense: on fast, twisty, undulating Leicestershire
back roads its sure-footedness came right, coupled
with instant throttle response and effortless 6th gear
torque, which meant I was going far faster with
confidence than the fear and trepidation which the SSE
would have evoked. The dealer’s view? ‘I’d really
struggle with a 993,’ says Sam, ‘visually I’d want to own
the wide-body S model, but driving wise, I’d wish I was in
the narrow car because it’s lighter, quicker, turn-in’s
sharper and it’s nicer to drive.’

Whilst aesthetic appreciation is subjective, and I can
see the Wide Boys do have their plus points, there is a
choice to be made here. So, who ate all the pies? The
lardiest is the 964 Jubilee, with oldtimer 3.2 Carrera SSE
the chubby chum, whilst the B-road alacrity and powersteered
precision of the 993 C4S make it the slimmer’s
choice. Which way to weight watchers?

Previous Page