On Saturday we featured a very nice Black Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Wide Body and the car we see here is more or less the evolution of that machine. While the 993 Carrera 4S is not quite as rare as the Wide Body 964 it does possess a couple advantages for those purely in pursuit of their driving pleasure. First, and this is entirely subjective, I think it is better looking. I have always found the wider rear on the 993 to be a perfect complement to the curvier 993 body, whereas on the 964 I actually prefer the narrow body over the wide body. Your mileage may vary. The second advantage is less subjective. The 964 Wide Body was for appearances only, while the Carrera 4S returned to the full Turbo-look of the M491 package and added the suspension and braking of the Turbo. So you’re getting a little more than just the wider rear. From a collector standpoint the 993 seems a little more valuable these days and as the last of the air-cooled 911s it may remain so, but both should do well. The example we see here is a Grand Prix White 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S, located in Arizona, with a nicely contrasted Cashmere/Black interior and 80,320 miles on it.
Tag: 993
It isn’t hard at all to see the appeal of the 993 and why values barely seem to have ever waned. That these were the last of the air-cooled 911s is well known and carries with it ton of cachet. But it is its aesthetic qualities that carry the day even more as they represent an easily identifiable evolution of the design from the 911’s debut in the mid-60s. That the design of the 996, which followed upon the 993, has been so derided has only served to further enhance the already stellar reputation of the 993 itself. It is almost as if there is a sense that the 911’s evolution ceased with the 993; the 996 is viewed as a separate species that has branched off from the original and its genetic traits, while enabling the model to survive in renewed form, are actually deemed less desirable. All of this comes together to build an icon. While all examples of the 993 are in high demand it is the wide-body designs that really force buyers to submit to temptation. Of all the air-cooled 911s the 993 wears the wider rear better than any other. Most of the others look good, but the 993 looks completed. The wider rear fills out its curves better than on previous models and it all comes together in a package that is both aggressive and beautiful. There really is a lot to love. The example we see here is a Zenith Blue Metallic 1997 Porsche 911 Carrera S, located in Connecticut, with Blue leather interior and 50,500 miles on it.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Porsche 911 Carrera S on eBay
1 CommentPorsche design can be funny sometimes. Generally, their designs are modern and purposeful, yet understated. This is something that I think has become especially true with their modern cars as they’ve established themselves as a luxury brand. Porsche even could be said to be a fairly staid company catering to an equally staid clientele. Yet, that is all a mask of sorts. Porsche is, as much as any other company, one built off of its racing history and successes. The designs of their racing cars are about as preposterous as they can get filled with huge wings and impossibly wide rear fenders, though all were built to a specific purpose and as wild as they might look they were functional. Of course, plenty of their road cars followed suit, if in much more reserved fashion. Within this over-the-top world exist a variety of tuners and few tend to take the design aesthetic of Porsche’s racers and run with it better than Akira Nakai and Rauh-Welt Begriff. The one we see here, in Guards Red and using a 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Coupe as its base, is even over the top by RWB’s standards. The double-decker wing has the look of a dragon’s tail and stretches your gaze in a manner perpendicular to the stretch of the rear fenders. Some RWB cars can look very squat; this one does not. Not at all.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe Rauh-Welt Begriff on eBay
3 CommentsWith the 993, Porsche took a decidedly different path when it came to the Targa model. Gone was the famous roll hoop and targa panel over the front seats in favor of a large glass roof that slid open and concealed itself behind the rear window. The traditional Targa profile reappeared with the current generation 991, with a complex mechanism to handle the removable top. Ever one to favor simplicity, I could only imagine what such a mechanism would cost should it fail years down the road. The 993 Targa had what some would consider a large sunroof which retracted behind the rear window. Some complained of decreased rear visibility due to the glass panel’s tint, but others reveled in the open air enjoyment provided while keeping much of the Carrera’s signature roofline in tact. This 911 Carrera Targa for sale in New York is a one-owner example owned by a member of the Porsche Club of America, showing less than 40,000 miles on the odometer.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa on eBay
2 CommentsIt’s been a little while since I’ve done a Motorsports Monday post and given my propensity for writing about the 911, that’s a little strange. Porsche itself has a long and storied racing history and the 911 in particular sort of exists in a class of its own. And Porsche has provided numerous models intended for racing and to meet homologation requirements over the years, though in many cases those models never made it to our shores. It seems natural then for those interested in doing a little racing to take what they had access to and build the racer they so desired. Still, cars like the one we see here, a 1996 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe built to be a class G club racer, are becoming exceedingly more rare as the ravages of time slowly break them down and as the air-cooled market makes it seem foolish to extensively modify any air-cooled 911 that remains in nice condition. That is especially true of the 993, but man do these look good when given a few track focused modifications. I could easily be accused of thinking the 993 is too pretty, that it’s lost some of its aggressive edge, but its racing pedigree is easily revealed and in narrow-body form the 993 combines a sense of purpose with a lithe body.