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No, that letter ‘K’ in the title wasn’t a careless keystroke that I’ve been know to make. It is the understanding of the decimal unit prefix in the metric system denoting multiplication by one thousand. In layman’s terms, this 911 has 376,000 miles. To make it even more interesting, this particular 1986 Porsche 911 was optioned with the M491 code, which means “a sheep in wolf’s clothing”. Okay not exactly, but it denotes the car has the body of a 930 Turbo, but engine remains the standard 3.2L flat-six. You’d think this car has 37,000 miles by looking at it, and the owner must think so too as it sure is priced like it is.
Whenever I see very rare cars come up for sale more frequently I naturally become curious about what’s going on with the market. I mentioned a while back that I’ve felt like I’m seeing more M491 Turbo-look Carreras coming up for sale than in the past. For many of those cars it isn’t necessarily too surprising since the early years of the package’s availability saw quite a few of them produced. But the later G50-equipped examples are another matter. Even more rare are the final-year examples and it is those that I’m suddenly seeing for sale more frequently. Why? I don’t know.
Prior to this year I had seen only a couple for sale with the coupes almost impossible the find. Those coupes remain elusive, but following on the heels of the M491 Carrera Cabriolet I posted two weeks ago here we have another. This time the exterior is Grand Prix White rather than Black and there is added rarity as it was one of the even fewer that selected the M470 spoiler delete option.
This is a car I feel I have to bring more attention, but I’ll admit I find the ad quite strange. Not strange in the sense that I think something fishy is going on, but in the sense that this isn’t really the best way to get maximum dollar for your car. It should sell fast though and maybe that’s the point.
This is a 1989 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet with the M491 Turbo-look package. If you’ve been following along lately you’ll know that these are rare. Very rare. Once the 930 returned to the U.S. market in 1986 sales of the Turbo-look package went down rather quickly. That makes decent sense. We also must add to this that Porsche debuted its new G50 5-speed transmission for the 911 in 1987, thus making the last three model years of the 3.2 Carrera a little more special on today’s markets. By the time we get to the final model year in 1989 the number of M491-equipped 911s had become quite low. Granted, of the three available models, the Cabriolet was produced in the greatest numbers so this one isn’t as rare as these 911s get. Nonetheless, there only were 24 of them. Oh and it’s up for auction without reserve. Rare indeed.
I’m always interested in finding M491-equipped Carreras. They’re very cool cars that are pretty rare and tend to be sought out by both collectors and drivers. That tends to make them a little more expensive than your standard Carrera, but their fans find the extra cost worthwhile. When priced correctly (usually in the 60Ks and 70Ks) they can sell pretty quickly. Above that requires certain additional levels of rarity, typically PTS or one of the very rare G50 models from the last couple production years.
One thing I don’t see too often is modified examples and that brings me to the one we see here: a Guards Red 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe, located in Tennessee, with 90,754 miles on it and, of course, that all important Turbo-look package. It looks very good and I really like the ducktail spoiler as a replacement for the Turbo’s tea tray. It’s a little more subtle, but still provides a more aggressive look. Other than some pop-out rear windows (love them!) hearkening back to the early 911s, the rest of the modifications are under the skin, but should enhance most areas of this Carrera’s performance. Where will they leave this already pretty desirable model?
I have featured a lot of rare 911s over the years, but I have never featured one of these. I’m not even sure I have seen one for sale. This is just about as rare as they come. I have featured examples that are more rare due to paint-to-sample or other custom options and I guess the reason this 911 is rare is for similar reasons. The model itself, the 3.2 Carrera, is not especially rare, but an ’89 Carrera equipped with the M491 Turbo-look package is a rare thing indeed.
Production of the Turbo-look package gradually waned as the ’80s wore on and once the 930 had returned to U.S. shores. Somewhat strangely those who still opted for the package tended to select it on the Carrera Cabriolet rather than the Coupe or Targa. :shrug: Determining accurate production numbers has been difficult; a long-circulated letter from PCNA themselves has been shown to be very inaccurate. Perseverance pays off and the best numbers now show there were 15 M491 Coupes produced in 1989. That’s not very many.
But what really makes this example rare isn’t just the M491 Turbo-look package. It is the other even more rare M470 front and rear spoiler delete package. Of the 15 M491 Coupes produced in 1989 only 5 also had the M470 package. There were only 2 Targas equipped as such so this isn’t the rarest, but 1 of 5 will have to suffice. It’s stunning!
