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Americans are somewhat used to performance cars not being available on our own shores even though they might be available elsewhere. In many cases there are no alternatives and we must simply live with this fact. Sometimes, however, the manufacturers make available a car that strives to fill this void. Such is the case with the car we see here, a 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, located in Florida, equipped with the M491 package. Referred to as the Turbo-look or Widebody Carrera these combined the standard 3.2 Carrera engine with the body, suspension, and braking of the 911 Turbo and offered buyers a 911 with some performance and appearance upgrades during a time when the Porsche 930 was unavailable within our market. Like most any other widebody Carrera, these were some of the best looking of the standard cars produced and have become quite sought after by enthusiasts and collectors alike.
To provide some satisfaction to its customers who hoped to own a 911 Turbo during the years when the Turbo was not for sale on the US market, Porsche offered the M491 package. Sometimes called the “Turbo-look” 911 these cars were essentially a 930 minus the forced induction. While that’s no small difference, it did mean that prospective buyers had the option of buying a standard 3.2 Carrera with the upgraded braking and suspension of the Turbo, along with its wider rear and tea-tray spoiler. Derided by some, over time the M491-package 911 has become a hot commodity amongst many enthusiasts for its greater dynamic capabilities, paired with the lowered maintenance concerns and running costs of the naturally aspirated engine. The example here is a modified M491-packaged 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera that perhaps has hoped to make up some of the performance differences brought on by the lack of the 930’s engine.
Last week we featured this M491-optioned Carrera Coupe. It sold for its Buy It Now price of $47,000, which at the time of writing I felt was high within the current market. I was wrong. It comes as little surprise then that almost immediately after that auction ended another M491-optioned Carrera appeared on the market, though this time a Cabriolet. Coincidence? Possibly, but we see this sort of thing happen often enough that I assume the second seller is capitalizing on the market, and I wouldn’t blame him. Here we have a M491-optioned 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, located in Connecticut, with 50,805 miles on the clock.
The Porsche 930 is a favorite of ours here at GCFSB. It helped to shape and define the legacy of the 911 during a time when the future of the model was uncertain. Unfortunately, while it was produced from 1975-1989, there was a period in which it was unavailable in the US. From 1980 until its reintroduction in 1986, the 930 was absent from the US lineup and buyers only had the standard 3.2 Carrera as an option. In 1984, however, Porsche made available the M491 option package. The M491 package was a wide-body 3.2 Carrera with suspension and braking sourced from the 930, but it retained the naturally aspirated 3.2 liter flat-six of the standard 911. So, less powerful than a 930, but with improved cornering and braking relative to a 3.2 Carrera, along with the added benefit of being less of a potential maintenance headache. Typically very well regarded and we don’t come across them too often, but we have one here: a Black on Black 1984 Porsche 911 Carrera with the M491 package, located in Ohio.
I cannot stress how much I like the M491 911’s. You get all of the looks and stopping power of the turbo cars with exponentially…