Although the Porsche Turbo is now an iconic example of Porsche’s high-performance ethos in the minds of nearly everyone, car enthusiast or not, it was genuinely earth-shattering when it emerged in the mid 1970s. After massive success pioneering the use of turbocharging in the first half of the 1970s in the 917 Can Am and 911-based sports cars, Porsche had the knowhow (and the boldness) to bring a reliable and capable turbocharged road car to market. Where Porsche’s previous high-performance 911, the Carrera RS, was a raw and elemental homologated race car adapted for the road, the 930 was designed to be a proper flagship: a luxurious and refined car in which to effortlessly cover great distance at high speed.
It’s hard to describe just how significant a paradigm shift the 930 represented when it was new. Contemporary press gushed about its effortless ability to gain speed with deceptive composure, an attribute that seemed positively alien in a period when few drivers had experienced turbocharged cars. Aesthetically, it was also incredibly impactful. The fender flares and massive rear spoiler were straight off the race cars, and gave the car an aggressive and extraverted look that contributed as much to its status as an icon as its performance. This, coupled with the car's massive performance qualified it as a proper supercar in period, placing Porsche in a different category than it had previously occupied in the eyes of performance car junkies. Porsche went from making underdog Davids that could take on Goliaths, they were making their own Goliath.
The 930 arrived in the United States for the 1976 model year in 3.0 liter form, which was superseded by the 3.3 liter model for 1978 which also added an intercooler and of course more power.
This particular car is a superbly unmolested 41,000 mile example which has spent its entire life in California. It is effectively a two-owner car, having been purchased new by a woman in Los Altos at Anderson-Behel Porsche in San Jose on the 25th of May 1979. Her son inherited the car in 2010 (although he had been looking after and driving the car for some years by this point), retaining it for five years and lavishing about $25,000 in mechanical work on it and driving it regularly. Service work including major service, fluids, new clutch, oil return lines, Carrera chain tensioner retrofit, miscellaneous oil lines, rear engine mounts, and many other small items and routine service jobs.
He sold the car to its current owner in 2015, who has continued to preserve and maintain the car, driving it sparingly but regularly. The car runs beautifully, passing smog easily with readings at or below the averages in every category. It starts easily and the warm up regulator functions correctly. The engine boosts evenly without any surging, and is likely the finest running 930 of any year we have ever encountered.
Cosmetically, the car is in wonderful original condition, with small marks on the paint and a few small dings, but strong overall presentation. The body is extremely straight, solid, and displays excellent panel fit. It has a wonderful original interior in the fabulously 1970s hue of cork.
Included with the car is a stack of registration slips back to 1980, both original California blue license plates, service records from the last 15,000 miles, Certificate of Authenticity (confirming that it retains its original engine), books (including stamped service book), tool roll, and jack.
