1976 Porsche 930. Photos by Erik Fuller, courtesy RM Sotheby’s.
To take its 911 Turbo racing in the FIA’s Group 4 under 1976 rules, Porsche had to produce and sell 400 road-going examples in a 24-month period. Doing so would require the help of U.S. customers, who at the time purchased more Porsches than any other market. In the summer of 1975, four pre-production 911 Turbos (or Type 930s, as they were also known) were taken from the assembly line, specifically for U.S. market testing. Of these, one survives today, and in August the 1976 Porsche 930 prototype will cross the auction stage in Monterey, California, as part of the RM Sotheby’s sale.
Porsche’s efforts to add forced induction to the air-cooled 911 dated to 1972, and at the 1974 Paris Auto Show the prototype 930 was revealed to the public for the first time. In Europe, this model would go on sale in 1975, but Porsche (rightly) believed that additional testing would be needed before the car was ready for U.S. customers. Of the four models pulled from the production line for this purpose, two (chassis 9306800011 and 00012) were retained by the Zuffenhausen factory, presumably for troubleshooting purposes. The remaining two cars, chassis 00013 and 00014, were shipped to the United States for EPA certification, magazine evaluation and additional “real world” evaluation.
Chassis 00014, the car to be sold in Monterey, was shipped to the EPA’s Ann Arbor emission test facility after being thoroughly gone over by the technicians at Porsche Cars North America (PCNA). Its sister car, chassis 00013, drew the short straw and was shipped to the Transportation Research Center in Ohio for road testing by journalists of the day. The car’s 156 mile-per-hour top speed was impressive, as was its sub-5.0 second 0-60 MPH time, but its propensity for sudden oversteer in untrained (or incautious) hands quickly gave the car a fearsome reputation. In the right hands, the 930 was a fast and supremely capable, but it was also unforgiving of mistakes.
Following their respective test sessions, both cars were shipped off to PCNA’s West Coast distributor for additional testing on the roads of Southern California. Problems with turbocharger bearings and wastegates soon became evident, as the requirement to let turbocharged cars cool at idle for few minutes before shutting the engine off was not yet established. Spares were sent from Germany, but soon after repair chassis 00013 was stolen; sometime later, it was found abandoned and stripped bare in a chop shop.
Chassis 00014 completed the remainder of its testing, and was then sold to first owner Pete Smith with 4,000 miles on the odometer. As with all Turbo Carreras (the U.S. name for the model), it came standard with a 234-horsepower, forced-induction flat-six engine mated to a four-speed manual transmission, an RSR-style “whale tail” rear spoiler and flared fenders to accommodate larger front and rear wheels. Chassis 00014 was particularly well-optioned, and included features like air conditioning with automatic climate control, an electric sunroof, a leather-wrapped dash and parcel shelf, driving lamps, a rear window wiper and headlamp washers. Finished in Oak Green Metallic paint, its interior blended brown leather with Black Watch tartan cloth in a style that only the Germans could successfully pull off.
Smith kept the car for a short time before selling it to Steve Earl, the organizer of the Monterey Historic Races. Earl kept the Turbo Carrera until around 1979, when it was sold to upholstery shop owner Dale Delanders, who removed (and preserved) the car’s original seat covers, replacing them with plain brown leather.
Delander thoroughly enjoyed the car, keeping it for a decade and witnessing the odometer roll past the 100,000 mile mark. Circa 1989, it was sold to Los Angeles architect Mark Palmer, who owned the Porsche for over 18 years but only added another 10,000 miles. Under Palmer’s ownership, the car was repainted in its original shade of green and upgrades were made to the engine, brakes, and wheels.
Joe Sackey purchased the car in 2008, and subsequently reinstalled its original Black Watch tartan seat covers. It’s not clear how long he held onto the car, trading it in to the consignor (an Indiana dealer) with just over 111,000 miles on the odometer.
Chassis 00014 is the last surviving U.S. prototype model, which should make it particularly appealing to Porsche collectors on these shores. RM Sotheby’s is predicting a selling price between $300,000 and $400,000 when the Turbo Carrera crosses the stage in California this August.
For additional information on the Monterey sale, visit RMAuctions.com.
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