2024 is a milestone year for Porsche, with the brand celebrating 50 years since the introduction of the company’s first turbo-charged production car – the Porsche 930 Turbo. To commemorate this anniversary, Wolf and Mare will be dedicating a series of Good Find Friday posts to iconic Porsche turbo models, starting with today’s feature car.

Being a company that is committed to constant improvement, Porsche has a history of applying technology in the pursuit of performance. While Ferrari built road cars to fund his passion of racing, Porsche built race cars to help evolve and promote their road cars.

The factory’s original intent behind the 930 was to create a turbo-charged street-legal 911 to satisfy homologation requirements for competitive racing, a la the Carrera RS. FIA rules changed (as they do) and the new rules stipulated that the cars needed to be production vehicles available for purchase by individuals through dealers. This led to the creation of the 934 and 935 race cars that so dominated Can-Am racing in the 70s.

In 1974, Porsche debuted the road-going 911 Turbo at the Paris auto show as a 1975 model, with the very first Turbo delivered to Ferry Porsche’s sister Louise Piech for her 70th birthday.

Today’s Good Find Friday car is stated to be one of the last 50 Porsche 930 Turbo cars delivered to the United States in 1979. We didn’t get the Turbo from 1980-1985 due to emissions rules, but the model returned in 1986 with an emission-controlled engine.

A claimed one of one, the body of this Porsche 930 Turbo is finished in paint to sample Copper Metallic, a relatively rare color from the 70s mostly limited to the 914. Even then, not many 914s were ordered in the color and it merits 4 paint buckets on the PCA’s Rennbow website.

The exterior appears to be in very good condition, supporting the claimed odometer reading of just 49,000 miles. A sunroof, period-correct Pirelli tires, and electric mirrors round out the exterior options. Otherwise, this Turbo wears the standard tea tray spoiler, aggressive front air dam, wide fenders and black fender guards common to all 930s.

The interior is in cork, which nicely compliments the exterior color. I actually prefer the Cork vinyl upsholtery of this period, which had a mottled look and a browner tone. That texture would look quite amazing on this car, but for most folks the leather interior is much more desirable.

Interior features include sport seats, a Porsche-branded radio, original three-spoke steering wheel, air conditioning and a dash plaque noting it as one of the final 50 cars in the US.

The engine in the later 70s turbos was a 3.3 liter flat size putting out 265hp for North America. As of 1978 the cars were fitted with air-to-air intercoolers to increase power output. The engine was mated to a 4-speed manual transmission that helped propel the car to 60mph in 4.9 seconds—an absolutely blistering number for 1979.

The torsion bar and trailing arm geometry from the 911 is still here, but with much wider wheels and tires to put the power down. The fronts are 205/55 VR16s and the rears are 25/50VR16. Even with the wider stance, these were still squirrely on the limit with lifting in corners strictly forbidden unless you wish to swap ends.

The wheels on this car have a polished lip when they would have been anodized from the factory. Polishing the wheels is a common fix when the anodizing fails and I did the same to my 3.2 Carrera. Behind the shiny rims are brakes that were enlarged to a setup similar to those used on the 917. A prudent move given the car’s top speed of 165mph. 

1979 is the same year I was born, and the fact that this car is so prized for its analog and unbridled performance makes me feel a little old. When I reached driving age, however, the 993 was the modern Porsche—which makes me feel a little better.

Values for Porsche 930 Turbos had been softening for some time, but seem to be bucking the trend of the current market with prices on the rise. A concours condition 1979 911 Turbo is in the neighborhood of $220,000. What, then, is up with the asking price of $315,000 for this beauty?

Well, you get a rare shade, low miles and one of the final 50 cars sold in the model year before the hiatus. RM Sotheby’s recently sold a 1979 Porsche 911 Turbo for $318,500 at The White Collection Sale and it was a good comp, being a paint-to-sample car with low miles. That said, the RM car had MUCH lower mileage with a scandalous 1,846 clicks on the odometer.

Broad Arrow sold a 1979 Turbo in the love-it-or-hate-it rare color of Moonstone with a similar mileage of 42,812. That car hammered for $319,000, so the seller here is likely basing their price on these recent sales.

So is it a good buy? That depends. You can find cheaper 930s all day long, but if you’re seeking absolute individuality you’ll have to pay for it.

Wolf and Mare provides car finding, appraisal and auction services for sellers and buyers of collector European cars. We also provide importation services. Give us a call or drop us a line!