1985 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Targa

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is delighted to offer for sale a lovely, factory right hand drive 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Targa. Being a late 1985 model Carrera 3.2 makes it one of the last delivered with the 231 HP engine.

This particular car was sold new by Porsche dealer Heddell & Deeks in Dorset in the UK and delivered on the 23rd April 1985.

The car passed through a number of owners in the UK who have clearly cherished the car and looked after it. This 911 Carrera has an impeccable service history, books (including a fully stamped service book), jack and two sets of keys. There is also a very thick history file with many receipts, old MOT’s and UK registration documents. The service book and documentation confirm that the cars mileage of only 115,695 miles to be genuine up until February 2014. The odometer stopped working in circa mid-2015 and it is estimated the car travelled perhaps 2,000 – 3,000 miles since before the odometer was repaired. Today the odometer reads 118,354 miles.

A previous owner acquired the car on the 20th April 2013 from a Porsche specialist in the UK and subsequently imported it into Australia. Since its arrival in Australia the car has had two subsequent owners. All three enthusiastic Australian owners have continued to fastidiously maintain the car.

This Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Targa is well known to having been sold by us to its last two Australian owners, firstly in October 2017 and later to the current owner in March 2019.

The current owner had a lifelong dream to own a Porsche and purchased this car at age 83. He has enjoyed his four years of ownership and travelled c1,700 miles in that time. He even managed to pick up a speeding ticket along the way!

Today this Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Targa still presents well and drives fabulously. Back in 2010 the car was given a respray in its original colour of ‘guards red’ (L027).  The paintwork remains in excellent condition all around with only the odd stone chip or blemish evident on close inspection. Most noticeable is the chip on the trailing edge of the passenger’s door. It still retains a high gloss finish with a strong depth of colour. Guards red looks stunning on any 911 of this era as the colour contrasts perfectly with all the black accents.

All the exterior trim, glass and wheels are also in very good condition. The wheels are fitted with Provato Sport Green tyres. The rear tyres are date stamped 4115 (wk41, 2015) and the front tyres are date stamped 4017 (wk40, 2017). Both the front and rear tyres are still in good condition.

Whilst this car has spent much of its life in the UK it is extremely solid underneath. The car has been professionally sealed and rustproofed. It is as clean and well-presented underneath as it is on top!

The interior is all original and in very good condition for a 30+ year old car. It has a nice patina about it with some minor wear on the edges of the front seats and on top of the steering wheel. We also noticed the stitching on the right side of the driver seat, near the head rest is starting to come loose. Fortunately, the leather is not damaged and therefore this should be an easy fix. The targa top is in very good condition and is a snug fit when on the car. The radio is original as is the unused spare wheel, tyre and jack.

It’s often the little things that make a difference on a car. On these early 911’s it is the dash, rear parcel shelf and door pockets that would normally show signs of deterioration and wear. These are all in excellent condition on this car. It is also nice to see that all of the original engine bay stickers, tyre specification sticker and car ID specification sticker all are intact and like new.

A 911 is all about the drive and this car drives exactly as you would expect. It starts easily and once out on the open road you quickly appreciate that this is a very good example. The car feels incredibly solid for a car which is now, unbelievably, nearly 50 years old. It is tight on the road with no rattles or squeaks. The engine has loads of power on tap and it pulls strongly through the rev range. The gear linkage is often a weak point on these eighties 911’s and on this car the gear change is direct with a good feel. The car handles, steers and stops as you would expect.

The car has a full set of books, a thick and extensive history file, two sets of keys with immobiliser, jack and an unused space saver spare wheel that will accompany the car.

Highlights:

Very well presented example of an iconic sports car.
Excellent history file.
Books, including a fully stamped service book.
Ready to use and enjoy.

It is competitively priced at $114,950.

 

Background

The Porsche story is a fascinating one and its roots go back to the 1930’s when Professor Ferdinand Porsche was instrumental in the design of the first Volkswagen and also Auto Union race cars. By 1939 he had built three Porsche cars to compete in the 800-mile race from Berlin to Rome. Unfortunately, the race was cancelled due to the war and Porsche was forced to focus on supporting the German war effort, however, he had always wanted to build his own cars. In 1944 Porsche was forced to leave Stuttgart and he set up a small operation in Gmünd, Austria. Soon after the Porsche family and many of their engineers were captured and sent to jail. Ferdinand Porsche’s son. Ferdinand junior, or ‘Ferry’ as he was known, was released six months later and he returned to Gmünd to rebuild the family company. Things moved quickly and Porsche was involved with cars again and in mid-1948 the first Porsche 356 was built. It is understood Porsche built some 50 aluminium bodied cars by hand in their small factory at Gmünd before relocating back to Stuttgart, Germany. The rest they say is history as the 356 evolved into one of the most successful sports cars ever built. A hard act to follow indeed . . . but its replacement, the Porsche 911 went on to become a legend!

The evolution of the Porsche 911 is probably the greatest sports car story of all time. First introduced in 1963 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and then designated as a 901, the successor to the 356 took the world by storm. To avoid conflict with Peugeot, who claimed exclusive rights to car names with three digits having a ‘zero’ in the middle, the car was renamed as 911. The first production 911 was built in 1964 and it was powered by an air cooled 1991cc 6-cylinder engine. The car evolved with increases in engine capacity to 2.2 litres, 2.4 litres, 2.7 litres, 3.0 litres and 3.3 litres. There were styling changes also, but one always recognised the car as a 911. Today the first series of 911’s is recognised as the cars built from 1963 to 1989 and include the very popular Porsche 911 and 930 Turbo models. Of these the ‘small bumper’ or ‘pre impact bumper’ cars built up to 1973 are today regarded as the real classic 911, however, that comes at a price. In the last few years astute collectors and enthusiasts have seen great value in 1970’s and 1980’s model 911’s.

The Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 was introduced in 1983 as a successor to the 911SC. Interestingly, it was the first time the Carrera name had been used since 1977. Visually the new car was similar to its successor, both internally and externally. The major change to the new car was its engine. Whilst based on the SC’s 3.0 litre power plant, Porsche claimed the 911 Carrera engine was ‘80 per cent new’. The capacity was increased to 3164cc and a revised piston design increased the compression ratio to 10.3:1 on all but North American cars. But the Carrera’s main innovation was its Bosch Motronic 2 engine management system. This was the first production 911 to feature an ECU to control the ignition and fuel systems. In addition, the fuel injection was updated to Bosch LE-Jetronic and the induction and exhaust systems were revised.

The upshot of these improvements was that power rose to 231 bhp at 5900 rpm, with torque hitting 284 Nm at 4800rpm. Porsche claimed fuel consumption to be 10 percent better than that of the SC, because of the greater efficiency of the electronically controlled engine. The last of the 911 Carrera 3.2’s was built in 1989 and the model was most popular with circa 76,000 cars built during six years of production. The approximate breakdown of models was c35,500 coupes, c20,000 cabriolets and c18,500 Targa’s. Porsche also offered the 911 Carrera 3.2 with the option of the Turbo body (option code M491), which is most often referred to as the ‘wide body’ or in some markets Supersport.

Today the Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 is recognised as an ‘80’s icon’ and these cars are now becoming highly sought after.


$114,950