Glatte schwarze Schönheit bereit zu stürzen!

Glatte schwarze Schönheit bereit zu stürzen!

I was sleep walking down my block for some coffee one morning when I noticed this sweet German waiting patiently for its owner:

This is a 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera in Graphite Black Poly. We know it's a Carrera as opposed to the standard 911 because of those clear fog lights mounted into the lower valance under the bumper. This car is totally amazing in its looks and performance! It is also as '80s as cocaine on Wall Street.

This sweet 911 has more in common with the classic VW Beetle than most other cars; they are both powered by air-cooled engines placed in the rear over the drive wheels.

For the 2 year span of 1984-'85 there were no Porsche 930s available in the States. The signature look of the 930 was that huge tail and wide fender flares. To fill this need Porsche offered the M491 option (known in the UK as Supersport and simply Turbo-Look here in the States). That super-badass whale tail means business!

It was early in the morning when this was sitting with its hazards on in front of a hydrant.

Under the center of the wing just above the reflector bar you can just see where it says Turbo in script. These cars lend themselves to upgrading better than most due to the longevity of the basic design so who's to say if it's original? With the Turbo-Look on an actual turbo 911 it's extremely close to a 930. The color, sunroof, and great wheels make this thing about as desirable as it gets.

I didn't want to explain myself to an angry owner so I snapped a very quick pic of the interior.

The oil cooler for the engine is up front which necessitates a lot of oil for the entire system. When you change it you'll need somewhere around 9 and a half quarts!

I detailed cars back in school and as a result got to drive tons of different cars very short distances. The big surprise for me the first time I sat in a 911 was that the clutch pedal doesn't hang from under the dash like most cars, but rather goes forward and down flat to the floor when pressed. Like the Beetle the accelerator and clutch cables run under the floor to the drivetrain in the rear.

The 911 went on in air-cooled style from 1963 to 1998 (obviously with tons of changes along the way). In 1999 Porsche broke the heart of the 911 purist by switching to water cooled engines.

The values of these stalwart 911s have skyrocketed lately which was frankly overdue. These cars combine pure athleticism and engineering with sexy good looks. The top speed of this car when new was around 150mph which puts it in supercar territory. The Lamborghini Countach claimed 183mph as a top speed in '85 but that was a much more expensive, less reliable, and much less comfortable ride. The Lambo would run you $100,000 in '85 while this Porsche was a measly $32,000!
With that we'll leave this for Gordon Gecko to jump in and drive away. Few cars are as immediately recognizable and classic as the 911. If you stumble upon one in decent condition for not too much money I suggest grabbing it quick!