1989 Porsche 911 (964) Carrera 4

The vendor is just this car’s 4th owner and has had the car for some 18 years.

By any measure, this is a very well-curated, properly sorted and expertly fettled example.

The car was largely off the road from 2011 until 2015 when it was the recipient of an extensive restoration. You can see how extensive it was by looking at the documents section.

The restoration included a complete bare metal, glass-out respray and a full engine rebuild, all of which was carried out by marque experts to a very high standard.

Since the engine rebuild the car has covered no more than 18,000 miles.

If you’ve seen the HPI report you will have noticed that there is a pachyderm in the room in the shape of a Cat D marker.

This was earned during previous ownership and consisted of some largely cosmetic damage to the n/s/f of the car which was, of course, fully rectified during the restoration.

As our American cousins would say, this car has been built to the hilt. 

The following list of work carried out during the restoration gives you an idea of the commitment shown to this matching numbers car by the vendor and underlines our belief that this is a seriously good example.

• New genuine windscreen
• Complete bare metal/glass out re-spray
• New OE/OEM seals and rubbers
• Full engine rebuild
• EPS Dilavar headstuds
• Kent camshafts
• New Beru distributors
• New genuine HT Leads x12
• New tinware
• RSR carbon-fibre rear blower bypass
• RS engine mounts
• Single mass flywheel
• Accel Racing performance chip (original chip available)
• New front oil cooler, unions and oil lines/breathers
• RS front & rear bumpers (original bumpers available)
• RS air ducts
• 964 teardrop mirrors
• Powder coated door frames
• Body colour door handles
• Carbon-fibre front strut brace
• H&R street performance springs/Boge dampers
• Elephant Racing monoball spring plates
• Tarett Engineering rose-jointed rear drop links
• Powerflex wishbone bushes
• Powerflex ARB bushes (F&R)
• Powerflex training-arm bushes
• New Brembo pistons & seals
• Goodridge SS braided brake lines
• Powder coated wishbones
• Gearbox oil – SWEPCO
• Brake system fluid – Miller Racing 3
• Engine oil – Mobil 1 fully synthetic

The vendor tells us that the car has always been garaged.

He also tells us that, “There is a CCU/HVAC fault with the heating system that will need some attention. The driver’s door and window need some minor adjustment as does the rear bumper.” 

Frankly, we hadn’t noticed anything on the driver’s door/window and rear bumper that needed adjustment, minor or otherwise.

The car really does present exceptionally well from every angle and its overall condition and quality belie both its age and mileage. 

The bodywork is bereft of any evidence of dinks, dents, lumps or creases anywhere that we can see.

The doors close with all the Teutonic heft, authority and precision we’ve come to respect and admire in Zuffenhausen’s finest offerings.

For the most part, the black paint finish is glossy and lustrous with no more than an entirely standard number and distribution of light scratches and stone chips in the usual places – around the ‘nose’ of the car, the front of the ‘frunk’, the wing mirror housings, and the forward-facing aspects of the rear wheel arches. 

There are a couple of more sizeable paint chips to the extended sill cover at the base of the o/s/r wheel-arch, and a scuff and touch-up atop the o/s/f wing.

There’s a small touch-up next to the o/s/f indicator lamp; a repair to the front bumper next to the towing point; a light scuff mark on the front bumper next to the number plate on the nearside; a scratch on the nearside of the engine cover; a scuff or two on the o/s/r corner; and a few paint chips and touch-ups on the door edges. 

There’s also a little nascent corrosion in evidence at the base of both headlamp surrounds. 

Finally, the seal around the sunroof (the sunroof itself is not currently working) could do with being refitted as it is lifting and warped in places.

The 17” Cup alloys are in fine fettle, and the matching Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres have yet to cover more than 500 miles of road.

Basically, faults are pretty few and far between on this car, and those that we’ve listed are all really pretty minor.

The lights, lenses, badging and other exterior fixtures and fittings are all in very decent order, as far as we can see. 

This 911 hails from an era when they were tank-like in their construction and everything, inside, outside and underneath, was over-engineered ad absurdum. 

The interior of this car is following in that noble tradition and has mostly weathered the vicissitudes of time and use with commendable fortitude. 

The black leather seats are supremely comfortable and supportive (has any marque ever made better sportscar seats than Porsche?), and have 2-way electric adjustment. 

The front passenger seat is in first-class condition, the driver’s seat is fine save for a small split to the outer bolster on the seat squab and a small hole in the outer bolster on the backrest. 

Being suitable only for the very small, very young or very flexible, the rear seats are pretty much pristine and don’t look as if they’ve ever hosted anything heavier than a hat or a handbag. 

The carpets, mats, headlining and door cards are all good.

There’s a little age-related wear to the steering wheel, a few tiny chips to the centre console trim, and the gear lever gaiter has broken free from its moorings. 

The frunk is beyond reproach and features a carbon-fibre strut brace. It also contains a car cover. The frunk struts need re-gassing.

As ever, there’s not much to reward anyone peering into the cramped engine bay of a 911, but what we can see is notably clean, dry and shiny, with everything in its right and proper place. 

The engine cover struts also need re-gassing. 

The undersides of the car look to have been afforded ample protection by its various protective cowls and covers, some of which look a little scruffy, and we’ve seen nothing at all to make us question the car’s structural integrity or doubt its honesty.

The car comes with more history than the British Museum. 

The service book is bristling with stamps and there are invoices, bills and receipts aplenty attesting to the car’s timely (aside from periods when it was SORNed) servicing, maintenance and repair. 

It comes with a V5C, a recent HPI report, and an MoT certificate that’s valid until 21st July 2026.

Settle down in your favourite comfy chair, preferably cradling an interesting drink in your hand, and read through the car’s bills and invoices.

They make for very reassuring reading, we think, and point to a car that’s been properly cared for without concern for expense. 

The car’s odometer is currently reading 135,000 miles.

But we’d strongly advise against being frightened by that number.

As we have observed before, it’s really only in the UK that cars with mileages north of 100,000 are treated with such a high degree of largely misplaced mistrust.

Certainly, our friends in Europe or the USA, where continental scale means people have to drive further to get anywhere, don’t regard mileages like this with the same irrational suspicion as we do in the UK.

And, in any case, this car was built Porsche, which means it’s been massively over-engineered, properly screwed together and built to the hilt by Gunther, Wolfgang and the other Meister Technikers of Zuffenhausen. 

What’s more, the engine has been stripped and rebuilt and the car has been fully mechanically and cosmetically restored.

We think this fine 964 has many more years of sublime pedigree motoring to offer.

We’re confident to offer this fine car for auction with an estimate of £55,000 - £65,000. 

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at THE MARKET HQ in South Oxfordshire. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays (apart from Bank Holidays) between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.