1981 Porsche 911 SC

This highly-attractive, five-speed manual 911 SC has spent much of its life negotiating the famous TT routes of the Isle of Man, having been owned by the vendor since 2010. The car was restored via a combination of home-garage rebuild and expert specialist work, bringing it up to the condition it presents here today. There are a good selection of invoices and photographs in the car’s history folder to back this up.

The car is said (by the vendor) to drive very well, having taken part in the 2022 celebrations to mark Jacksons Porsche dealership’s 60th anniversary. This journey clearly lit the spark for travel as the vendor is using his recent retirement as an excuse to travel the world and, rather than it sitting idle in the meantime, is offering this 911 to its next keeper instead. 

There appears to have been a colour change at some point in this Porsche’s life as the exterior colour (Petrol Blue metallic) is a few degrees darker than the paint under the trim in the front ‘trunk’ and within the engine bay. The vendor thinks it is 'Pacific Blue'. The finish is good however, with very few imperfections found. Panels all seem straight and sound with good gaps throughout, just the front wing to bonnet ‘pinching’ a little towards its front edge.

We couldn’t find any obvious signs of corrosion, aside from a few spots of very mild bubbling visible on the offside rear three-quarter panel (just aft of the wheel arch) and some more on the nearside front wing. These are however, very small, localised patches that have yet to break the paint’s surface. 

Excellent Goodyear Efficient grip tyres up front and Michelin Pilot SXs at the rear cover iconic Fuchs wheels that appear to have been recently refurbished. They seem to still remain in great order, as does the mass majority of the rest of the trim. Having said this, there are some other trifling points worth mentioning. The front end looks good but there are a few small stone chips and the bumper rubbing strip shows some very minor imperfections. The jacking point cover on the offside sill is missing and a bit of condensation to the headlights was evident during our winter photoshoot. Overall, however, this Porsche makes an excellent first impression.

It’s very much the same story in the cabin, everything in here seemingly in great shape. The wheel has blue leather to its rim that’s matched by blue piping on the seats. A nice nod that ties the interior to the exterior and lifts what could otherwise be considered a pretty oppressive mass of black plastic and leather. The trim all seems to be there and in good order, the only missing bit we could detect was a grille that’s parted ways with the speaker in the passenger door card.

The dials are all clear and functioning – with the exception of the trip counter below the speedo. There’s a little light surface rusting around the instrument binnacles, but removing them for a respray shouldn’t be too taxing or expensive. There are aftermarket speakers in the parcel shelf that are fed by an MP3, USB, SD stereo upgrade, but aside from these sensible quality of life upgrades, everything else seems as Stuttgart intended. The originality is reinforced by heater control instruction stickers still clearly visible on the inside of the glovebox lid.

Carpets, headlining and seats all look great, apparently showing nothing more than light patina in keeping with a 42-year-old Porsche. Additionally, the vendor reports a split to the vinyl trim on the floor (driver’s side).

The vendor drove this 911 down to our HQ to prepare it for sale and reports that: “It purred down to Oxfordshire... feeling the downforce at speed is so cool that I was having serious second thoughts about giving it up for sale. It is so much fun to drive.” Thankfully, for its next owner, the vendor decided he would part with this 911 after all. The only fault the vendor reported with the car’s performance was that of its shuddering wiper blades. 

A good service history in the past two decades (and beyond) should further reassure that the car’s in rude mechanical health. Having a peek around its oily confines, we did see a little spot of surface corrosion to the bottom corner (driver’s side) of the engine bay, where the rear slam panel meets the offside rear three-quarter. There’s a new looking Porsche (branded) oil filter in pride of place at the right-hand side of the ’bay, which itself looks dry and tidy.

All plastics and clips under that huge whale-tail spoiler seem to be doing their jobs, with seemingly nothing more severe than some surface corrosion to most components. There’s plenty of underseal remaining underneath but it hasn’t covered all evidence of previous repairs. The floors and sills etc. all apparently still solid.

The vendor recalls "...the light bulbs are missing from the underside of the engine lid and front bonnet lid also the interior light has never worked."

Early history for this 911 presumably didn’t make it off the Isle of Man, we do however, have a good selection of invoices from the noughties to the present. As this car was predominantly home-restored, there’s less in the way of itemised invoices for work carried out, but there’s nonetheless lots of paperwork. Regular bills from Taylor Clarke on the Isle of Man can be traced, as is a big service from the same in 2006 (£965.44).

There are photos to show the welding, stripping/rebuilding work, plus a hand-written bill from 2012 for the interior retrim. Several invoices from Kent-based specialist Type 911 start around 2011, with the largest of these being a near £1k bill for several exterior trim parts. This coincided with the aforementioned bill for the interior retrim, suggesting the restoration was carried out approximately a decade ago.

There are also some older stamps in the service history from the 1990s (to about ’97) and, far more recently, a full engine rebuild kit from 2020 (£1957.44), with labour (presumably for fitting the same) from SCP (South Coast Performance Cars) amounting to another £3120.

There’s no shortage of 911s to choose from, even those over 40 years old, but this one has a lot going for it, which stands it apart. Its apparently fine condition seems apparent from even the most cursory of inspections. The paint and panels present well and the cabin is just as tidy, yet retains a nice ‘lived-in’ feel that hasn’t been overly restored. 

The paperwork charts a good deal of expenditure right up to very recently and the car’s run to our premises shows it’s ready to be enjoyed right away.

We are happy to offer this fine car for auction with an estimate in the range of £35,000 - £45,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at our Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are strictly by appointment.  To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, and read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.