1989 Porsche Carrera Sport Cabriolet

This is an original Carrera Sport, which tells us that it left the factory with the uprated suspension, chassis and bodywork that came with the ‘Sport’ iteration.

The vendor, a marque and model enthusiast, has owned the car since 2012.

He knows a thing or two about Porsche 911s, having owned four prior to buying this one. 

He drove to Aberdeen in 2012 to look at it and was impressed with its condition, build quality and the ‘tightness’ of the driving experience. 

When he asked the Porsche technician who’d been looking after it for his opinion, he too referred to the car’s ‘tightness’.

Great minds, etc.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised: being a late, 1989 model-year car, Porsche’s Meister Technikers had ironed out any annoyances or aberrations with the model and were routinely sending out some of the best screwed-together cars ever to leave their production line – either before or after.

That said, we were still surprised at just how well-built this car is. 

The doors close with all the satisfyingly Teutonic heft, precision and authority of bank vaults – and this is a Cabriolet, remember.

Gunther, Klaus and the rest of the gang must have been very proud of themselves when they waved this one goodbye from the factory gates at Zuffenhausen.

Even today, the car is reassuringly free of any rattles, creaks, groans, squeaks, whistles, or sighs….other than those that might be emanating from the occupants.

Finished in the rare, subtle and we think very fetching shade of Slate Grey metallic, this late model Carrera Sport Cabriolet comes with the tried, tested and trusted combination of Porsche’s magnificent 3.2-litre flat-six engine mated to a bulletproof 5-speed manual ‘box.

Eagle-eyed sleuths among you will have noticed that some of the paperwork accompanying this car is in German.

“How so?”, we hear you opine, not unreasonably.

Allow us to explain.

The vendor moved to Germany in 2016 and soon found out that in order to remain insured and legal the car would have to be registered in Germany. 

The easiest and best way to do this was to transfer ownership of the car to his German friend, who happened to have a secure garage under her apartment in Munich.

The car lived a happy and fulfilled life in the land of its birth until it returned to these shores in 2023 and was re-registered with the DVLA.

While in Germany the car was maintained and serviced by Porsche main dealers in Munich and had a little remedial welding work carried out to its undersides.

The bodywork looks straight, true and we can't see any significant dinks, dents, creases, ripples or folds that shouldn’t be there.

As we’ve already observed, the shut-lines and panel gaps are an object lesson in evenness and consistency.

The black fabric hood fits snugly, goes up and down with a minimum of argument or delay, and is in very decent overall condition, save for a couple of missing covers for the press-stud poppers. 

Hardly a deal-breaker we think.

The wheels are in broadly excellent condition bar a small blister on the n/s/r wheel.

The rears (225/50/16) and o/s/f wheel (205/55/16) are shod in Continental ContiSportContact rubber. 

The n/s/f wheel is wearing Continental UltraContact rubber.

All tyres look to have a good amount of life left in them.

Faults are few and far between on this fine example, but it’s our job to be pernickety and OCD when it comes to finding stuff to moan about – so here goes.

In no particular order, there are: some stone chips around the front bumper, valance and the frunk lid; a small patch of what looks like overspray on the frunk lid and a small dent near the Porsche badge; a small spot of blistering on the o/s/r wing adjacent to the rear bumper; some paint chips to the rear edges of the doors; some scratches on the wing mirror housings; a paint chip to the nearside base of the engine cover; a small dent near the driver’s door mirror.

That’s about it.

Everything else is really pretty good, and the Slate Grey paintwork has done a decent job of hanging on to its shine and lustre for the most part.

The lights, lenses, badging and other exterior fixtures and fittings are all in very decent order 

We like the cabins of 911s of this vintage, we really do.

They are built up to a standard, not down to a price, and the simple, spartan, functional interiors are all blissfully analogue, over-engineered and built to last.

The black leather front seats are typically comfortable and supportive, Porsche being among the very best at optimising that elusive balance.

There are a few creases to the outer bolsters, but nothing that doesn’t tally with the car’s age and odometer reading, and the carpets, mats, roof lining and door cards are all solid, sound and in rude good health.

Everything on and around the dashboard and centre console looks fine to us, and even things that usually fall victim to the passage of time, like the gear lever gaiter, have resisted the usual temptations to split, fray or otherwise let the side down.

The rear ‘seats’, as ever, don’t look as if they’ve ever been called upon to support anything heavier than a Panama hat. 

That said, we couldn’t encourage the nearside rear ‘seat’ to fold forward, although it’s more than possible that the fault lies with us, not the car. 

The rubber seal on the driver’s door looks a little mangled in a couple of spots.  

As far as we and the vendor are aware, all buttons, knobs, switches, levers and dials do what they’re asked to do without hesitation, repetition, or deviation.

The frunk is every bit as good as the rest of it.

It contains a space-saver spare, a car cover and one of those fitted, vinyl ‘nose’ protectors that were somewhat cheekily referred to as ‘car bras’ back in the day.

Basically, it’s all good.

As ever, there’s not much to be learned from peering into the engine bay on a 911, but what we can see is clean, dry, orderly, present and correct.

The undersides appear to be possessed of plenty of structural integrity and we’ve seen nothing to make us cough or spill our tea. 

The car has been fortunate enough to be owned by a succession of enthusiast owners over the years, each of whom has been drawn to the car by its originality, condition and quality.

The paperwork contains an in-depth description of the car’s condition and history in 2006, when the then owner was selling it on something called Ebay.

The current vendor says that when he bought the car 6 years later, it was in very much the same excellent condition.

It comes with a service book that’s fair bristling with main dealer and specialist stamps. 

There are also bills and invoices covering work carried out in recent years and, if you brush-up your conversational German skills, you can peruse the receipts for work done while it was resident in Munich. 

The comes with its original book pack, a restorer’s workshop manual that’s fatter than a house brick, full sets of keys, a clear HPI report, a V5C and an MoT certificate that’s valid until 6th July 2027.

This car hails from an era in Porsche’s starry history when they over-engineered things as a matter of principle and built cars that could withstand everything from astronomical mileages to a nuclear winter.

Even by their lofty standards, this car stands out.

It is solid, sound, tight and comes with the inestimable bonus of having been properly looked after by a succession of people who really cared.

They don’t make them like this anymore, more’s the pity.

We like this car a great deal and we’re confident that you will, too. 

We’re confident to offer this fine car for auction with an estimate of £45,000 - £55,000.

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’.