930 Turbo Carrera

OK how about C&C Irvine Saturday 14th or 21st?

I can see it now
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His Imperial Highness the Shah of Iran's classic car collection still includes the 3.0 930 he purchased new...
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It exists in Teheran today, but all the cars are lacking the care they need.

 

I will dig & see. It appears to be a black/black example, clearly in original livery.

 

From this pic we can see that is not a sunroof delete car!
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Here we can just see the nose showing a German front plate... this was taken when the cars were "discovered" in their tomb prior to being cleaned and arranged for display in the current museum in Teheran, Iran.

Looks like blue tape on that headlight lens.
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Look at this! The Shah had ANOTHER 3.0 930 Turbo, this one in a light metallic color with TURBO graphics!!

Note all the cars sitting high because they are on jack-stands.
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In the 70s I guess he could afford more than one 930?
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Not so good. The ultimate lesson being that these cars will outlive us all...

 

Oh yes, he was an avid driver & pilot, and pics abound of him behind the wheel of various classics, riding motorbikes, piloting all manner of aircraft & helicopters, speedboats etc.

Towards the end, taking one of the cars for a drive meant being accompanied by several Mercedes 600s in tow with armed SAVAK agents to protect him... quite a logistical nightmare, but he didn't let that stop him and he delighted in losing the bodyguards. All this told me by someone who helped look after the cars whilst the Shah was in power. I used to own one of the Shah's Miura SVs and I tracked the car caretaker down, the Shah's son, and his nephew. They all had great stories and fond memories of the cars.

 

Great observation, so we are talking about 3 separate 930s then.

 

I'm thinking it is to full 934 specs? Look at the roll-cage installed. The Shah would always go for ultimate models.
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Yes, we are mere mortals, and the cars are somewhat immortals and generally speaking will survive us, we should always remember this.

The Miura SV I owned was 4870, I brought it into the USA some 15 years ago. That car, and the SVJ (4934) were smuggled out of Iran by a well-placed bribe or two by car enthusiasts who had seen them in hiding. This happened circa 1990, at least a decade after the Shah was deposed. The story I was told was that they were trucked into Turkey, and from thence the SV went to Italy and the SVJ to the United Arab Emirates. I found the SV in Italy and brought it back here. I think the worldwide media attention of the SVJ's auction to Nicolas Cage caused some embarrassing moments in Teheran and so the authorities there have clamped down on the remaining car collection so they stand under watchful eyes.

I always felt slightly uncomfortable owning the Shah's Miura SV, fearing that one day an incendiary device would be placed under it by a loyalist who viewed the Shah's cars as assets 'stolen' from the nation. It now lives back in the Middle East, sold on long since by me.

I have read many biographies on the Shah and that era, and whilst he is blamed for many ills, he was a well-educated progressive man, wanting to drag his country forward by fair or foul means and place women in positions of authority etc, and I guess all this proved too much for the conservative mullahs. But, most importantly, he was a dyed-in-the-wool car enthusiast like all of us and I bet if he was alive he would be reading F-Chat!