1979 Porsche 930 (...and 78's too!)

November 1988 Road and Track article by Joe Rusz that details 25 years of the Type 911: “911 Coupe D’OEIL, In 25 years the Type 901 goes from simple to road car to exotic”

Here’s a passage from the article that refers to the racing heritage of the 930’s – what makes the 1970’s 930’s so special:

“The 911 Turbo exists because of racing. To wit: Weissach, anxious to compete in international Group 4 competition was required to build at least 400 examples of the 930 road car. History shows that the tail was soon wagging the dog. The Turbo developed a cachet that ensured its existence to the present and beyond. Not so its two racing derivatives: the 934, a mildly modified 930, and the all-conquering 935, a full-blown racer that ultimately developed into a mere silhouette of the 911. The 935 is worth mentioning because it dominated European and North American road racing from 1978 through early 1982 when the rules changed and prototypes (GTP cars) came into use.”

The article’s artwork is by Hector Luis Bergandi and features a prominent black ‘78/79 930 with snorkel headlight washers.

Caption states:

“The Carrera 4 (new 964) will be almost twice as powerful as the 1963 Frankfurt show car. It will have 4-wheel drive and ABS and offer a level of performance and comfort unheard of then. As the 965, it will be a sleek, high-tech successor to the 911 Turbo. But at the core, a 911 will always be the brainchild of Butzi Porsche, the man also responsible for styling the legendary 904. Although designed more than a quarter century ago, the 911 is never out of style—like the other significant 911s (clockwise from upper left): 1978 SC, 1974 911 Carrera, 1983 911 SC Cabrio, 1967 Targa, 1988 911 Carrera.

More contemporary artwork might have included the 911 Carrera 2.7 RS up front but the 24-year old article still rings true...a 911 is never out of style...
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The U.S. 78 and '79 3.3 liter engines were equipped with a new fuel delivery system. The fuel head was cast iron (magnetic) painted black and unlike the restricted U.S. exhaust system, was the same for ROW and U.S. 930’s (remained unchanged through ’85 ROW production). The black iron fuel heads are larger than the U.S. ’86 to '89 930 aluminum versions and in stock form, can support more fuel flow and horsepower. Image below depicts the black iron fuel head from the U.S. 930 maintenance manual (pages only applicable for the ’78 and ’79 930’s).
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CharlesE, yeah I'm looking for an "early" US spec 930...I have '86 which I love.. Looking for a car that's unmolested and original. Who isn't, right? Why any ideas...

 

they are out there just depends how much you want to spend. if i find a 3.0 for me i would probably sell my 79.

 

Turbo graphics were nice period additions to the 1970's 930's. The decals had a "930" part numbers and were probably installed by the receiving dealerships. The 930 on the cover of the Apr '78 Car and Driver had the decals installed. Like the 930 snorkel headlight washers and '78-80, 917 floating rotor brake parts, these decals are now "unobtainium" (although some reproductions may be available).
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'79 930 - $94K...really? No affiliation...

http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/classic-car-page/175424/1979-porsche-911/

 

Pasha is rare for a 930...
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911 Turbo Drive It video - features a silver 930 with two-tone red/black interior - same as my '79 930.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEwV-BMOiqo[/ame]
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according to the ad they spent that amount "recommissioning" it. i guess this is has the rare engine decal delete option. nice looking car though.

 

guy on Pelican is making the repro graphics. i was toying with trying to make reproduction snorkel washers. by the time i got it perfected, the cost may be prohibitive due to the small market/demand.

 

Beautiful yellow '78 930. Looks all original except the steering wheel, H4's and boost gauge swapped for the clock. The Fuchs wheels look amazing.

More photos at:

http://911cult.blogspot.com/search/label/930%20Turbo
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I noticed the missing engine decals as well (I believe they make repros you can buy like the Turbo decals you mentioned). It's not a garage queen as it had 60K prior to the recommissioning. Pasha is rare but I like tartan better (probably even harder to find in a '78/79 930).

 

idart ; great information and excellent photos and articles from your magazine collection. Thanks for sharing!

However, just a couple of points I'd like to add...

- You are correct in that the decals have 930 part numbers and were added by the dealer. Of course this stripe was and option. And yes there are some high quality reproductions being made these days. I had also seen a 930 many years ago with the stripes painted on, wet sanded, and cleared.. you could not feel the lines in the paint. It was a beauty.

- It most cases these days it is rare to find the correct snorkel headlight washers in place on these vehicles. Not many survived due to breakage/damage, and the fact that many owners did not like the look and had them changed in later years. My 78 has the later style recessed units. Also, If I remember correctly they were mandated away by DOT for the US cars.

-Ahh, the term “917 brakes.” This is one of the biggest misnomers in 930 lore. They are not 917 brakes, however they were derived from the 917. A true 917 caliper has more fins on it than our brakes due.. they and the RSR brakes are very similar or the same. Ours were derived from that design.. I believe too that the rotors may even be larger. I’ve been looking through my archives for pics and will post when found.

Also, both the calipers and rotors (floaters and non) are still available from Porsche.. although there are some slightly cheaper alternatives for the rotor replacement .

Regards,

 

You think that is too high?

 

+1.

You could say they are of a similar type or design, but then again, you could say that about a lot of things.

 

so in the the scheme of things, the 75 930 street cars were built for homologation purposes, then i can say the doors on my 79 were derived from 934s....:

 

Interesting 1978 Porsche 911 / 930 Turbo 3.0 930 Turbo for sale

http://www.finecars.cc/en/detail/car/161825/index.html?no_cache=1&ret=63

 

I think $94K is high for a car with 60K miles (Pasha or not).

 

What is the meaning of outlaw in the Porsche world? Is it just a modified car?

I like that one a lot..and it's a bargain. If i wasnt focusing in RE now, i would have picked it up even if for just a year.

 

onboost,

Thanks for the comments.

A couple of clarifications to your points…

If I inferred that the ’78-80 930’s were equipped with 917 brakes then I was in error. To make that inference, I would have assumed that the street ’78-80 930’s had the same wheel hub and spacers as a 917 (this was obviously not the case as the 930 was equipped with Fuchs wheels with five lug nuts).

I don’t believe the term “917 brakes.” is a misnomer as many parts were the same. Here’s what I previously posted:

“For the production 78-80 930’s, the front floating rotor brakes were very close to the original 917 brakes and many parts are interchangeable. The main difference was the caliper’s fins were smaller, less deep and had “Porsche” embossed on front, and the wheel hub and spacer were changed for the street Fuchs wheels. The 930 rotor size was identical to all 917’s (K, L and Can AM cars). The 930 brake calipers were closer in design to the 917 than were the 3.0 RSR that had horizontal vs. vertical fins (see image below).”

I’m not a Porsche brake expert (nor did I sleep at a Holiday Inn last night) but there’s quite a bit of discussion about the 930 floating rotors from Porsche brake experts on Pelican, Reenlist, etc. Here’s an excerpt from a 2005 post from Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems on Rennlist: http://forums.rennlist.com/

“I have some 917 brakes here (as well as other 917 parts since we used to run one) and they are VERY close to 930 brakes aside from much larger & deeper fins on the calipers. Rotor sizes are identical and all 917's (K,L, and CanAM cars) had full floaters on the front as well as rear.”

I have been trying to buy a 917 brake caliper rotor for sometime (online, eBay, etc.) but have never seen one for sale. Until then, I’ll have to take the word of Steve Weiner (and many book references) that the ’78-80 930 front brakes were very similar to the 917.

Also, you mentioned that ’78-80 factory calipers and floating rotors are still available from Porsche. Can you let me know how I can order these as I’ve been all over the Internet and all the Porsche sites list these as NLA. Thanks in advance.

 

I don't think so

 

Got it, thanks for that.

 

Thanks for the explanation.