The arrival of the Porsche 964 in mid-1989 marked an important milestone for the German automaker; the introduction of an almost completely redesigned chassis to accommodate the all-wheel-drive system developed for the 959. The 964, with its new 3.6-litre engine and G50 transmission, would eventually become available in an interesting range of flavours: The Carrera 4, signifying AWD; the Carrera 2, with traditional rear two-wheel drive; the competition-oriented Carrera Cup, a lightweight C2; and in 1990, a new Turbo. For those who wanted something that resembled a Turbo coupe, Targa or Cabriolet but at a lower price point, there was the ‘Turbo-look option’, M491, which included widened bodywork, a whale-tail rear spoiler, uprated suspension, brakes and wheels but retaining the standard, normally aspirated C2 powertrain.

The Turbo-look Porsche 964 has always been a very desirable automobile, among them 1,532 Carrera 2 Cabriolets constructed worldwide. Within that group, according to Stuttcars.com and the Turbo-look Register, there were some cars that were even more specialized. The Register says six Turbo-look cabriolets were pulled off the production line in Zuffenhausen and transported to the Porsche Exclusive shop in Weissach. Formerly known as the Sonderwisch (‘Special Wishes Department’), this dedicated unit created and managed by the redoubtable Rolf Sprenger has the enviable task of providing moneyed clients with new Porsches in whatever paint and interior scheme and whatever equipment or accessory requested – provided that a cheque in the appropriate amount arrives with the order form.

Three of these six powerful and luxuriously equipped drop-tops were equipped with left-hand drive for buyers in Germany (Code C00), and the other three were fitted with right-hand drive – two for the UK (Code C16) and one for Australia (Code C23).

Of these two cars shipped to the British Isles, this gorgeous low-mileage example left the factory wearing Amethyst Pearl Metallic paint (F9V9) with Cashmere beige leather upholstery (98), tan carpeting and a black canvas power convertible top. Its factory-issued Certificate of Authenticity states that it was ordered with a limited-slip differential, impact bumpers, ‘model delete’ and leather-trimmed sun visors. It was fully equipped with air conditioning, a Sony 10-disc stereo CD player and multiple speakers, tinted glass, power window lifts, power top, electrically adjustable seats and outside mirrors and headlamp washers. Also added were the Porsche Exclusive X92 front lip spoiler and X93 all-metal whale-tail spoiler.

This cabriolet was first sold by Porsche Centre Five Oaks to a successful businessman on the Channel Island of Guernsey and registered there in October 1993, boasting the fitting personal license plate ‘911’. The first owner enjoyed this exciting car until 2003, when it was sold to the consignor, a friend of the first owner, at which time the mileage was just 4,582 mi, as noted by the sales invoice. It should be noted that although this car may have been delivered without its proper ‘Turbo’ engine cover model script, the appropriate ‘Turbo’ badge has since been installed.

The rarity of this particular high-performance Turbo Cabriolet is attested to by the fact that while the delivery documents, Certificate of Authenticity and service invoices state that this car is equipped with a 3.6-liter engine, an inspection of the engine case shows that it is stamped ‘M30/69S’, indicating the presence of the higher-output 3.3-litre turbocharged flat-six. Porsche Reading in the UK has looked into this matter on behalf of the current owner and now agrees that the engine is indeed the correct and original 3.3-litre Turbo fitted with the X33 ‘S’ package, which boosted output from 320 to 355 hp. This type M30/69S engine included much componentry sourced from the Turbo S, including a G50 five-speed manual gearbox, uprated Boge struts, strengthened half-shafts, larger ventilated and cross-drilled and ventilated power-assisted disc brakes identical to those of the Carrera RS and 928 GTS. There were also larger anti-roll bars and light-alloy five-spoke, 17-inch-diameter Cup 1 wheels, 7 in. wide in front and 9 in. wide in the rear, mounted with Pirelli 205/50 ZR 17 and 255/40 ZR 17 tyres.

This rare and very desirable Turbo cabriolet is also supplied with its owner’s manual, service book, tool kit and jack. The car is also accompanied by a duplicate service manual, properly stamped and illustrating its service history since 2005, as well as a folio of original documents, including invoices for work completed. The most recent invoice is for a major service at 23,358 miles, carried out at Porsche Centre Reading on 22 November 2017. Being one of just three such RHD examples created by Porsche Exclusive, and likely the only one painted in this singularly attractive paint scheme, this 964 Turbo Cabriolet is surely among the rarest and most elegant automobiles ever to emerge from Weissach.