Porsche 964

How To Replace a Legend?

The previous generation 911 - namely the 911 2.7, SC and finally 3.2 Carrera - had been very successful during their lifetimes, but the whole range was ageing and Porsche had to refresh its most famous model for the 1990s. The company, and especially the board members, were itching for a full renewal of the model - but Porsche had very little expendable income after the bottom fell out of the sportscar market in the late 1980s, and a compromise was struck - take the 3.2 Carrera, and tweak it. The result was the 964 - a 911 that was 83% new on its release in 1989.

Extensive Modification

Porsche detractors complained that the 964 was only a facelifted 3.2 Carrera. Sure, the only external changes over the previous model were smoother bumpers, more pronounced sideskirts, a new alloy wheel design (the flat-fronted, contemporary-styled Design 90) and the addition of an automatically lifting spoiler instead of that symbol of 80s excess - the Tea-Tray spoiler. A new colour chart was coined, and apart from the modernisation of certain components, the interior remained identical to the predecessor.

However, it was under the skin where the large proportion of changes were in evidence.