By way of introduction, those of you that know me here, or via Instagram (
https://www.instagram.com/amoroso.frank/?hl=en), know that I am king of the M491 FanBoys. I currently own two G50 M491 coupes, including a PTS Gemini Blue 1987 491/470...
Nice article in Panorama on M491 coupe ...and ths new to me 1989 coupe captioned below.
I sold my pristine, 61k mile '88 M491 / M470 cab via Bring A Trailer on 2/22.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1988-porsche-911-carrera-82/
The transporter whisked her away on 2/28. At which point, I jumped into a rental car to begin an epic 3,000 mile road trip, the last half of which, from Seattle to San Diego (with stops in Portland, Corvallis, Bend, Ashland and San Francisco) were in my new to me 1989 M491 coupe.
Introducing "Vents," number ten of fifteen M491 factory widebodies, and, as a subset thereof, the third of five M470 spoiler delete coupes delivered to North America during the final model year of G Body production. It is Grand Prix White on Burgundy, with 135k miles. The car is heavily optioned, including, among other things, LSD, color keyed Fuchs and Special Wishes rear fender air intake ducts (a.k.a. "Vents").
At some point in the past thirty-two years, the car sprouted a tea-tray tail (with an aftermarket base) and a 930 rubber front lip spoiler. Here's a shot of the car as it will eventually look, with the tail edited out...
...the vents and white Fuchs are super '80s RADwood royalty.
The car is sorted mechanically, replete with a valve job / top end rebuild and new clutch approximately 8k miles ago. Cosmetically, she will need a bare metal respray at some point (current paint thicknesses of 10 to 17 mils) as well as a refurbished interior (which will likely include toning down the Burgundy to a lesser or greater degree. I've already installed a black stock steering wheel and black stock shift knob. I have a set of black sport seats that will likely find their way into the car in the meantime). I am currently debating a stock "restoration," vs. full hot rod, vs something in between. I'll likely end up somewhere right of center on that continuum. I already have a pretty pristine Gemini Blue 1987 M491 / M470 coupe that, although mildly wife-unfriendly, is still rather civilized. As a result, I am planning for Vents to be an even more wife-unfriendly hot rod... stiffer suspension, AC delete, heat delete, M&K long tube headers with valved secondaries and a GT3 muffler, Rebel Racing sphericals, etc. Intended use is: canyon carving dawn-patrol runs, followed by Cars & Coffees, on any given Saturday. An "enduro," if you will.
I am 6'2" tall and my head hits the ceiling of the car if I hit a bump / undulation in the road. Given this, and as part of the respray, I am considering a sunroof delete for the obvious reasons of headroom, weight savings and aesthetics (in that order). I am including a poll hereto as I am interested in Pelican Nation's thoughts. I'm excited for the project and eventually bringing her to the next level, at least. Anything else I do to the car will either be reversible, or mostly stealthy, like 8" & 9" RSR finish Fuchs w/ R Comp tires, Club Sport style front valance / fog light delete, Club Sport engine mounts, Titanium engine carrier, Euro bumper crush tubes, rear bumperette delete, etc.
Anyway, I will update this thread as the project progresses. Please chime in on your thoughts re: "To sunroof delete, or not to sunroof delete?" That is the question - Whether 'tis nobler to hot rod or restore. Yes, it is a rare, numbers matching car, but at 135k miles, will it ever really be collectible? As an M491 it occupies a niche-y market. As opposed to "the market" seeing 491s as something more than a standard 3.2 (i.e. the UK "SuperSport" nomenclature), they are viewed as something less than a 930 (i.e. the stigma associated with the "Turbo Look" moniker in the US).
I've attached some additional pics and you can see more at
https://amoroso.smugmug.com/1989-Porsche-911-M491-M470-Vents You can also see updates on Instagram at @amoroso.frank and / or
https://instagram.com/specialwishes1989m491?igshid=aviiqde28eax
After this afternoon's steering wheel swap (radio delete, and shift knob swap)...
Their first night together...
