1985 Porsche 911 Cab Turbo Look - CLARIFICATION

[hamkj]

I bought this car 10 years ago. I did some, not a lot of research. But it is a wide body turbo look cab. But nothing on the option plate under the hood states anything like that. Based of the information online comparing my VIN, it was produced from the factory as wide body turbo look cab. Any thoughts? (See pic?) My VIN falls within the yellow highlighted VIN #'s.

[hamkj]

[offroader1006]

VIN - Turbo-Look Register

Try your VIN here and see what it comes up with.

[megerian]

do you not see any indication of 491 option code?

A few things to try: (1) email Norbert, who runs the turbo look registry, he is very knowledgeable about these things (2) there are VIN decoders that will spit out the option list, perhaps something will come from the VIN decoder that isnt present on your option plate.

[tributeventures]

You state it is a turbo look cab. Have you confirmed to yourself it has all the turbo look components, such as 930 brakes, etc? Once you can confirm all the option items are on the car, then you can go about getting it recognized as a M491 or M471 option car.

[megerian]

Another useful thread:

Turbo Look question

[Marc Bixen]

I owned an M491 for a while, the option code decal did not state 491, but it absolutely was, C of A from Porsche stated "Turbo-look", and it had WP0AB... VIN, but the tub stamp was WPOZZZ... So not all will have 491 in the option code decal. By the way, also a 1985. The missing 491 on the decal made some people skeptical, but the CofA confirmed it.

[hamkj]

Thank you for the insight.

It does NOT have the turbo brake calipers.

[hamkj]

[tdw28210]

Few things on this topic:

1985 M491's were a bit of an anomaly. Many later "late" 85's did not get the option code sticker at all and some got it without the 491 option listed. All other years seem to be accurate. The COA is the definitive answer from a paperwork perspective.

You found the easiest way to confirm it, which is the "bookend" turbo brake calipers. In my experience, for every real M491, there are a 100 aftermarket wide body conversions. None of which have the correct brake and trailing arm configurations.

Norbert and his Turbo-look register are great resources.

There is growing evidence of "sunderwish" cars that were factory-created widebody cars from the the pre-M491 era. No turbo brakes or trailing arms, just widebody panels. Similar to your car, but actually factory built. One of which may be headed to auction at Amelia Island next year. A '78 I believe.