Did I buy a Prototype s2 Cabriolet?
 

I just bought a 1989 944 s2 cabriolet the other day. I was trying to run the vin through a vin decoder, but it kept giving me error messages. So I sat down and tried to manually decode the vin, but all the info I found said that my vin was wrong. It's not, I can see the damn thing stamped.

After a little googling, I ran across some discussion of there being 10 prototype 944S2 Cabriolets made in 1989 by ASC. They apparently had a vin code that didn't follow the rules because they started as a coupe and were made in a cabriolet.

Is this true? Anybody have any more information about this? Does it make the car any more valuable?

My Vin is: WPOBA2948KN480010

Thanks for any help.

pretty sure the S2 cab is the same, but i know that all 968 cabs started out as hardtops. ASC cut them and converted them. you may still have one of the first ones though.

The 944 S2's (and the few Turbos) all started as coupes and were converted by ASC. I was told by someone that the 968's started as true cabs? Not saying you're wrong Flash, I don't remember who told me.

Look at the date stamp on your car (by the fusebox).

Is the car a RoW or North American spec? Not sure if the factory would've made any North American spec prototypes, but I don't know. Your car may also be a 'press' car; a car Porsche showed at North American auto shows and dealers, after which may have been driven and reviewed by numerous magazine journalists.

A prototype used for factory testing would likely have no undercoating on it. Does your car have any undercoating? A factory prototype might also have some options left out, but I don't know. I.e. it may have manual windows, no armrest, no radio, cloth Script seating, etc.

If you do have a prototype, very cool! It may or may not raise the value. Probably a little bit.

Regardless, all of the 1989 cabriolets are rare, they didn't make many that year.

Just an infos supplement about S2 Coupe & Cab.The Coupe were produce in Neckarsulm,but the Cab were built in Heilbronn by ASC from the US( the reason it wasn't built by the German firm Bauer was due to higher cost per unit plus probably Porsche had more truste in ASC due to their experience building Cab ).Also the last 130 Coupe & 449 Cab were built by Porsche in Zufferhausens.Btw the first prototype Cab was built in 85 had a 16V 186 HP motor & a manually operated soft top.Well all this is pass history now.:Dhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1364097427.jpg
Last 944S2 Coupe out of the Neckarsulm factory was a Cyclamen Red Coupe.

Your vin doesn't compute to any production numbers. The last part: 480010 means its a MY90, the KN before it means it's an MY89. The first part: WPOBA doesn't exist, it should be WP0AB or WP0CB for and 89/90.

No prototypes were made in the USA, they were done by Bauer in Germany way back in 85. ASC got the production contract and produced in Heilbronn Germany not in the USA.

Do all your vins say the same number?

...and ernie is a faster typer than me :)

Yea I thought iw should have been WPOCB as well, but it is definitely BA everywhere I can find. The car has some stuff I haven't seen in other 44's before.

The interior is all leather. The seats, the center console, the bottom of the dash. They are all wrapped in leather.

Car is currently in the shop getting some of the leather replaced, I'll check it out further on Wednesday, plan on removing the dash to recover it.

The leather you speak of was an option, nothing to do with the vin, the options are listed in your trunk bodywork between the rear lights there should be a sticker. Seems like you have full leather which was an option a lot of the later US cars were optioned with.

If you want a definitive answer take it to a Porsche dealer. They will tell you all about the car and you can even buy a certificate from them (iirc $50) that tells you the spec as it left the factory.

One final thing, you typed the letter "O" instead of the number "0" in your vin. FYI there are no letter "O's" in vins.

french - i'm quite sure the 968s were converted cars. i actually have pictures. i've also spoken to ASC. it's also in at least 2 books.

i'm not surprised about the VIN issue. i've found cars not in the database too. i almost bought one that isn't supposed to exist according to the database. it looks like it was a very early car, and outside the normal production run.

i suspect this one is a similar kind of situation

post some pics....

Alot!?!?!? I've only seen one in person, was a 968 too. Guess all the leather-optioned cars must be by you? :p

Not saying you're wrong. You sound pretty knowledgeable! Cool! Maybe start a new thread and post those pictures. And any other cool prototype pics you have :D

I saw one for sale last week or two, a red one. Is that the one you purchased?

btw, what does ASC stand for?

Idk if it's the one you saw. I bought it off a guy in a tiny little town called Riedsville, NC. Got a Hell of a deal. Will post some pics on Wednesday.

i don't have postable pics. they are all in books, and internal porsche stuff, which would all violate copyright law if i posted them. the osprey book has most of them, i think there is some in the morgan book, and the one entitled "excellence was expected" has some stuff on this, so you can see them for yourself there.

There is nothing wrong with your VIN number. I own two 1989 944 S2 Cabriolets.
One has VIN # WPOBA2944KN480105, and the other has VIn # WPOBA2948KN480107. I also know of the # 106 car, which sadly is in a wrecking yard in Wisconsin. European convertibles used to have the designation of being drophead coupes, and the early S2 Cabriolets did not get the CB designation in their VIN numbers until 1990. The 1989 944 Cabriolet models shipped to the United States were quite rare with only 16 produced for the US market. May only be half of that amount still on the road, so count yourself lucky to have found one and enjoy it!

Packardrathttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1387868752.jpg

ASC = American Sunroof Conversions IIRC. Local here to the Detroit area; they do a lot more than just put sunroofs in cars. Sad story about the founder, but that's unrelated.

Note also that before they did the factory conversions for Porsche, they also did some choptops - like my friend's 951 cab. Those are most obviously noticeable in that the windshield angle is "wrong" - the coupes have a different angle than a "true" cab, think it's more reclined in the coupe IIRC... but it's been a while...

the angle is the same between coupe and cab, but the cab windshield on a real one is 60mm shorter in height.

You might have something special there. Although my area of expertise is 968s I can tell you that back in the early nineties Porsche reserved the first 60 VINs of each year and each body style. That means the first regular production 968 was NS840061. Your car having a "10" could mean that it is a reserved car?? Again, I don't know 944s. Also, CarFax shows you have a valid VIN but no records which is interesting. Do you have any paperwork on the car? Original maintenance manual with delivery history?

Maybe it was a press car?

could indeed be a press car or one of the in house numbers. they are required to produce those 60 extra chassis for collision testing and such. some of them were completed. some were not. i know of a few of the 968s like that. pretty sure one of the ones i almost bought was one of those. kicking myself now for not buying it. not sure about the 944, but it stands to reason, especially since that was the original car on which the cabriolet setup was developed, that it may well be one of those.

French Toast *** My Blue 87 944 has the full leather package in black: Front and Back seats, Door Panels, Center Consul, and Lower Dash. Everything in immaculate condition. That's why I bought the car. A freind of mine has owned over 30 944s throughout the years and he has 2sets of door panels and one lower dash. He said he has never seen one in the car complete like mine is. They are option codes M981 and M983.

Super rare on NA 968s too. Of the 4,242 produced, only 50 have the full leather (20 coupes, 30 cabs). My cab is one of them.

I too have one of the few 944's with a full leather interior option. Includes additional stitching on the door cards and along the lower trim of the dash and center console. I particularly love the stitching on the door handle grip

porschechef, preludeofwrath- please enrich the community with photos of your car interiors in a new thread! I have photos saved of other full leather interior 944's but i don't believe there are ever enough.

i know of one late model amazon green 968 6 spd near me with a full stitched leather interior. it is amazing!

Hmm my 87 944 is full leather... It's in pretty horrible condition unfortunately. It sat in Texas for 5 years before being driven again so my interior is next to dead. Eventually I'll save up some money and have the entire interior re-upholstered. I was unaware that full leather was "rare"

based on the number of cars i've seen with it, it wasn't quite as rare on the 944 as on the 968. i think it might just be due to the larger numbers though. the percentages might even be lower.

that being said, a lot of people think their car is full leather, and it's only partial. in standard trim, the door panels, dash, and side bolsters on the seats are vinyl. in a full leather car, those things are leather covered.

i just redid the entire interior of my blue car in leather. big improvement, though a lot more work to maintain.

They only made 1 amazon 968 with full leather. It was a 1993 coupe and is also an M030 car.

There was a 1989 S2 Cabriolet that had the engine bay painted black with the exterior in a different color - blue or red iirc. It was discussed a long time ago, 15 years or so, on rennlist I believe. I remember because I was looking to purchase an S2 cab back then and was doing research on them.

The owner posted a picture showing the difference between the color of the engine bay and the exterior. He stated it was originally a press car used to promote the launch of the model.

Having one of the 16 North American 944 S2 Cabriolets is very cool. Post some pics when you get a chance.

To me, seeing a different engine compartment color is a tell-tale sign of a repaint/color change to a 944/968. If you are going to do this it a black car is the best example to start with as it blends the "best" (many other types of cars have a black engine compartment with all colors). There has been a guy with a speed yellow 968 cab for sale. Looks great in the photos, until you get to the engine bay and see it was originally adventurine green, not a 1 of 10 SY cab. I would be suprised to hear that Porsche authorized a repaint and color change of a press car not to mention, they look great in black so why do it???

i have to disagree about there being only 1 amazon 968 with full leather. there is an amazon green cab here in L.A. that has an original classic grey leather interior. the car is not a repaint either. as i remember, it's a 92. i almost bought that car, but it had too many miles on it, and i didn't want green (racer's bad luck). i really liked the leather, but i also noted at the time that it was in need of conditioning, and in a cab was not holding up well to the sun. lol - at least it wasn't turning purple though.

Yes, having a different color in the engine bay is an obvious indication that a car may have been repainted. If I were buying a car as such I'd check it out thoroughly.

I believed the owner back then when he posted the information. He also had pictures of it when it was used as a promo car. Could he have been lying and it was a repaint? Sure. But it would be way cooler if it were indeed a one-off car. I enjoy my current 968, and my previous 951 (and 964) but our water pumpers could benefit from having some interesting versions of them in circulation. And IMHO, the 944 S2 Cab it the best looking Porsche convertible, including the 911s.

I've done a cursory search on Rennlist but couldn't find the post. Maybe it was back when it was an email list service.


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