Is my Car one of these original 247?

brianhiggi · 03-25-2016, 09:27 AM

I recently purchased an '89 Carrera 4 (red with black interior) that was assembled in march of 1989. The guy I bought it from bought it from the dealer in 1989 but it had about 5,000 miles at time he purchased it.
I was wondering if anybody out there knows how to tell if it is one of the 247 cars that was used in the promotional poster below. Thanks!
Would my vin # tell me anything?

DerkPerk · 03-25-2016, 09:34 AM

Yeah, it's the one on the opposite side of the circle not shown. Jk.
Would be cool, wish you luck.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

brianhiggi · 03-25-2016, 11:42 AM

Ha ha! Thanks a lot DerkPerk.

group911@aol.co · 03-26-2016, 09:15 AM

Why not post the vin and find out?

brianhiggi · 03-26-2016, 02:05 PM

Good idea Bob!
My vin # is WP0AB0965KS450286

bbturbo · 03-26-2016, 05:02 PM

well, going by the 964 enthusiasts book for source of info here, the VIN breakdown is:

W: country of origin (germany)
P: Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG
0: Passenger car
A:Couple body
B:Normally aspirated
0: Seat belts only (USA) (if it was a ROW, this would be a Z)
96: first part of type number, or auftragsnummer
K: 89
S: Place of manuf (Stuttgart)
4: Last number of type, or auftragsnummer
50286: number made between 50001-1117. So my guess is yours was #286 to roll off the line.

Best question would be then to find out how many red models were produced out of the 2068 ROW cars and 1117 USA cars. It may very well be a mix of the two markets in the poster since all of them were in Stuttgart at one time. So, mathematically it may be probable yours was used for this ad since you have such a low build number, but I cannot answer yes or no. Someone else may be able to chime in on this with red c4 production numbers.

brianhiggi · 03-27-2016, 05:42 AM

Great info bbturbo, thanks!
If anybody knows the production breakdown of the color of those early cars, that'd be great.
I found some info online from a guy who had one of these red C4s used in the poster. He said that he bought it from the local dealer after he returned from the 964 dealer launch meeting. Each dealer got to drive their new red C4 at the meeting and then shipped it home to be the dealer demo. Maybe that would account for the 5,000 miles on the odometer when the first owner bought it, those might have been logged by it being a demo car and by the European launch party.

fasterlaster · fasterlaster's Garage

My 89 seemingly was one of those cars as an early VIN, and was delivered as a tourist delivery vehicle (M code of 900). I was able to track down the dealer who received my 964 in DE who confirmed that mine was one of the cars in the photo. I gathered some of the info and put it up over at Rennlist Cool History about my 964 - Page 2 - Rennlist Discussion Forums that might help you identify. I've been trying to find the pamphlet that was given to all participants, but not much luck yet.

brianhiggi · 03-30-2016, 05:55 AM

That's awesome Fasterlaster! That gives me a lot to think about. What month was your car assembled?
What is the M code? Is that in the vin #?
I can't contact the dealer (Steve Clifford in Provo, UT) since it no longer exists, but I can track down the guy I bought it from to see if he knows anything about it (he's the original owner.)

Cobalt · Cobalt's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbturbo

well, going by the 964 enthusiasts book for source of info here, the VIN breakdown is:

W: country of origin (germany)
P: Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG
0: Passenger car
A:Couple body
B:Normally aspirated
0: Seat belts only (USA) (if it was a ROW, this would be a Z)
96: first part of type number, or auftragsnummer
K: 89
S: Place of manuf (Stuttgart)
4: Last number of type, or auftragsnummer
50286: number made between 50061-1117. So my guess is yours was #286 to roll off the line.

Best question would be then to find out how many red models were produced out of the 2068 ROW cars and 1117 USA cars. It may very well be a mix of the two markets in the poster since all of them were in Stuttgart at one time. So, mathematically it may be probable yours was used for this ad since you have such a low build number, but I cannot answer yes or no. Someone else may be able to chime in on this with red c4 production numbers.

Corrected it for you there were no vin numbers between 001 and 061 for any US spec Porsche all cars vins started with 061.

brianhiggi · 03-30-2016, 10:12 AM

Good eye Cobalt!
Does that correction mean my car was #225 instead of #286 to roll off the line?

fasterlaster · fasterlaster's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by brianhiggi

That's awesome Fasterlaster! That gives me a lot to think about. What month was your car assembled?
What is the M code? Is that in the vin #?
I can't contact the dealer (Steve Clifford in Provo, UT) since it no longer exists, but I can track down the guy I bought it from to see if he knows anything about it (he's the original owner.)

The m-codes should be on your frunk hood. See Lüfteknic Legacy Website - Porsche M-codes for some detail.

Cobalt · Cobalt's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by brianhiggi

Good eye Cobalt!
Does that correction mean my car was #225 instead of #286 to roll off the line?

I can't help you there. The vin sequence does begin with 0061. Adrian missed that somehow leading to a lot of internet information saying there are hundreds more US spec 964's than actually manufactured.

The age of the 964 was still back when cars were assigned vins but came off the production line out of sequence. Some cars were pulled out of sequence to address fitment/quality issues and others with heavy exclusive options hung around for months or years before they were completed. It all depends on how heavily optioned. I would expect that the car came off the line closer to the 225th US spec vs 286th but that is just an assumption.

One day hopefully Porsche will release this information. There are still so many unanswered questions but threads like these eventually are teaching us more about these little known and quite rare 911.

JSny · JSny's Garage

If you want to find a little more history on any car, try googling your VIN. You may find an old for sale ad online. I did. I knew my car came from down south, but it was interesting to see photos of the car with different wheels.

John
1989 Porsche 964 Carrera 4 - Guards Red

Paperboy · Paperboy's Garage

Really cool picture. Shame, if that was today it would be digital " fakery". Good luck with the search, a cars history is always interesting. Who knows, might be a selling point in the future, with prices for good 964s seem to be creeping up all over the world?