1982 Porsche 930 (Houston Car History)

[Aztecfan95]

I have a 1982 930 and have been trying to research its early history. Being a grey mkt car, it has been pretty tough sledding but I did locate the Customs Entry Number which I should be able to link to a Consumption Entry (Customs Form 7501) which would show importers name and address, date, port of entry, etc. (I'm 99% sure it came into Houston)

Has anyone ever had any luck finding this through the old U.S. Customs Dept. archives or perhaps through current Homeland Security? The bureaucracy is pretty brutal but I have run out of ideas to close my history gap between 1982 and 1999.

Any other tips for grey mkt cars? I have tried CarFax and have the Porsche COA.

Thanks!

[matt930s]

I owned a grey market car years ago; was brought over by a service member. These cars carried a negative stigma and were hot potatoes back then and I was urged to stay away from it. I had all the NHTSA and EPA conversion docs and I believe the car came through Charleston. I knew of two other cars (non-Porsche) gray market and they were a mess. Of course today, all that matters is its a 930!

NHTSA and EPA will probably be a good start.

[LUFTKUL]

If imported as a gray market car there should be a metallic tag stating as such and is often near the door striker on the driver side. My '84 import tag has date of import and name of who had it imported. I have spoken with that person in my town. Mine has been in same town since it was imported.

[Aztecfan95]

LUFTKUL

Yes, the sticker says imported by "International Classic Arts, Ltd." I Googled them but nothing, I'm sure they are a dissolved entity now. I spot checked various states incorporation records but nothing. (Texas, Florida, Delaware, California). Perhaps I'll check SC maybe mine also came in through Charleston.

I also hit a brick wall with Customs, NHTSA and Homeland Security. Anyone have a contact, perhaps they have an archivist?

If anyone has any other ideas, I'm all ears.

[matt930s]

If that doesn’t work, you may have to turn this car into a donor for another 930 tub or something like that. Maybe sell to an overseas buyer? How did you buy this car (bill of sale?) Was it previously registered?

Tough situation.
Any pics of your sled?

[DaytonaCoupe66]

Are there issues with the car's operability, or are you looking to account for it's history of ownership over the years? I expect there are many non-gray market cars with large voids of info on ownership lineage. Sometimes info vaporizes due to time and changed hands, sometimes it's sanitized.

I have had two 1982 Cdn 930s, which many refer to as 'ROW'. Aside from the usual items that arise with a 40 year old performance car that has been driven, both have been true to the script as outlined in the P car service manuals. No goofy deletions or additions or frankenstein mods. But, there's no question that the stigma of a non US/gray market/ROW 930 does affect value in the US market.

[Uchesh27]

Yes that doesn’t work, you may have to turn this car into a donor for another 930 tub or something like that.

[matt930s]

Originally Posted by Uchesh27

Yes that doesn’t work, you may have to turn this car into a donor for another 930 tub or something like that.

That's what I said ...bot? lol...

[pkabush]

Originally Posted by matt930s

If that doesn’t work, you may have to turn this car into a donor for another 930 tub or something like that. Maybe sell to an overseas buyer? How did you buy this car (bill of sale?) Was it previously registered?

Tough situation.
Any pics of your sled?

I couldn’t agree less with this advice. Unless I’m missing the point
Sure I’m biased as I own a 81 930. But imo this is just regurgitating the BS that was started by car dealers back in the day in order to sell the customer a readily available US 911. I’m not saying there aren’t federally regulated cars out there that haven’t been butchered but the dozens I’ve seen haven’t been.
ROW cars have many advantages over the US models. Just to highlight a few,
there were only 848 examples made in 81. Not sure about 82 but I think the numbers are close. They were also usually specked much better imo.
For example, mine has no sunroof and the interior has cloth inserts on the seats.
Also, you get the correct Euro ride height as well as much better HP due the uncorked exhaust and lack of power robbing emission equipment.
I would gladly pay more for a ROW 911/930 than a similar US model for these reasons.
As to the OPs question, I can’t be much help. I would be happy to share pics of fed tags or anything else may help. Interestingly, my car also came through Houston.

[matt930s]

Of course I agree with you.

The advice was for a last resort of not being able to register here in the US; if there already is a title and conversion docs, it’s a non-issue. I owned a grey market car and they were hit and miss on conversion quality and history of the car.

YMMV

Originally Posted by pkabush

I couldn’t agree less with this advice. Unless I’m missing the point
Sure I’m biased as I own a 81 930. But imo this is just regurgitating the BS that was started by car dealers back in the day in order to sell the customer a readily available US 911. I’m not saying there aren’t federally regulated cars out there that haven’t been butchered but the dozens I’ve seen haven’t been.
ROW cars have many advantages over the US models. Just to highlight a few,
there were only 848 examples made in 81. Not sure about 82 but I think the numbers are close. They were also usually specked much better imo.
For example, mine has no sunroof and the interior has cloth inserts on the seats.
Also, you get the correct Euro ride height as well as much better HP due the uncorked exhaust and lack of power robbing emission equipment.
I would gladly pay more for a ROW 911/930 than a similar US model for these reasons.
As to the OPs question, I can’t be much help. I would be happy to share pics of fed tags or anything else may help. Interestingly, my car also came through Houston.