Perhaps one of the least understood models to emerge from Porsche’s Sonderwunsch (Special Wishes) Department, the 911 Turbo Slantnose has recently received special attention from those Porsche enthusiasts and collectors that revere the model not only for its racing department looks but its rarity and hand-built construction. Some of the confusion stems from the special wishes nature and myriad changes that featured in early 1981 to 1986 models. By 1987, due to customer demand, a new option appeared on PCNA price lists: M505. This new Slantnose option order code cleared up much confusion in not only the ordering process but the associated costs, which by 1989, had ballooned to an impressive $29,555.
For those interested in adding the equivalent cost of a Porsche 944 to their 911 Turbo, the Slantnose option not only added race inspired looks and special wishes interior treatments but rarity as well. Just 143 Slantnose-optioned 911 Turbos were created for the U.S. market for the final model year of the G-Body in 1989 – yet just eight of them were configured in the increasingly rare Targa body style, as this example is – creating the rarest and most exclusive M505 Slantnose variant. Furthermore, it should be noted that these final model year examples of the 911 Turbo are the only to feature Getrag’s G50 five-speed manual transmission, enhancing the Turbo’s already impressive driving dynamics but collectability as well.
Completed in March 1989 in Guards Red over a Cashmere Beige and Black partial Leather interior, this 911 Turbo Slantnose Targa is said to have been ordered for Tourist Delivery through Paul Miller Porsche by the heir of the Sbarro Italian food company. Interestingly, according to the 07154 code on the options sticker the car was specified without the Guards Red color-keyed centered wheels with the specifier perhaps opting for black centered Fuchs to better complement the Black-finished Targa bar and trim. Porsche’s excellent sport seats with red piping feature prominent within the interior which was optioned with a Porsche-branded electronic LED boost gauge in place of the quartz clock and light Rootwood dash trim through Porsche Exclusive. A rarely seen leather-covered center console came via Exclusive as well containing a suite of VDO gauges including an ambient air thermometer, clock, and voltmeter along with climate controls and an Alpine cassette stereo. A color crested and leather-covered special wishes steering wheel sits in front of the driver while the shift knob atop the factory optioned short shifter with leather boot falls to the driver’s right hand rounding out the exceptional specification ordered over 35 years ago.
Offered from an exceptional collection of late 1980s 911 Turbos, today, this Slantnose features just 7,945 miles at time of cataloging and is offered with a number of items including Tourist Delivery documentation, its original window sticker, books, toolkit, and air pump no-doubt expected from a well-preserved example such as this. A collectible Turbo-powered Porsche only seen in the most complete collections of the marque, this matching-numbers example with its five-speed transmission, just one of eight produced for 1989, is Porsche Sonderwunsch personified.
