Porsche 930 That Inspired Judas Priest’s Turbo Heads to Auction
Legendary guitarist Glenn Tipton’s white-on-white Turbo is a proper symbol of ’80s excess — and a piece of rock n’ roll history.
Ah, the ’80s, a time when hair spray, hard rock, and glorious excess were perfectly acceptable. It was a time when music was truly transformational, especially in regard to good old-fashioned rock n’ roll. And one of the more cutting-edge bands ushering in this new era of hard rock was Judas Priest. By the mid-’80s, the English group had already established itself as one of the world’s premier metal groups. But when the band needed inspiration for a new album, it looked beyond leather and spikes and focused on the Porsche 930 Turbo.
Back then, axe slayer Glenn Tipton had just special-ordered a 1985 911 Porsche Turbo SE. And his trip to Stuttgart to pick up the Chiffon White masterpiece left an unforgettable impression on the rocker. The Porsche’s incredible engineering and meticulous build process blew Tipton away as he watched the car’s assembly while on tour with Judas Priest in Germany. But after taking delivery of his car from Swinford Motors of Stourbridge, Tipton, only became more and more smitten with it.
The rest, as they say, is history. Tipton collaborated with his bandmates to write the hit song “Turbo Lover,” part of the appropriately-named 1986 album Turbo. The now iconic album, which reached platinum status in 1987, recently received a special 30-year-anniversary repacking titled Turbo 30.
As Priest frontman Rob Halford explained to Classic Rock back in 2012, the entire Turbo album was inspired by both the excess of the time and the band’s obsession with that 930 Turbo.
“When you look back at the ’80s, living through that decade, it was incredibly decadent,” said Halford. “There was a lot of money flying around. It was a real pig-out in many ways, but what a great time. From 1980 right through to the grunge movement, all the Porsches, all the turbo engines, everything was larger-than-life. The band was incredibly successful, and we had an enormous amount of wealth going around us. I remember that at the time of ‘Turbo Lover,’ both Glenn [Tipton] and KK [Downing] were absolutely mad on Porsches.”
“…I remember one day [while recording Turbo] when Glenn kicked his pedal board and this sound came out, the one you hear at the start of ‘Turbo Lover,‘” continues the singer, “and I said: ‘It sounds like a turbo engine revving up.’ That was the spark. That was the way the song suddenly grew and how the title popped up.”
‘I live out in the sticks, and it has to be nice weather to take the Porsche out, so I hardly ever use it… but it’s going to be very hard to let it go.’
As much as Tipton loved his inspirational ride, however, he sure didn’t drive it much. The immaculate 930 Turbo shows only 14,100 miles on the odometer. But there are a couple of reasonable explanations for that lack of use, of course. “I live out in the sticks, and it has to be nice weather to take the Porsche out, so I hardly ever use it,” Tipton explains. “It’s time for it to go to someone who will get some use out of it, but it’s going to be very hard to let it go.”
Those interested in scoring the iconic Porsche that also just happens to stand as a piece of music history will get their chance October 21 during the Porsche Sale by Silverstone Auctions at the Wing, Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, England. Current estimates peg the car’s value at $242,000 to $295,000.
