Hi all.
I just purchased a new to me 1978 911 Targa. It has had a single owner from new and was originally purchased in Germany and brought over by the owner when new in 1978. I am curious if this automatically makes it a ROW car or could it be a regular US 911? I have the vin: 9118210243 and I have verified that the engine and transmission are original. Could anyone shed some light?
One other question, based on that VIN can someone tell me the original color code? It is now painted white which was done very well but I know it was originally brown but not sure the code and I cannot find the color code on the car.
thanks in advance!

 

the vin can not tell you colour code by any type of decoder
Porsche can but i think you might have to buy a certificate from them.

 

Ok, thank you. I thought the vin would be the only way they would tell the color. I did reach out to Porsche but they no longer do a COA, it is now much more detailed and the car needs to be in person. Thank you for your guidance and knowledge.

 

Hi, congratulations on the new car! Based on the VIN, that is a US model. The third digit 8 is 1978, the fourth digit 2 makes it a USA car. A 3 there would make it ROW. It may have been a European Delivery program car.

For paint code, isn't there a metal tag riveted to the drivers door hinge post? That should give you the color code. If it is missing, you can still order a Porsche Production Specification for about $100. No longer has engine and transmission codes, but you can still get color and options. See here, about halfway down the page: https://www.porsche.com/usa/accessor...leinformation/

Just curious how you were able to verify the engine and transmission are original? How many miles? It would be great to see some photos of a one-owner car.

Mark

 

also if the colour has changed the original colour is usually still in the engine bay. based on the year you could narrow it down quite a bit.

 

Good morning Mark,
Thank you for the kind welcome. In order to get the engine number and transmission numbers I first crawled under the car for pictures and then called Porsche of South Orlando. The parts department was able to read me which engine and transmission number my car was supposed to have and I just matched it up. I believe Porsche in Atlanta can do it as well. They could not tell the color though unfortunately.
The car has in my opinion an amazing history. It was purchased by a Dr when she graduated medical school in '78 and they hand picked the car in Germany then had it shipped over to Puerto Rico first, then to Florida when they moved here. Many years later when her son graduated medical school she gave the car to him and that is when is was painted white. I have the original shipping sheet and bill of sale for when it was new and the car now has 79,000 documented miles. I will try to upload a few photos when I can work out how.
I would like to put the car back to the original color if possible thus why I asked about the color code. For whatever reason the color code under the hood is not present and there is nothing in the drivers door jam.

 

Thanks iceman, I know where the tag normally is but I cannot seem to find it on this car. Its very strange but perhaps it was removed when the car was painted.

 

so its white inside the engine bay too ??? show pics of that area if you can as there are always telltale signs.

 

i have a 78 Targa, if it looks the same brown as mine i can give you my paint code.

copper brown metallic.

443-9-3

im not sure how many browns were available in 78 but it couldn't be that many

 

This is the only brown left on the car

 

wow gorgeous car and color. It does look quite like that from the small part I can see. Thank you for sharing

 

ok next find a site that shows you what colours were available that year on the SC there are quite a few around .. that does not look like mine ...

 

I contacted Porsche regarding the COA and they no longer do it as I'm sure you are aware. They do a $500 dealer inspection and then a less expensive form that shows the color but not the engine number etc. which I thought was quite strange.

 

The Porsche website lists two browns for '78 on a 911. Copper Brown and Bitter Chocolate. I do think it looks more like bitter chocolate which was paint code 408.

 

you have to be more resourceful in your investigations

glasurit was the original paint manufacturer.

https://coloronline.glasurit.com/index.php?language=8

looks like only 2 browns used that year ...

looks like you posted same time as me

according to glasurit i would say your is more likely the chocolate brown... or cockneybraun