Hello I recently acquired at 1987 911 Porsche in very good condition and one thing that bothers me about it is that it has the 915 transmission that is from what I've read were switched with the g50 in 87. This may be a dumb question as this is my first foray into older cars but does this mean that the transmission was swapped or could there have been an option or exception to still have the 915 in the 87 models? There's a mountain of service records I have yet to go through and the person I bought it from was particular in keeping it as stock as possible which is why I'm quite confused about the transmission.

 

The 87-89 cars all have the G50 transmission , it’s pretty much impossible that your car came with a 915 …
Enjoy your car and have fun !

Cheers
Phil

 

why do you thinks it’s a 915? check serial numbers to find out if it’s original.

 

Reverse is to the right and down next to fourth, is that not the 915?

 

Correct, a VINanalytics report that includes the engine and transmission serial numbers will verify if it came as a factory unit.

 

FYI: https://californiamotorsports.net/pa...-specification

Per @Tinkerer look at the trans case and find out what version of the 915 you have. Would not surprise me if some early build 87s came with the last of the 915 stock before they started using the G50, especially if you have a 915/72 serial number.

 

it would be a rare bird $ and just to note that a sorted 915 is fantastic

 

Very interesting. Never heard of this before. I also would have thought it impossible, but can believe the early production theory.

Confirming that yes, with reverse down to the right rear, that is a 915 and not a G50.

A 1987 should have an "H" in the VIN's 10th digit. Right?

The production month and year should be on the plate in the driver's door jamb. My '85, for example ("F" in digit 10) shows a build date of OCT 1984 there, and also the last 4 digits of the VIN are sequential, so a lower number means earlier production. Mine is "0128".

So if you've got an "H" in digit 10, a low serial number, and an early production month (not sure when this would be, maybe Sept 1986 at the earliest?), that would support the using-up-old-parts-on-the-new-cars theory. 915s are great, and that would be very rare if you have it. No idea how it would affect value.

As an example of how they do sometimes change mid-year (but not near as rare as this would be if confirmed), my '85 has the 915.68 transaxle, which changed to 915.73 later in that model year.

 

Thank you for all the information, the car is currently away for ppf so I will take a look when I get it back.

 

Curious to hear back and the 915 is a great old skool box in respects to feel vs the G50, it's simply more "raw" and needs more driver input. Such as shifting into reverse, typically needs you to go from shifting initially into first and then into reverse. It's very "quirky". However, I recommend installing a Porsche short shift kit, like I did, to shorten the throws and further enhance the experience.