f3nr15

Hi all,

I'm looking avidly for my first Porsche, and have come across a restored 1983 SC cabriolet.

It has an electrically operated roof; I'm guessing that these early cab models would have had only manually operated roofs? If so, when did the roofs first become electric?

Many thanks!

billroth

I thought they were manual until 1986?

Lawrence

f3nr15

I'm guessing that this particular car was converted to an electrically operated roof during the restoration; the current owner bought her a couple of years after the restoration, so can't really vouch for this. According to the VIN, she's a genuine USA '83 cab, though.

imcarthur

It became std on most cabs in 1987. But my 87 is manual. Maybe electric was an option earlier?

Ian

billroth

I think it was an option after 86 and then at some point became standard.

Peter Zimmermann

I'm pretty sure that Bill is correct. I for one would be very, very wary of a car that someone decided to put a hideously expensive top apparatus on. Especially a car that the "restoration" receipts aren't readily available for! Legitimate repairs usually come with a packet of legitimate receipts...
Pete

ron mcatee

Post the VIN so someone can tell you what it really is. It may be a Targa converted to a Cab or they added the motor.

f3nr15

Thanks guys.

The VIN is WPOZZZ91ZDS171623.

She was imported as a low mileage car from the USA in 2000, the 'restoration' work was mainly really cosmetic (converted to right-hand drive, resprayed to Carmine Red from original black, new interior), the engine and mechanicals were already excellent and so were left unaltered.

I've got the contact details of the company who did the work on her in 2000, I've just shot them an email about the roof...

billroth

Looking in the Red Book, ROW 83 cab VIN should be WP0ZZZ91ZDS150001-152406.

Lawrence

billroth

WP0AB0EA091CDS170001-1718 is a US cab.

f3nr15

The VIN I quoted is the one stamped on the chassis; I suspect that all the USA SC models were originally chassis stamped as 'WP0ZZZ...' in the factory, but had their VINs altered to 'WP0AE0...' on export to the USA, and so they should all have the 2 VINs; the 'ZZZ' one is stamped on the chassis, the 'AE0' one visible on the driver's door jamb/A-pillar/windscreen.

Adrian

A similar question has been asked in another thread, but I will answer this one to address this quote above.

Every Porsche manufactured is allocated a chassis number beginning with WP0ZZZ and ending with its serial number the instant it begins to take form in the "body in white" section of the factory. Actually the number is engraved and given to the front section the instant the front section takes physical form.
As the chassis assembly moves out of the "body in white" section into the paint shop it will be allocated a VIN. The VIN is computer generated and uses only the serial number of the chassis number with the rest being calculated by the computer for the specific market the Porsche is being sold into.
Once the Porsche is painted the actual VIN plates are added again depending upon the version requirements. WP0EA0 tells me that this is a Cab or Targa without airbags heading into the US market.
If for some reason Porsche "altered" the VIN at the factory once it was allocated the car would carry in its options list the number 718 or the VIN WP0xxZ such as WP0EAZ. I have never seen this on pre model year 1989 Porsche, but certainly they appeared in the 964 series on occassion.
However back to this particular 911SC. It is correctly marked with its original US market allocated VIN and its original factory allocated chassis number which match via the serial number.
It's when they don't match in the serial number department that you have to be concerned. Porsche owners need to learn where the VIN is located and where the chassis number is located in an effort to avoid this kind of confusion which leads to unecessary worry.
Ciao,
Adrian.

billroth

A tangent question for the above author. Why is there no 3.2 "Companion"? Don't like the 3.2 or just so similar to the SC?

Lawrence

g-50cab

Check out the costs for parts for the electric roofs - ungodly expensive - one of the reasons I specifically looked for a manual roof when I went cab shopping.

Adrian

Because to be honest there is no return on my investment. I don't get paid for doing these books my only return is via Royalties from sales. This can take up to three years for the first cheque to arrive and I have discovered there is no consumer support for books on the older Porsches.
The 911SC was an experiment and was really only written to fullfil a promise I made in 2000. This book is the lowest seller of all my books and both I and the Publisher have lost money so far on it.
I do not see the Carrera 3.2 being any different. What could I write that has not been covered already?
If I just wrote for fun and did not have to worry about paying bills then I might write one, but sadly that is not the case. Nobody is going to wait to be paid whilst I spend a year writing a book about a car that at best would sell 1,000 copies over its life. This is the reality of today's world I am afraid.
Ciao,
Adrian.