ilikemy944

Cool.
Now the real question...
why?

Luis de Prat

If you look at the early 944 cabriolet prototypes, the top of the rear fenders is "cut off" higher on the quarter panel. I'm not sure what the reasons were, but in the final design Porsche opted for a "lower cut" which resulted in a cleaner look but left some spaces over the rear wheel arches that were cleverly blended into the lines of the car by covering them with these panels.

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Thanks for the input, guys. Let's assume the guy who contacted me, Carl, is the new owner and not a seller trying to pass off a high dollar limited piece. He's just an owner trying to figure out what he's got. Ashton, sorry if it has been here before. How can we tell if it is a 2.7 or 3.0? Block VIN's or what?

Dave, If I understand you correctly, there were NO 2.7L 16 V engines, just 2.5? Obviously this is a 16V engine, so it has to be 2.5 or 3.0, probably the later?

Jfrahm

You can tell it's not a 2.7l 'cause 2.7's are all 8 valve, 1989 only. You can tell it's not a 2.5l 'S' motor 'cause it has the airbox under the nose where the turbo intercooler is generally located. The 87-88 'S' engine has an airbox aft of the hood latch with '16 Ventilier' in script.

Checking the engine code will tell for sure. M44/40 for a 2.5l 'S', M44/41 for a 3.0 S2.

It looks like an 89 S2 Cabrio. Quite uncommon.
-Joel.

Dmitry S.

I would have someone with a real S2 cabrio go drive over there and check it out, and thoroughly compare the cars.

Mike Murcia

If this car truly is a "one off" factory Porsche, it's not impossible that there was some special work done on the engine as well. Without pulling the head, we can't tell if it's 2.5, 2.7 or 3.0l. Just because the airbox is in the same location as an S2, and the valve cover looks the same, it doesn't make it an S2.

Micah

Thought this might be interesting to compare - AFAIK, a very early cabrio (from a ru website). Wes this an example of the higher belt-line you were talking about, Luis?

Micah

tifosiman

Those are late offset PhoneDials, so that is probably a late chassis, not an early one.

That just looks like an S2 cab with the proper motor, bad paint, and the wrong wheels. Although, in theory, someone could have specified that they wanted PD's when they ordered the car and the dealer or Porsche accomodated them.

Luis de Prat

Micah, that's a very interesting photo because that car appears to have the rear fender "covers" integrated (as in welded) into the rest of the bodywork.

The "belt line" I was referring to is the higher and shorter rear fender line you see here, where the convertible top attaches to the top of the rear fender:




Note the absence of door rubbing strips and the choice of wheels.
Looking at these pics, my guess is that the fender shape was changed to accommodate the rear seats, which I'm not sure the prototype had.

Like it or not, AFAIK this is a factory finish called "Rubinrot," or ruby red. You can see it occasionally on cabs for sale in Germany, although I've never seen it on a coupé, or a U.S. car at all.

What's interesting about this car is that the factory finish is absent from the engine bay, which may indicate it was painted Rubinrot specifically for a car trade show, like the owner claims.

I should clarify that by "parts jumble" I wasn't questioning the owner's claims about it being an early version, but rather that personally I don't particularly like these "one off" examples.

alpenweissisnice

Even if the car is some wild-*** factory 2.625 litre 6 valve prototype S1.75 Cab (sorry, I know, I know) does it make a difference in the value of the car?

GOBOGIE

Add to the value? Not sure, but it does add to it's uniqueness or rarity. To some that translates to more value.

Campeck

dan-haha...no sorrys neccessary I just find this kind of funny...plus It's kind of like playing detective

yeah...the late offset phodials tottally rule this car out as being a one off early model.
unless for some reason the PO went through the trouble to put spacers on...which I doubt.

that engine bay just looks funky....anyone notice the PS line going over the top of the water pump?

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Campeck, The late offsets do NOT rule it out as the first cabs were sold in 89. A early cab prototype might have been made in 88 for display as claimed and then would have the late offset wheels. He claims a build date of Oct/1988, not 1986!
To me the engine is the proof, a serial # off the engine would tell a lot. The top mechanism needs inspected, If an outside company (ASC) did the top conversion instead of the factory it surely would be different in some way. I'd also expect some badging from that company... but then again maybe not if Porsche wanted to pass it off as their own. I've encouraged him to send for the certificate of authenticity, that would close the issue for sure.

MichelleJD

This seems like the best course of action. Let us know how it turns out. I, for one, love a mystery!

Campeck

ok..yeah I see what you mean..oops.

yes! lets see what that certificate says!