Brian Wilson

Firestarter,

Just to back you up a bit. My vin starts WP0ZZ. The ugly sidemarkers were added upon import probably, notice none on mine in the above picture. Warning lights in German, probably a good sign. If an unspeakable word comes on when you just have your parking lights on, probably not made for America.

One place you can't check is the cigarette lighter. I took mine out the other day and it said, to my astonishment "MADE IN GERMANY". Now really, who is that for? Odd people, those Germans. Nice cars though.

Firestarter

I still think that the side markers were added when the front end got lunched on a parking block or similar. The lower set of lights are not even wired to work. The switch on the dash has never been wired to work. I am confident that at least the front fascia (lower valence) has been replaced. Could have been done by the importer though. Thanks for the back up... punk.

Firestarter

Brian Wilson

Last thing, promise.

Firestarter, if you are talking about the lower lights, and the switch on the left of the steering column that looks like it should be for fog lights... The lights only come on with the brights(unless they aren't even wired up at all), and the switch turns on a single light on the rear of your car on the left side just to the right of the blinker. It is their fog light over here. I didn't know what it was for until I was flying when it was foggy and saw this nice, single, bright light ahead of me. Ohh, I said, then I remembered to change lanes. Another good way to tell. Does yours say Porsche right above the bumper, or is it on that black nasty thing between the lights that I see running around sometimes? Look at mikes on the top post, barring the fascia, that is it.

That is all, carry on.

Firestarter

ecpunk,

That is the switch I am speaking of... but it does not control anything since it is not connected to anything on my car.


Edited to look at Mikes... mine says Porsche in the exact same location as Mikes.

Firestarter

*Michael.*

Just always walk to the right side of the car..or if you have to walk to the left side, just walk backwards....

And remember it is not a dent, it is a speed dimple.....

spidey

Is it possible to convert a US spec front to the euro front (by possible I mean not spending every dollar I have left and chopping up the front of the car). thanks

Manning

Firestarter,

Actually, why I bring this up is due to the fact that when I was changing my plugs last night I noticed my chassis code starts with the letters WP0ZZZ which got me wondering. Thing is though I am pretty sure of the history on my car, or at least the fact the PO got it from the Carolinas. And CarFax notes this location as the first existance of the car. I was just curious as to whether my car could have been brought in by someone in the military, though I doubt it.

I guess the long and short of it is that I wanted the location of the VIN translator you used.

Firestarter

Manning,

here is the on-line VIN decoder: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/3322/spec.htm

Sounds like your car was, in fact, made for a non-North American market. Any other euro traits (lack of windscreen VIN plate, side repeaters, etc)?

Firestarter

Tabor

My US-Spec 1987 944 NA does not show up on Carfax until 01/29/1992 with 75,540 miles on it.

Firestarter

Tabor,

Very interesting. Anybody else have a carfax report? If so, does it show data previously to circa 1991?

Also I had heard that Porsche will provide you with a full record of owners & dealer service on any year Porsche. At the time, I wrote it off to be an urban legend... has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing?

Firestarter

Manning

You know, now that you mention it, I don't think my CarFax report lists anything more recent than circa 1991. I'll have a look tonight.

Regarding other Euro traits, no there are none on my car. There is a wind sheild VIN plate. There are no "Euro" side repeaters, and the big round side markers that are there look like they have always been (read: not a federalized afterthought). In other words they are "frenched" into the front and rear fenders like they came from the factory that way. The original bumpers are US spec (though I do now have Euro). There was also an OE cat in place, though at some point even ROW cars came equipped with such. None of my gauges or warning lights read in anything but English, though I have seen plenty German gauges for sale on Ebay, so I guess I could add them if need be.

What should I think, what is my car? In theory, based on the chassis number decoder I have a Euro. Based on the physical attributes, I do not.

Firestarter

Where is Velma when we need her?

Firestarter

Crackhead944S

Before buying my 944. Every car I looked at we ran the carfax report(three guys at the office each threw in a few bucks and ran quite a few reports). Often(checked many a VIN from Ebay) cars be they 944 or 928 didn't appear until years after production.

I'll check the one I still have for my car, but I have the service records with the VIN from the dealer of purchase in Nov. of 88. Unfortunately the stamps stopped in '93.

Mark
'88 944S

Bob S. 1984 Silver

Interesting comments on Carfax. I have had the opportunity to try to look up different cars, knowing the actual history of the specific cars. I have found Carfax to be seriously lacking in certain situations. Fleet cars that were not listed as such, massive repairs that were not recorded, callbacks that were not actually done, though listed as such. If one can find out which dealer serviced the car, the printout from the dealer, given the VIN number will prove to be far more useful.

Cheers:

Bob S.

Firestarter

Michael,

Just wondering if you were still in a position where you may be able to help me out getting euro front and rear trimmings?

Referring to this quote:

"Michael Adkins
posted 11-07-2001 11:23
I can probably help you out. What year is your car?"

It is an 85.5.

LMK,

William