shaaark89

hey jp,
where is that 89?
i need to complete my gt collection.

JPTL

Tom,
Let me tell you, this would be the cherry on top of any GT collection. He's here in Potomac. I came across him in the weirdest way....I saw an ad for '89 GT wheels for sale in an obscure on-line classified. I then noticed that he was only a few miles from me.
I called him mostly to see if they were club sports, and if he were a GT owner, to see if he knew what he had.
Turns out that they are D-90's and for some reason the previous owner (Stoddard Porsche family) either parted with the CS wheels, or the car came with D-90's. Dunno. Maybe Chuck Z knows the story.
We met up in the heart of Potomac at the little shopping center. The two black GT's sitting next to each other drew a good bit of attention.....a pretty tall order, figuring that there were at least 5 porsches, an '04 M3 or two, and a Vanquish in the parking lot at the same time.
Anyway, this car is absolutely flawless, and unmolested. I thought mine was in nice shape! I was humbled, to say the least. The linen (or cashmere....I can't remember) shows no wear whatsoever. No signs of repaints, blemish repairs, or even pinpoint chips on the nose. It has something like 35k on it.
The guy said that he'd always wanted a 928, and he'd been waiting for the right one - all the while, getting more educated about which color, option, year, etc. that he wanted.
I'd be suprised if he wants to part with it anytime soon. I'm not sure if he's active on any of these boards, although he's aware of them.
I've been meaning to find his number & give him a call get our GT's side by side once again.
Let me know if you're going to be anywhere near here....or midway; with one of the members of your stable, and maybe we can get a 3-way side by side in some parking lot, have a couple of beers....& see what kind of attention a mini-frenzy brings.
Bring Tilo!

shaaark89

give me a holler and i can be there (or near there) almost anytime.

ErnestSw

If you look at Chuck Z's site it appears that there are MORE 89 GTs than 90s or 91s. The 90 appears to be the rarest.
What am I missing?

JPTL

...an '89. So am I.

Gretch

Ernest has '89 envy.......................

Gregg K

Tom,
Why is it that you sold your 89?
Now you have me wondering.

MikeN

I wondered the same question. With 928 production going down heavily each year after its height, to me I don't think the '89 GT is anything special in terms of the number built. It may very well be that the '90 or '91 GTs are actually more rare than the '89s are.

Now we all know the '89 GTs are special in their own right being the first year of the model, wheels, and other features, but are they truly the
rarest GT of all??

worf928

Lots of good stuff in the responses. Here's my $0.02 with some repeats:

The '89 is better than the 91:

- no airbags #1 (who really wants those exploding and doing $10k of interior and glass damage in a car that can slice through mature cedar trees and allow the driver/thief to run away?)

- no 'extra passive restraints' - which when coupled with no airbags allows a steering wheel to fit your tastes, absence of the pillow-sized knee pad found in the airbag cars which hampers leg movement, and allows the 'extended hub' steering wheel. Result: better driving position than the airbag cars.

- no PSD (it is a _great_ system, but who rebuilds the clutch packs when you have 100k or 200k miles on the transaxle? Your local 911 shop? I think not.)

The '91 is better than the '89:

- check engine light - fault diagnosis for those that can read the blinks

- better OBD - if you have a Bosch Hammer

- useful 'luxo' items - non-rain-drippy window seals, better more-sturdy insulation, wheel well liners, better engine compartment light.

- trick 'luxo' items - hatch lock also locks doors. Analog clock.

- shift lever is much better.

The interior fit and finish of my '91 is substantially better than the '89. But that may be more due to care and feeding by POs. (My '91 had 28k on the clock when I bought it, the '89 119k. Now 75k and 121k respectively.)

However, if I had to choose between an '89 and a '91 in similar condition I would go with an '89 and retro fit newer parts like the shifter, seals, liners, etc.

Seth W

Is anyone actually saying that there were less than 60 1990 GT's?? Nope, I don't think that was the case. What you are seeing is Chuck's incredible determination to track down all of the 89's known. The sampling of the data is what is skewed.

shaaark89

gregg,
i was just joking about completing my collection. believe me i have more than enough 928s as it is. the 90 i just bought got under my skin so i had to have it, but realistically it will probably get very little drive time. i barely drive the others as it stands. i also tend to be attracted to unusual color combinations so black on black is not that special to me.
hope you're still enjoying it.

ErnestSw

Seth,
I think you're missing the point. Chuck has, indeed, been successful in tracking down 89s, however he has a list of 90s and 91s. The list may not be complete, and not all of 90s and 91s have been accounted for, but there are fewer 90s and 91s on his lists than there are PROVEN 89s.

MikeN

According to DR's site....

Total US Production, both AT and MT:

'89 835
'90 620
'91 263

Now we all know that a stick 928 was a very low produced item, and if we use an 80% AT vs 20% Stick production variance.......then by all means a '91 GT could very well be rarer then an '89. Some even put the mix at 90% vs 10%........which would make the '91 much more rare, with the '90 not that far past the '89 number.

slate blue

Hi Dave tell us more about the theif and cedar tree story, I haven't heard it.

JPTL

Mike,
You're starting to make me rethink my comments.
I'd still trade my '91 for that '89......I think.