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There are a few posts about VentureTour here and there, but ultimately there is very little information online about this event. I’ve decided to put together a thread to consolidate all the info I’ve gathered to this point, as well as hopefully add to it if anyone else has any input. This info has been gathered from various places online, from a couple Porsche history buffs, and from some participants of the actual tour.
Arguably the most famous ad for the 964
So what is VentureTour?
From April 3rd to April 9th 1989, approx. 230 US Porsche dealers (though I’ve also seen the number 247) were flown to Stuttgart to pick up a brand new Guards Red 964 Carrera 4. The group primarily consisted of dealer principles. As part of a big promotional launch of the widely anticipated 964 platform (specifically highlighting the new AWD system), this massive group of red 964s participated in a 1,200 mile road trip through Germany called VentureTour (also known as Meistertour). Participants received this book and a video Part of the route noted in the book
The event was organized by Richard Ford, VP of Sales & Operations for PCNA. You will notice many early production 964’s were fitted with very similar options (often including option code 900, meaning euro delivery/factory pickup, and always including Guards Red over a black interior). The cars were sent on their trip and had the opportunity to participate in a variety of press activities throughout. At the end the famous red 964 group photo was taken which was later used for a lot of Porsche advertising materials. Here are some photos courtesy of a very helpful gentleman who actually participated in the tour. Lined up in Stuttgart(?) Note, the helicopter taking the circle photo The C4 Corvette was the 964's biggest competitor at the time for testing 959 pleasing crowds at the event
Upon completion of the trip, most of the cars were sent home to the US to be used as dealership demo models or display cars to help promote the new model. You will notice most vehicles that participated were not registered until at least 1990 and had some mileage at the time the first title was issued.
It's believed some participants were also given this trophy, though we're not sure if everyone received one.
Did your car participate?
Though we don’t yet have a definitive list of confirmed participants, there are a few tell tale signs that would lead us to believe the car participated in the tour.
- 1989 964 Carrera 4 finished in Guards Red on black
- A build date in March 1989 or earlier
- Option code 900 (factory delivery)
- Delayed registration or registration with some mileage already on the car (for example, my car didn’t go to it’s first owner until the early 90’s and had almost 6k miles at time of first registration).
- Early VIN number (I suspect a VIN earlier than 375ish - remember production started at 61 units, so VIN 350 would be the 289th vehicle. There were several customer ordered cars, press vehicles, etc which were mixed into the sequence, so we are not focused exclusively on the first 230 cars produced.)
- Any documentation that may have come with your car (eg. touring pass) This is the sample of the "touring pass" that the cars were issued (from another Rennlist member)
Further questions we are trying to sort out…
- Does a list exist somewhere that definitively tells which VINs participated in the tour?
- Does the plate sequence coincide with the VIN sequence? We have a couple plate numbers, and if they were issued in the same sequence as the VINs we could figure out who’s car was which. Eg, I believe VIN 450150 had plate ’S - 461 A’
- Which dealerships would have been around at the time which still exist today? Any contacts at these dealerships that may have more documentation?
- Does anyone else have any info/photos/documents to add? Would love to see what we can put together.
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1989 VENTURETOUR - Comprehensive Thread
