cobalt

A few weeks ago I lost out on a 1994 turbo S Flachbau tail on Ebay UK. I had communicated back and forth with Jasmine the seller and they were very nice and helpful. The tail was listed as a possible OE part but they weren't sure and disclosed that. I was able to work out a deal for a little more than it sold for as the buyer was willing to part with it for a small profit.

I had spoken to Mark from www.flachbau.com and he showed me how to recognize the real deal with pictures of his tail. These have not been available from the factory for quite some time and I was told you could only buy one back in the 90's if you could prove you owned a turbo S here in the US. The cost in 1996 was $6000.00. After sending photos back and forth, Mark was not convinced but I decided it looked like a nice copy at a minimum and I always found the turbo S tail to be the best looking single piece tail used. So I pulled the trigger. Well the tail was shipped Monday and I received it Thursday. (amazing how you can have something shipped from the UK to US faster than from CA to NJ for about the same cost)

I brought the tail to my shop and my mechanic was not convinced so he called a friend that owns a turbo S. Well after careful scrutiny there is no doubt this is a factory original Turbo S tail in its original gel coat. The factory stamp, Stainless mounting hardware, mounting points parting lines and fins are all accurate and consistent with the original. All the holes are predrilled and line up perfectly to a lid. (This is something no aftermarket tail ever has) best of all it has the proper lines and angles in the vents that none of the aftermarket tails I have bought and sold had. The grill and inner plastic shroud all came with it and these in themselves would have cost me as much as the tail.)

So I guess you can call this my barn find. Not that it is worth anything outrageous if you can't find a buyer who needs an original Flachbau tail but I plan on having this puppy painted and installed on a separate lid so I can swap out my turbo tail and lid enabling me to sell or put the car back to original someday. No side vents but I guess this is a close as I can get to a turbo S package car look in cobalt blue which would have been my ultimate Porsche to own if they made one.

Guess you can say I am a bit excited and thought some might find it interesting.

Ag02M5

Awesome. I thought it looked like a real deal.

That is near priceless to someone who has a real turbo s in need but still a pretty cool part. I am sure everyone will be waiting to see it installed on your car.

My favorite is the 3.3s tail. That is what I would like to find. The 3.6s is a little too 'swoopy' for me. It makes me think 993 a bit more.

Glad it worked out.

Boeing 717

That had to be exciting when you realized it was real. Thats like finding a small treasure.

ilko

That's awesome Anthony! Make sure you post some pics when it's on your car

bill930p

I have a tail that looks like the Flachbau tail. How can you tell? I doubt it is a real one, but would like to check just in case.

I took it off my deck lid to mount the correct 930 tail (it mounted using all the original factory mounting points).

Here is a picture of it:

Slantnose!

Great story & find.

Geoffrey

And you dared to post that without pictures???

Wachuko

+965

cobalt

It is not easy to tell.

Yours looks great. real or not.

There is only a few giveaways there is the factory stamp on the inside of the tail just above where the latch is on the lid. You can also tell by the shape of the vents. Most of the aftermarket tails go straight down vs the factory unit which is cut clean allowing air to flow freely. There should also be a single stud coming from the center of the grill that holds the screen in place along with all the hardware which is incorporated into the fiberglass vs attached by using dabs of resin and then placing in their appropriate spot. Lastly when it mounts on a turbo lid (965/930 same unit) it should come right to the top of the lid with none of the lid exposed.

here is a picture of the marking it should measure about 1" square. One is from a real flachbau the other from the tail I purchased they are slightly different because mine hasn't been painted yet.

BTW RUF did use the same tail on some of their cars. Not many but it is possible yours is real.

I also found out last night while fitting the plastic shroud that this piece too is totally different from the standard turbo part. I am lucky it came with the tail because it too is NLA.

I will post some pictures soon of the pieces.

I also added a picture of a flachbau tail so you can see how it mounts

cobalt

So here are the pictures. the tail was never painted and the gelcoat is a little scuffed but it will be painted anyhow. I put a few screws in place mounting it to an older 930 lid.

You can see the shroud in place. This is a specific part used just for the flachbau tail similar to the one used on the 965 but different in many ways. There is no part number on this but it must be the factory part as it lines up perfectly and is a match for the one on the flachbau. There is no reference of this part in any info i have seen.

The one shot shows where the OE stamp is located which would be on a factory tail and I through a shot in their to show how close the top of the tail comes to the edge of the lid. Just enough room for teh gasket which will be installed after the units are painted.

Damian in NJ

Knotty pine basement bar/rec room-classic!

cobalt

Damian,

You love that Knotty pine, I'll have to have you, Raj and a few others over for some drinks and games someday soon. We can order the rippers to go.

i am 90% done I just need to finish off the summer kitchen with new appliances.

elbeee964

love the bar -- you motorboating-son-of-a-b!tch!

(Sorry. Let my Vince Vaughn side get the better of me...)

BlueHeeler

Great deal!

I love it when a plan comes together!

bill930p

I'm going to check mine this evening. Hoping it's real, but probably a long shot. If it's a replica, what is it worth? It does mount perfectly using the factory mounting holes.