Porsche 993 Turbo Cabrio

At the 1993 Frankfurt Autoshow, Porsche’s new 993-generation 911 debuted to near-unanimous praise. Following Ferdinand Porsche’s mantra, “Change is easy. Improvement is far more difficult,” Tony Hatter and his 911 design team set out to improve the bumpers as they were “too bulbous,” they smoothed the headlights to mimic the 959’s while maintaining the classic 911 front fender profile and added width to the rear fenders. Just one year later the new 911 Turbo debuted at the 1994 Geneva Motor Show. Its flared body and sculpted new rear wing assured that Porsche had a sales success on their hands yet for one well-placed individual, MAHAG’s Managing Director Fritz Haberl, the new Turbo coupe was missing something. “Well-placed” may be underselling Haberl’s connection in the German automotive sphere. As the scion of MAHAG’s founder Kaspar Haberl, he operated one of Germany’s oldest, largest, and most important automotive dealerships with over 1,450 employees today. In addition, Haberl was a member of the German parliament, president of Germany’s car trade association (ZDK), and founder and vice president of the European dealer’s association.

Beginning in 1986 and lasting just four years, Porsche offered a Targa and Cabriolet body option for the 911 Turbo model. With the advent of the 964-generation 911 Turbo was once again limited to the sporting coupe profile with Porsche planning very much the same for their new 911 Turbo. Clearly a fan of the drop-top 911, Haberl inquired about purchasing a custom, factory built 911 Turbo Cabriolet and, while the request was not denied, he was told that to be feasible he must find other individuals to commit DM 264,000 to purchase such a car – a premium of approximately DM 112,000 over a standard 911 Carrera Cabriolet. Owing to Haberl’s influence within the German automotive sphere he found 14, enough to simultaneously spur the Exclusive Department to produce his dream and create one of the rarest Porsche models of all time. As the driving force behind the project, Haberl would naturally assure that one of the special 14 – the car on offer – would be retained for his use.

Porsche granted the new Turbo Cabriolet a unique internal model number (993 630) and a special series of sequential VINs beginning with 01 and finishing with 14. Finished in Black over a special-order Provence Blue leather interior, this 1995 911 Turbo Cabriolet was the second example produced by Exclusive. Additionally, this particular Turbo Cabriolet was retained by MAHAG as the personal car of Managing Director Fritz Haberl himself! Of the 14, it is one of four finished in Black and the only one of these to feature a Provence Blue interior. Each of the 14 were built to order and, as a result, no two are identical, yet they all share a similar architecture. At the time of production, the standard 993-generation 911 Turbo was under development and Porsche relied on their highly developed, powerful Type M64/50 3.6 Turbo engine coupled to the Turbo 3.6’s strong Getrag five-speed transmission for each Turbo Cabriolet. It is often quoted that the 1994 Turbo 3.6 was the final rear wheel drive 911 Turbo, yet this series of 14 Turbo Cabriolets are, in fact, the final examples of their kind. A look at the build information for Haberl’s 911 Turbo Cabriolet reveals that, in addition to its unique livery, it was optioned with additional leather interior appointments in Provence Blue, sport suspension, a four-outlet exhaust system, and the rear spoiler from the 964 Turbo S among other additional extras. Documentation shows that this car was retained by MAHAG until 2000 and after its second owner, it has been under current ownership for the past 19 years. It should be noted that, unlike some of its brethren this particular example retains its original wheels and rear spoiler.

A veritable series of important firsts and lasts, the 993-generation Turbo Cabriolet is the ultimate answer to those who lament the passing of the hand-built Stuttgart sports car. Unavailable in the United States when new, these Turbo Cabriolets were sculpted by the artisans at Porsche Exclusive at a time when those at the company were willing to commit to small-series passion projects. It is believed that one other of the 14 examples of this rare 911 Turbo has since made it to U.S. shores, and as a result, this well-preserved example, ordered by the individual responsible for the special project and with just three owners from new is deserving of a thorough review by those aficionados deeply interested in the rarest Porsches.