Those used to a conventional 911 may find the marshmallow look of the flatnose disarming. Its aerodynamic efficiency, howerver, should not be underestimated.

911 Turbo production is as ephemeral as the Farmer's Almanac. It comes and goes like a varietal wine. Some vintages are better than others, but the growing season at Stuttgart is short and the demand is always ripe.

Especially now that Porsche has decided to issue a very limited production run of flat nose Turbo S exotics to close out the '94 model year.

With the introduction of the 993, Porsche has discontinued building the 964 platform. That's good news for 911 fans, but bad news for Turbo lovers, since the current Turbo is based on the 964 chassis. In late '93, Porsche stopped building not only 964 platform, but the 911 Turbo as well. A 993 based Turbo is at least two model years away. In July, 1995, Porsche will announce their '96 Turbo, a four-wheel drive, twin-turbo, based on the 993 platform.

Until then, however, Turbo lovers will be jilted. But there is one ray of hope - the last small batch of Turbos built as '94 "S" models are now available, and each one is a very special car indeed. For starters, all 93 of these final production cars carry the X88 "Increased Horsepower" option. All Turbos equipped with the $60,179 flat nose option (coded X85) automatically include the X88 engine upgrade. MSRP on these cars is $159,179. The remaining Turbos, without slopenose bodywork alteration, are still fitted with the rear fender vents and larger rear spoiler. These non-flatnoses also include the augmented engine kit, which accounts for $7,914 of the $119,921 MSRP.

The increased horsepower package offers the same features which have been available since February, 1993, on all Turbos as "1994 911 Turbo Sport Option M4P3 Parts." These include a pair of higher lift 964 camshafts, a larger K27 turbocharger, a more efficient intercooler, altered flywheel and clutch disc, different heat exchangers, reinforced front and rear shock absorber mounts, and reak brake ducts. Also included is a four pipe exhaust created especially for this model. A clear plastic duct has been added to the underside of the engine lid to conduct fresh air to the intercooler. These improvement from 355 (stock 3.6 Turbo) to 380 at 0.9 bar.

This M4P3/X88 option superceded and improved upon the original "911 Turbo S2 Parts" list, which had been introduced in 1992 for use on the Brumos Turbos of Stuck and Haywood in the Bridgestone Supercar Series. That S2 option consisted of only the refinements to turbocharger, intercooler, camshafts, and associated bolts and hoses. A total of 25 S2 models were produced before the advent of the Turbo S upgrade. Although Porsche modestly rates the horsepower improvement of the Turbo S at only 25 over stock, knowledgeable observers swear the gain is more like 150. Ballpark guesstimates for the Turbo S range from a low of 480 to a high of 508.

Extensive body modification distinguish more than two-thirds of these specially-powered Turbos. 66 of the 93 cars were hand-assembled at Werk I, Rolf Sprenger's Customer Service Center at Stuttgart which originated the "special Wishes" (Sonderwunschen) Program in 1979. Werk I continues to craft custom Porsches today under the "Exclusive" banner. More than half of the 66 Turbos brought to Werk I have been equipped with the X85 "Turbo 'S' Flatnose Package." This option includes the X88 increased horsepower engine, as well as the following body modifications: X99 Rear Fender Vents, X93 Rear Spoiler, and X92 Front Spoiler. Non-flatnoses include only the X88 engine, X93 rear spoiler, and X99 fender vent options.

The Turbo pictured in this article is one of the only two X-85 flat-nose 911s to receive a metallic pearl epoxy paint finish. The extra tariff for the extraordinary tint is $1,564, which is the standard charge for metallic paint, plus $12,249 more for the "color-to-sample" choice of "pear white metallic effect." Kevin Walker, Sales Manager of Beverly Hills Porsche, who ordered this particular car, had it airfreighted to California to protect the paint, and insure that it could be the first such Turbo available for sale in the United States. Walker points out that one of the reasons the pearl finish is so rare is that government monitoring of paint emissions in Germany precludes Porsche from painting more than a handful of their special cars in the pollutant-production epoxy pearl finish. All regular production cars are now done in water-based paints which lose in richness what they gain in environmental friendliness.

Flatnoses coming to the States use 928-style flounder headlights, but Walker notes that "between five and ten of the flatnoses going to Japan" feature the older style hooded pop-up lights used on earlier Special Wish Turbo conversions. Regardless of the headlight treatment, all of the Exclusive program's flatnoses sport larger front and rear airdams which increase high-speed adhesion considerably. The front spoiler includes separate dive planes on either side of the 993-like slotted air intake to provide boundary-layer downforce at the front end. A larger, more contoured rear wing balances the increased aerodynamic adhesion afforded by the new front spoiler. This mushroom cap wing is devoid of rubber trim, and invests the flatnose turbo with a distinctive, lop-eared look that cues nicely with the car's ability to run with its ears pinned back. Organic NACA style rear brake cooling ducts replace the straked fender slits of previous flatnose effort from Werk I.

In addition to the performance enhancements, this particular Turbo carries a bevy of interior options that cost more than your last Geo. For example, there's the full leather treatment, with seat backs and door panels, as well as seating surfaces, fitted in the black hide for $3,569. The Exclusive program then puts its stamp of approval on the interior by embossing Porsche crests into the headrests of both front seat ($136). Supple leather is the covering of choice throughout, for an extra fee of $382. Each front seat is equipped with a heater ($289 x 2) and adjustable lumbar support ($551 x 2). For those of you without a calculator handy, the interior refinements boost the price of this car by $5,767.

Having been burned in the past by customer complaints about "limited production" vehicle claims, Porsche Cars North America is understandably reluctant to divulge exact importation figures for the Turbo S into the United States. They will only say that "most of the production" is coming to America. The hot word at the dealerships is that only 53 of these Turbo S models will find their way to the States, and 38 of those will sport the X85 flatnose look. Dealers who have done a good job selling Porsches over the lean years of recent memory will be getting the lion's share of the Turbo S allocation.

Champion Porsche in Florida leads the pack with five coming its way, while most other stores will be fighting to get just one. The competition for this car among dealers has been fierce, despite the fact that the average sticker price tops $180,000. The pearl example show here, for example, retails for $185,802, and by the time you're done with luxury tax, registration and other fees, you're looking at a $225,000 purchase. And that's if you find a dealer willing to sell you a Turbo S at sticker price. When Porsche came to Walker and asked whether Beverly Hills Porsche would be able to sell such a car, he immediatly asked, "How many can we get?" Apparently, the only thing down and out in Berverly Hills these days is the snout of this flatnose.

Even at sticker price, this is the most expensive production 911 Porsche has ever built, as well as the most poweful 911 ever sold in the U.S. And no, the 959 does not count as a production 911. But if you judge this car by the performance figures Porsche attributes to it, the Turbo S looks like the disappointment of the decade. For example, the stated 0-60 time is 4.5 seconds, and top speed is given by the factory as 170 mph. Startlingly quick indeed, for, say a normally aspirated 911, but nothing to write home about considering that the standard issue '94 3.6 Turbo cranks 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, and runs fifth gear to 168 mph. If you get the idea that the Turbo S are just a wee bit on the convervative side then you begin to appreciate the advantages of understatement.

But it is fair to speculate that not only is this the most expensive regular production Porsche ever built, but also the fastest as well. If the Turbo S isn't the first production Porsche to crack the 4.0 second barrier on the 0-60 run, and the 200 mph barrier on top speed, then we'd be very surprise indeed. But since no one wants to buy a "slightly used" Turbo S just yet, exact performance figures for this car will remain a matter of speculation for the time being.

Porsche has just published a handsome booklet detailing their "Exclusive" program. It illustrates a rather modest array of custom fitments for the 993, 968 and 928GT. Most of the items included are boutique goodies like "instrument dials wrapped in color-coordinated leather to match the interior (X34)," "Burl wood fittings for the instrument panel (X18)," or "Muffler with 4 exhaust pipes (XE2)."

But from the outset, this brochure claims, in a typeface clean and bold enough to make Marshall McLuhan proud, "Ein Porsche ist schnell, schon und selten...Machen Sie ihn einmalig." Translation, for the German-impaired is "A Porsche is fast, beautiful and rare. Make yours one of a kind." It's the kind of statement that was just made to be uttered about the latest flatnose. More than any other Porsche that has gone before it, this quarter-million dollar pearl from Werk I converts currency into dreams.

1994 911 Turbo Sport Option M4P3 Parts