Engine No. 6860025

For decades the mantra for anyone interested in purchasing a 911 Turbo, or any 911 for that matter, was to find the newest example possible. The reasoning made sense. Porsche's philosophy of refinement through incremental change and evolution rather than revolution brought the 911 Turbo displacement increases, intercooling, all-wheel drive, twin turbochargers, and more. Yet as the model evolved, there were those who missed the technical and design purity of the earliest cars built between 1975 and 1977; those non-intercooled Type 930s which, according to Porsche, were only intended to account for 500 cars to homologate the 1976 934 Turbo RSR for FIA Group 4 International GT racing. For a growing number of Porsche aficionados only the earliest examples of the Type 930 would do, and one would be hard pressed to find an earlier 1976 911 Turbo Carrera than chassis number 0014.

Originally constructed by Porsche in August 1975 as a “pre-series” example, this 1976 911 Turbo Carrera, chassis number 0014, is by far one of the earliest produced for the U.S. market as one of four early Turbos retained by Porsche as a “Händler 100” vehicle. Ryan Snodgrass' seminal Turbo 3.0 notes that 0014 was finished in Oak Green Metallic (Ferry Porsche's color of choice in the mid-1970s) with Dark Brown leather and a full MacLaughlan tartan interior. A letter from Olaf Lang states that the car was used “most likely as a photographic vehicle for the sales brochures” and Porsche's 1976 sales brochure features a U.S.-market Oak Green Metallic 911 Turbo. Furthermore, the car is noted to have been delivered to a Mr. Schläfli in the newly completed Weissach development center as the “final production example for testing.” Snodgrass goes on to note that “as part of the North American introduction of the Turbo Carrera, four cars were imported early into the United States for demonstration, publicity, and emissions testing...” and among these was 0014. The Turbo Carrera's Warranty & Maintenance manual remains with the car and its first three service book stamps corroborate that narrative. The Delivery Inspection and 1,000-mile Engine Oil Change and Maintenance Service were performed by VWW-KDG Volkswagen of America as it was still retained by Porsche-Audi. On 2 June 1976 the car received servicing at Bob Smith Porsche –Audi in Hollywood, California with 15,000 miles noted on the odometer. Finally, the service book (dated October 1975) and Certificate of Authenticity record the engine number as 6860025, the very same 3.0-liter turbocharged flat-six that powers 0014 today. While the CoA records the four-speed manual transmission serial number it unfortunately has been scraped away like so many during its time on the road.

Research indicates that Steve Earle acquired the car from Bob Smith's business partner Pete Smith. Earle, perhaps best known as the founder of the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, kept the special Type 930 for a number of years. After Earle's ownership the car was acquired by Dale DeLanders by 1981. Earle and DeLanders clearly enjoyed driving 0014 with DeLanders selling it in 1989 with just over 100,000 miles to fellow Californian Mark Palmer, an architect based in Beverly Hills. Palmer would add fewer than 10,000 miles during his 18-year ownership span, yet under his care, the car would receive a repaint in its original shade of timeless Oak Green Metallic. Joe Sackey acquired the 930 in 2008 and gave it a light refurbishment, with the car later receiving a profile in Excellence magazine titled “930 014: The Earliest U.S. Turbo?”

Since the late 2000s the car—a highly collectible Turbo by this point—has been under the ownership of two caretakers, first based in Indiana at the Ooley & Blackburn collection and then, after a public sale in 2015, returning to Southern California. Today, this very early, special Turbo Carrera retains all of the hallmarks that made it a performance icon of the mid-1970s. It is still finished in its original shade of Oak Green Metallic, is upholstered in Brown leather and Brown carpeting, and rides on correct 15x7 and 8-inch Fuchs wheels. While its original MacLaughlan tartan is gone, it has been replaced with a beautiful blue Black Watch tartan that covers the front and rear seat inserts, door panels, and rear side panels. It shows 111,953 miles at cataloging and retains its original Warranty & Maintenance manual, a substantial history file, a toolkit, and spare tire air pump. As a matching numbers Turbo Carrera and one that was both retained by the factory and Porsche-Audi, chassis 0014 is a very significant Porsche from the dawn of high-performance turbocharged Porsches sold in the United States.