Life With The First Porsche 911 Turbo

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Or more like life with one of the last of the first Porsche 911 Turbos, since what Harry Metcalfe bought is a late 930 with a five-speed gearbox from 1989. And what a car it is!

You might imagine the car known as the ‘Widowmaker’ to be a stripped out race car for the road, but while the 930 indeed started out as a homologation special, it was also Porsche’s top of the line model fitted with the softest carpet and leather, a sunroof, plus air-conditioning as standard.

That, the massive turbo and the intercooler under the rubber-coated whale tail made it 132 pounds heavier than the naturally-aspirated 911. Porsche tried to cure the problem of having all that extra weight in the back by using a wider rear axle ending in 245 wide tires.

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Despite being a luxury gran tourer with Porsche’s legendary build quality, the Turbo borrowed quite a few bits from the VW Beetle, and its interior layout certainly needs some getting used to. So does the power delivery with the flat-six having a turbo lag the size of an ambulance and no power below 4,000rpm due to a 7:1 compression.

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The pedals are also at a strange angle, but hey, at least its brakes came straight from a race car!

Seriously, is there another car that has power seats but no power steering or any adjustability?

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Contact the author at mate@jalopnik.com.