Clean and Green: 3.2 Carrera in 911 & Porsche World

Not everyone is inspired by the contents of modern day car showrooms. Some enthusiasts identify more strongly with the cars of yesteryear. John Glynn meets a well-heeled Porsche fan with a passion for the recent past.

I remember the 1970s as a bright and exciting time. Starsky and Hutch ruled the TV, the first Irish Motor Show in 1976 opened my eyes to all manner of automotive exotica in vivid primary colours, and I graduated from a canary yellow Raleigh Chipper to the legend of the Chopper, in vibrant Vimto purple. This was a world where everything was funky, and where Crayola colours coated the objects of our desire.

The 1980s changed everything, as the world began to believe its own hype and take itself a bit too seriously. Nowhere was that self-importance more evident than in car manufacturers’ colour schemes, where the once-fun 911 now found itself draped in leaden grey and bank manager blue.

Consider the colours offered for the 1985 model year against those from ten years earlier. The ‘80s buyer was confined to a choice of six standard shades including Dark Blue, Marble Grey and Black, whereas the ’75 showroom offered eight standard colours including Continental Orange, Light Yellow, Arrow Blue and Ascot Green. Six more greens were available by special order, including the one seen here: 137 Lime Green, or Gelb Grün as it is also known.

Car manufacturers have come full circle, and are again accommodating those of us who want to express some personality in our colour choice. No one wants to be seen as grey, so the eye-popping shades of the ‘70s are making a comeback. Witness the latest campaigns for the Mazda 2 and the new Ford Focus RS – both resplendent in modern-day interpretations of Lime Green. Retro chic is all the rage.

Retro chic was waiting for Oliver Wheeler, when he tripped over a 911 & Porsche World back issue earlier this year. The magazine featured a pair of early impact bumper Carreras in pukka seventies shades, a look which immediately captured the PR director and ardent petrolhead’s imagination.

“I had been in search of something which fully evoked the glamour of 1970s high life”, he tells me. “Picture yourself landing in Monaco, lighting a Peter Stuyvestant as you step from the helicopter and striding towards the Porsche showroom, walking once around the coolest car there and buying it on the spot. Richard knew where I was coming from straight away.”

The Richard he refers to is Richard Tuthill of the eponymous Porsche shop in Wardington, Oxfordshire. The magazine article that caught his (obviously discerning) eye was my first piece for Porsche World, entitled “Citrus Carreras”. It featured a certain orange Carrera 3.0 versus Nigel Watkins’ green-skinned ’74, known affectionately as Limey.

“I was looking for a weekend car,” explains Oli. “Something we could keep at our country house, and which my wife and I could enjoy as a change from the family transport we use in London. The article struck a chord, so I called Tuthills for advice on where to look. Richard suggested I come up and see a car that a friend of his had for sale. I wasn’t quite expecting what he had to show me”.

What Tuthill had available was not an early car, but a 1989 3.2 Carrera coupe, in Silver Metallic with Linen leather. This late example was in good solid condition, with just under 80K miles and full Porsche history. The previous owner was Porsche enthusiast and motoring journalist Chris Harris. “Silver was not really what I had in mind”, Wheeler admits, “so I was glad when Richard said it wasn’t what he was thinking either. We talked about backdating, and I began to see the light.”

Backdating is the name given to taking a post-’73 911 and giving it the early look. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder however, and not all enthusiasts regard the pre-’73 cars as the high point of 911 design; some prefer the chrome-free contrast of the impact bumper cars. The uncomplicated impact bumper look what was Wheeler was after – if only the ‘89 had been a better colour. A plan was formed which would transform the tidy but tubby 3.2 into a leaner, greener machine.

Picasso believed that ‘every act of creation is first an act of destruction’. Messrs Wheeler and Tuthill share this approach, so the project they embarked upon was more than just a quick blow-over in bright paint. First on the list was complete disassembly, followed by a bare-metal respray and colour change, including the cabin, luggage compartment and engine bay. Over 80 hours of work were invested into finishing the body to the standard you see here. It is a magnificent job.

Cosmetic alterations included losing the heavy “flag” mirrors in favour of the delicious plastic devices from the ‘74 Carrera, offset in the correct locations. The whale tail and rear wiper were removed and a flat engine cover fitted. The rear bumperettes were deleted, lending a smoother look to the back end. Black Bosch number plate lights were added to keep things legal. The front foglights were removed and the valance changed for an earlier model, without the chin extension. The elegant, unspoilered lines were exactly what Wheeler aspired to.

The mantra of all project managers is KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. When it came to the engine, this concept was applied in spades. Opening the engine compartment on a normal 3.2 is a bit like looking down on an ancient iron lung, with tubes and wires everywhere. Seen from underneath, the stock exhaust system is just as convoluted; the round-the-houses pipework does not exactly scream “sports car”.

Tuthills replaced the Motronic intake and injection with their latest 911 upgrade: an Individual Throttle Body (ITB) kit, using responsive Jenvey throttle bodies, matched to an Omex 710 ECU, controlling fuel delivery and the crank-fired ignition. The heavy factory exhaust was removed, and the flat six now exhales through a pair of SSI heat exchangers and a stainless Dansk silencer.

Minus the whale tail and the stock exhaust, the car became quite a bit lighter. More weight was saved inside, where the factory electric sports seats were replaced by Recaro Pole Positions, trimmed in leather and mounted on double-locking runners. The rear seat backs were deleted, though the three-point belts were retained for the junior members of the household: nine year-old Isabella, and recent arrival Olivia Kitty. The door panels were changed for RS items, the carpet was replaced with a Southbound RS set in black, and the stock steering wheel was swapped out for a 993RS example – something that divides opinion even now.

“Richard is a rally man so prefers the suede rimmed versions,” says Oli, “but I like the uncluttered look of the 993RS wheel. In fact, the 993 and 964 RSs were two cars I considered buying.” The 911 is Wheeler’s third, having previously owned a pair of 996s. “My first Carrera was a blue C2, which I had back in 2002. The company was doing really well, so I bought the only new road car I’ve ever had in my life: another C2 in silver, with the 30mm factory drop. I did like the 996s, but having been a kart racer before shifting into racing Roadsport Caterhams, I eventually decided that the 996 was too big to be a proper sports car. I sold it and bought my first Ferrari: a 355 GTS, in red of course.”

Prancing horses occupied the garage for a couple of years, the Spider being replaced by a 360. “Black and utterly beautiful,” Oli recalls, “but it regularly freaked me out on my favourite routes: the A and B roads around our Cotswold cottage. Ferraris sit pretty low, so undulations at speed would lift the car off the road momentarily, bringing the traction control in when you least expected it. It was too jittery and I never felt I had absolute control. The 360 was gorgeous, but it had to go.”

With the Ferrari proceeds smouldering in Oliver’s back pocket, new buying criteria began to take shape. “I loved the Ferraris, but they were fairly high maintenance and, like all beautiful Italians, somewhat temperamental. You had to hope they were in the mood to go out. I liked my previous Porsches, but found them a little anonymous – they never quite got my pulse racing. The opportunity to build something bespoke, which would be reliable and fun to drive really got me fired up.”

Wheeler’s wife, the actress and Holby City sweetheart Tina Hobley is a fellow petrolhead, and was behind Oli all the way on the Carrera build. When the budget was being stretched to a point where the paint job looked doubtful, Tina was adamant that, as her Irish grandmother used to say: “if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well”.

Tina’s wise words ringing in his ears, Oli’s ultimate specification was extended to include the billet Tuthill brake kit: 6-pot front and 4-pot rear calipers over 3.2 discs, with Ferodo DS 3000 pads. The servo and stock master cylinder were replaced by Tuthill’s twin master cylinder setup, with dashboard-adjustable bias. Aeroquip hoses were used throughout. The original 16” Fuchs (6” front and 8” rear) stayed put, wrapped in Fulda Extremo rubber.

Underneath, the suspension also received some attention, with new Bilstein dampers: Sport front and Sprint rear. New torsion bars were fitted: 19mm front and 27mm rear, while the anti-roll bars are factory-sized 22mm front and 21mm rear – a great combination and a popular upgrade for earlier cars. As a 1989 car, it is of course fitted with the Getrag G50 gearbox. This was found to be in perfect condition, so no modifications were required, other than a new shift knob. The recommended shift fork modification was carried out as a matter of course.

The day of our shoot dawns, and Oliver has caught the 6am train out of London to collect the car from the Cotswolds and bring it to Banbury for our meet. He arrives slightly behind schedule but with a Porsche-induced grin on his face. “The brakes are incredible”, he exclaims. “I’m only just discovering how hard you can lean on them with no hint of a lockup.”

The Lime Green laid across the sensuous curves of this 911, at once contrasts and complements the deep, secret black. The green is fluid and reflective, the black is sturdy and solid, and the combined effect is mesmerising. Filling up with fuel, I catch a view of the understated interior through the open sunroof and, for the first time in quite a while, I notice a new line on a 911. As the rear roof section dives earthwards, a previously unseen parallel emerges between the sublime sweep of the rear quarterlight and the arc of the rear screen. The joyous simplicity of green on black evokes fresh delight in the classic shape, and we revel in the car’s undeniable presence.

En route to our first photo location, my first drive is interesting. The throttle action is incredibly light, and the car revs insatiably as I readjust my right foot. Expert opinion is split on whether SSIs add any power to a 3.2 Carrera, but there is no doubt that they sound substantially better than the stock system, and the “added lightness” is a distinct bonus. The Dansk silencer is a mite muted for my tastes, but then I drive a machine with no sound deadening. Oliver is a big fan of the sound; impressive when one remembers that he has come to the Carrera from a pair of Ferrari V8s.

Photographer Lipman and I are both embarking on our own EFI conversions – he is putting Megasquirt on his lovely 911T and I am putting an ITB system on my C3 – so Jamie is keen to know how it feels. My initial impressions are that it is smoother all round: a crisper throttle pedal, gorgeous induction noise and almost instantaneous get up and go. This was the first 911 fitted with Tuthill’s Jenvey/Omex kit and development has called on all of their resources. “The idea is to bring the latest technology to bear, gain increased control over engine efficiency and pave the way for future upgrades,” says Richard. “It is not about more horsepower, just bringing the flat six into the 21st century.”

There is more to adding EFI than simply bolting on the throttle bodies. The conversion requires needs a number of new engine sensors, the optimum locations for which take some figuring out. Finishing touches are still being applied to the motor: the wiring loom has yet to be trimmed back, and the coil pack will eventually move to the firewall, where Tuthills have designed a very smart and non-intrusive mounting solution. But the engine bay still looks amazing, and removing the air filters for detail shots of the individual throttle bodies exposes pure car porn. The overall effect of the polished air intakes, braided hose and colourful anodised fuel fittings set against the bright green engine bay is divine.

Peak power of 240 bhp at 6,350 rpm is less than one might expect, but again, this car was not built for top speed. Torque is where the fun is, and Oli describes his car’s torque curve as “about as horizontal as one could hope for.” The flat torque curve is immediately evident on the road, the car pulling cleanly from almost any revs in any gear. Acceleration from 40-70 in fourth is definitely superior to the original, and I make a mental note to investigate testing equipment, and measure just how much pace has been gained.

The lighter weight certainly helps the acceleration, and adds to driver enjoyment in many other areas. Thick factory torsion and anti-roll bars acting on a lower mass means that the suspension is wonderfully communicative. The rear is stiff without being hard, and the front is light and responsive without the understeer that blights many roadgoing 911s running stock camber angles. The Sport/Sprint damper combination is a trusted Tuthill recipe, perfectly suited to these roads.

The pared-down interior is both functional and fashionable, though Oliver is not quite finished. “That centre console has to go,” he declares, “and although I have an iPod connection to add to the stereo, I doubt I’ll ever use it. Outside, I’m adding an early Carrera badge to the engine cover. Otherwise, I’m over the moon with it; it’s an honest, grown-up car, vanity free and superb beyond words.”

I take my hat off to people like Oli Wheeler, who realise that, even with the financial clout to buy any new car that takes their fancy, their perfect combination of motoring ingredients is only likely to be found in a vehicle they put together for themselves, and that whatever the cost, the end fully justifies the means. When the results are as enjoyable as this classic Carrera, who could disagree?

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