Even if you buy a classic Porsche, you can find some neat quirks and gizmos.
For a lot of people, an old-school Porsche 911 can be a true bucket list car. A couple months ago, we picked up this 1987 example, and ever since Tommy has been wanting to show the wacky widgets and daring doohickeys (his words) that make this classic Carrera Cabriolet tick. Yeah, he’s wanted to do that, but the experience so far hasn’t exactly been fantastic. Instead, the car has a host of issues we’re still working to fix — more on that over on TFLclassics.
Nevertheless, land on a solid classic 911 or restore one to well-working condition, and there are some interesting conversation pieces when you get to the gadgets and gizmos. The ‘whale tail’ spoiler, for example, is definitely a distinctive look for these older 911s. Being a rear-engined car, the fuel tank is in the front, and that’s accessible by an unmarked knob near the driver’s door. The lockable frunk (Tommy won’t call it that since it’s a Tesla thing, but…it’s a frunk) is also accessible through an unmarked latch near where your hood release would be. To get to the rear-mounted engine, you actually need to open the door then pull another unmarked lever to unlatch the trunk, which brings the whale tail with it to reveal the engine.
More quirky pieces to our classic Porsche 911 include the totally-big-enough-for-a-human rear seats, the tops of which fold up and lock into place when you need them, a mushroom-shaped switch to adjust the door mirrors, the many-levered climate controls, and the twisting switches for the door locks. Now, this 911 does have power locks, but you can manually lock and unlock them on the doors if you really want.
Check out more below!
And the list doesn’t stop there. From the pedal box design to the door mirror positioning, just about every part of a classic 911 is a little quirky. Makes us wish for a bit more strangeness sometimes, and if you’re craving that too check out the video below to see all the details.
