This Porsche 911 Turbo S is 27 years old and has around 75,000 kilometers (46,600 miles) on the odo, yet the highest bid has recently passed $420,000 USD with the auction end still nowhere in sight. What makes it so desirable?
The answer is simple: it is one out of only ten X83-spec Porsches originally built only for Japan. Due to human error, the company mistakenly listed around 90 of its 911 Turbo (964) sports cars as X Series models. When the shipments started, Porsche had many chassis units just lying around with no buyers in sight, so it announced two special editions based on these chassis: the X83 for Japan and X85 for the USA.
Making this example even more unique is the fact that the X83 line shipped with an optional upgrade called Flachbau (‘flat build’), which featured pop-out headlights that you can take a closer look at in the attached video. Only ten cars were painted silver with black accents and given rear fender vents along with prominent rocker panels.
To top things off, the Turbo S on sale is one out of six vehicles to have received a ducktail spoiler instead of a rear wing.
The owner performed engine maintenance in last October. Power comes from a 3.6-liter flat-six hitting a five-speed manual transmission with 380 PS (375 hp / 279 kW).
Interior amenities include black leather bucket seats, a radio, an AC, and power windows.
The original buyer used to drive the car in Tokyo, but a client from the U.S. bought it several years ago and brought it to the States.
A Porsche 911 Turbo Convertible with a very similar design went up on sale around three months ago. The car came out in 1988, had 5,500 km (3,417 miles) on the odometer and had a $398,900 sticker on. We do not know if anyone bought it or how much they paid, though.