When the Porsche 911 964 Carrera appeared in 1989, it was touted to be three-quarters brand-new. Originally only available with four-wheel drive, a rear-wheel drive variant was added in 1989. Coupe, Targa and cabriolet versions were available. The engine was a new 3.6-litre flat six, and the suspension was comprehensively overhauled over the long-lived 930. Not only did the car have dampers and coil springs, but power steering and ABS were now standard fitments. The rear spoiler raised automatically above 50mph, which gave speeding owners no excuses when caught by the then-new speed camera network. This era of 911 heralded the first use of tiptronic (semi-automatic) gearboxes.
1992 saw the release of the Carrera RS, which featured lightweight construction methods and 260bhp. It featured stiffer springs, limited slip differential and a close ratio gearbox. Later, a turbo-bodied version called the RSR appeared, pushing out 300bhp thanks to a 3.8-litre engine.
The 964 Turbo didn’t appear until 1990 and used the 3.3-litre engine from the 930 but with tweaks to avoid turbo lag and add power. This all added up to 320bhp. The Turbo S of 1992 added a further 56bhp and lowered suspension, and a somewhat minimalist aesthetic to its interior.
In 1993 the Turbo started using the Carrera’s 3.6-litre engine, which yielded 360bhp. In 1994, the last remaining Turbo bodies were made available with ‘Flachbau’ slant-nose bodywork or normal bodies; these were sold as the Turbo 3.6S. A cabriolet version of the Turbo was made available in 1992. A limited edition Speedster version appeared in 1989 and 1994. The 1989 car shares its underpinnings with the 930, but the 1994 car is based on the 964 Carrera and RSR