Porsche 911 Turbo S Flachbau (1994)

The first variant of the 964 generation 911 to receive forced induction arrived in March 1990 and would last 4 years with the final cars completed in late 1994. The first cars were fitted with the previous generation 3.3 litre unit from the 930, with the engine seeing mild revisions and gaining around 16hp over its predecessor. Proving to be very successful, over 3,600 cars were built over the course of three years.

Porsche hadn’t had the time to develop the M64 3.6 litre before hand, but this arrived in January 1993 in the form of the 964 Turbo 3.6. Utilising a single KKK K27 turbocharger, power was increased by 40 hp to 355 hp. Featuring in the 1994 film Bad Boys with Will Smith, the Turbo 3.6 was catapulted into the public eye and has since commanded a significant premium over a 3.3, with fewer than 1,500 cars built.

At the end of 964 production, Porsche had around 93 unallocated Turbo chassis’ remaining. All were sent to the Special Wishes Department (now Porsche Exclusive) who had already created a wealth of bespoke projects for clients. Known for their limitless flexibility in colours and materials, Porsche Special Wishes had also been responsible for the build of the largely bespoke 3.3 Turbo S Leichtbau.

Porsche decided these cars would be uprated to ‘S’ specification and would punctuate the end of 964 production. These cars were fitted with X88 power pack and 76 were fitted with the extremely complex, hand-engineered ‘slant-nose’ bodywork, which incorporated 968-style pop-up headlights. The Flachtbau nose option was split into market designations, X83 to Japan, X84 for RoW and X85 for the USA. A further 17 Turbos fitted with just the X88 power upgrade were sent to the USA.

Head of Special Wishes, Rolf Sprenger, developed the slantnose borrowing design cues and aerodynamic learnings from that of the 935/77. The full aerodynamic revisions included air intakes on the rear quarters, a unique front splitter, louvred rear wing, quad exhaust tips and split-rim polished Speedline wheels.

The X88 power pack saw a further 27hp gained from the venerable 3.6 litre engine, now producing over 380 bhp, with upgrades learned from the IMSA 3.6 engine built by Andial. These revisions included a larger KKK turbocharger, a more efficient intercooler, larger ports, bigger injectors and timing changes.

• Breakdown of 76 Flachbau Porsche 964 Turbo S
• 39 USA (X85) X88
• 10 Japan (X83) X88
• 27 RoW (X84) X88
  • 12 RoW were RHD, including supply to Brunei
  • 15 RoW in LHD

A further 17 964 Turbo S were delivered to the USA, and were completed without slantnose, as non-Special Wishes cars fitted with just the X88 Powerkit.