In the collector car world, one-off paint jobs provided by the factory tend to drive higher values later on – even if the initial interest in a custom color is limited to the first owner that ordered it. BMW has the “Individual” program, and Porsche uses “paint to sample” to designate its non-standard paint color orders. This 1978 Porsche 930 Turbo here on eBay is an original paint to sample car clad in stunning Sienna Brown Metallic.
Personally, I dig this color. The tricky thing is being the first owner of a custom color like this, as there’s usually an upcharge of anywhere from $5K-$10K to get the factory to paint your supercar the color of your choosing. So if you want to turn around and sell the car fast, you may find few people agree with your choice in color. However, if you wait a few years, it’s somewhat inevitable the desirability factor will spike once collectors realize how few people choose this option when ordering a supercar like the 930.
A great way to increase your chances of selling the car at a good price is to pick a complimentary interior color scheme, which this example has with Cork leather. The optional sport seats are among some of the best-looking buckets ever to grace an interior, and the thick bolsters are a must-have in a brutal supercar like the 930, also known affectionately as “The Widowmaker.” With the one-off paint job, Turbo specifications, and optional sport seats, this 930 leaves very few boxes unchecked.
Some paint work is noted on the driver’s side rear quarter panel, but the panel itself is believed to be original. The seller says this is a true survivor car, with low mileage (25K) and no major restoration performed, with the exception of an engine rebuild two years ago to the tune of $10K. I agree with the seller that this is the kind of car you want to buy, thanks to the paint to sample color scheme, the desirable options, and the wonderfully un-restored condition. Bidding is over $80K and not surprisingly, the reserve is unmet.
A guy I knew when I was a teenager in the village had a brown 78 Turbo like this. I recall it being a darker brown but we don’t have much sun here so could have been the same.
I know I wanted it ..
Not usually a fan of brown but this car is stunning. Too bad I don’t have a spare hundred grand laying around!
Love the paint, hate the price. I’d call that color copper, not brown, but you can’t argue with Porsche.
Copper: where brown becomes red… good description. I see red (maroon) here.
As a long time member of the Porsche Club of America , I was a welcomed guest of the Porsche factory several years ago in Stuttgart. What a fun tour of their entire factory that was! After seeing two separate cars being painted in the buyer’s choice of color I can see why a custom factory paint job is so expensive. The formulation of the custom color paint is not the costly part. The major cost comes in the “make ready area” and then the clean up process after. Its the labor and time costs that are expensive. Otherwise all the RED cars are painted one day and the all the BLACK cars the next day, and so on.
Everything has to be flushed out of the paint system from what I’ve heard, though the this color doesn’t seem so odd for the 1970’s, I would have believed this was a standard paint option, I’ve seen lots of root-beer/brown/copper colored 70’s Porsches.
The EBay listing says that this was a standard 1977 color. The original buyer must have been upset that it wasn’t available in 78 so paid the extra to get it.
Ich freue mich, wenn die Porsche-Blase platzt
Is there a rule at Barn Finds that if one car is featured, then other similar cars must be featured as well?
We have this Porsche and of course the TWO Yugos.
A 930 is a raw beast that can be difficult to tame. Inexperienced drivers often found the back end coming ’round the front when they got brave enough to put them through the paces in a canyon run.
Even though the production numbers are low, I think the percentage of low mileage 930s is pretty high compared to high mileage ones because most drivers scared themselves into parking them and saving them for Sunday drives through town.
This one is a gorgeous color combo. I’d drive it…with the respect it’s due
Beautiful ride. For some reason I think this isn’t the first car for sale rodeo for this one. Looks vaguely familiar in the back of this old cranium. I could be very wrong.
I pose this to the esteem peanut gallery. This or a 308GTB of the same vintage?
This grossly rear-weight-biased early Turbo, with a massive York piston type A/C compressor mounted as far back in the car as possible
or a mid V8 engine Ferrari 308?
That’s a no-brainer: the Ferrari.
If you are a Ferrari fan? Don’t we tend to have our own brands of interest? I am life long Porsche owner/fan and like Ferrari too but if I had the spare cash wouldn’t swap brands.
If it’s to keep and drive, not resell, for me it’s the Porsche, hands down. Especially in this beautiful color combination!
To my esteemed colleagues in the peanut gallery: This or a 308GTB of the same vintage?
I think the leather colored dash to match the seats was another extra option too
What a stunning car! Can someone please clear up something for me though? Why would a car with only 25,000 miles on it need an engine rebuild?
Because German car.
Worst thing in the world for a car is for it to not be driven. Seals all dry up, fluids go bad and can do damage. Internal rust can take place. All kinds of nasty problems.
Especially an air cooled German engine.
I had to smile very broadly reading this question. Obviously Rx7 has not been around Porsche car drivers a whole lot. I have. For a looooooong time. Frankly I am a bit surprised this one lasted TO 25,000 miles. This is a Porsche Turbo, a very fast powerful car. The owner and maybe others had their foot into it a whole lot…probably. (well, not even probably). I had my Porsche No. four set up mainly for autocross competition. And, I did well. But that rebuild for me lasted just 5000 miles. I knew why.
I bought a beater 911SC targa about 10 years ago for the princely sum of $6,500. Naturally, I sold it just before the prices took off…
Beautiful car in any factory color but this color seems to have been made for that car!! Absolutely sexy!!!!!!
I have a 84 928S painted in Kiln Red which looks to be exactly the same color as this car. I wonder if Kiln Red was available as an option for the 911 Turbo like this car. As noted earlier it is a metallic copper red color.
What few non Porsche owners realize is that cars of this era had some of the most complex paint colors ever. If you see this color or my Kiln Red or Prussian Blue at dawn or sunset you will see the colors change drastically depending upon the light it is in. What ever I do find this color perfect for the body shape.
Love the color – Turbine Bronze Metallic was the box checked off in 1967 on my a B-body…..looks close.