1969 Porsche 912 Coupé (LWB)

The car presented here is a 1969 Porsche 912 Coupé, making it the much rarer LWB model. In the last year of production, Porsche extended the wheelbase of the 912 to improve driving characteristics; a total of 36,316 912s were produced, of which only 3,913 had the longer wheelbase.

In 2010, whilst still in the US, this car was the recipient of a complete bare-metal restoration, with all rust areas repaired/replaced as necessary. All body panels were media-blasted, and rust-treated with POR-15and the floors, inner & outer rockers, as well as the jacking points, suspension pan, and tank support, were all renewed.

The bodywork is now resplendent in a light Ivory paint colour, with all proper tagging/lettering still in situ. There are new rubber seals for windows, doors and bodywork, whilst new horn grilles, new front and rear indicator lenses, and re-chromed rear bumperettes and towel-rail, complete the renewed exterior. Under the bonnet, everything was media-blasted, all rust removed, 3M undercoated, painted and treated with POR-15. The new aluminium strut-brace is a custom-made part fitted with Tarett Engineering ends. The fibreboard bulkhead cover has been replaced with a carbon fibre reproduction item, whilst the battery is an Odessey PC925T dry cell.

The interior benefits from a new headliner, reconditioned OEM sun visors, whilst the glass is the original green type. All carpeting has been replaced with new OEM-style Perlon with soundproofing utilised underneath, with coco-mats over aluminium pedal boards. The seats have been stripped to the frames, repaired, painted and re-upholstered with hand-sewn covers; the door/interior panels were sourced from 356 specialists International Mercantile. The five-gauge dashboard was removed, with all the gauges reconditioned by North Hollywood Instruments (numerically calibrated / matched etc.). The original radio and steering wheel were reinstalled into the reconditioned dashboard face, whilst all switches function as they should.

The car’s gearbox was disassembled and found to be in great condition; it was rebuilt with new seals, gaskets and high-quality oil. The stub axles have also been rebuilt, with all new bushings in the gearstick and linkage. To complete this, a new clutch (and cable), pressure plate and throw-out bearing were fitted. The engine is fitted with a ‘hotter’ rally camshaft, and received new OEM heat exchangers, a tuned exhaust (that was port-matched) and powder-coated/anodised tinware.

New OEM brake rotors were fitted, with rebuilt callipers, new pads/hoses, master cylinder and new hardlines. The pedal cluster was media-blasted, painted and had bronze bushings installed. The suspension componentry was all removed, media-blasted and painted/plated. There is all-new poly-bushing, front & rear wheel bearings, with a 16mm torsion bar up front (with new bushings and a Tarett Engineering drop linkage), plus a new BOGE strut insert, whilst Turbo tie-rod ends eliminate bump-steer, with new KYB shocks and Porsche 77-88 adjustable spring plates at the rear. The alignment, corner weights and ride height were all set at Johnson’s Alignment Service and it sits on 6 x15 polished Fuchs wheels.

This is a really lovely car with just 6,000 miles since its restoration and, apart from a couple of cylinders, has all the qualities of the early 911s that make them so sought-after.