1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S 'Silver Rose'

The 944 is a luxury sports car that was built by Porsche from 1982 to 1991 and was a step-change evolution of the preceding 924 model. The car was the brainchild of the newly appointed Peter Schutz, the CEO of the Porsche company. The bodywork was revised with wider wheel arches (similar to that of the 924 Carrera GT), with a fresh interior and upgrades to the braking and suspension systems. With a brand-new Porsche designed and developed 2.5 litre four cylinder engine, the car had greater visual presence and the performance to match, plus better handling, stopping power and more creature comforts.

In 1986 Porsche launched the new 944 Turbo featuring a 220bhp, 2.5 litre four-cylinder engine which was essentially a turbocharged standard unit but with strengthened internals to cope with the increase in power.

The 944 Turbo was well received and sold well, prompting Porsche to revamp the model in early 1988. The 'Turbo' had been the basis of the highly successful and entertaining F1-supporting 'Turbo Cup', similar to today's 'GT3 Super Cup'. A decision was made to uprate the power of the full-race cars, and it was decreed that the power upgrade should be passed on to the road cars culminating in the launch of the Porsche 944 Turbo S (so-called 'Silver Rose' by Porsche enthusiasts). This model had a more powerful 250bhp engine and came with the "M030' option consisting of Koni adjustable shocks front & rear, 16-inch Fuchs magnesium forged flat-dished alloys wheels known as the Club Sport design (similar to the Design 90 wheel) and Brembo front brakes from the Porsche 928 S4.The uprated power plant of the Turbo S became standard for the Turbo from 1989 to the end of its life.

These early 1988 Turbo S cars were supplied in a distinctive "Silver Rose' (LM3Z) metallic paint with a complementing burgundy "Studio' plaid cloth. All cars featured a stylised 'Turbo' script on the wing, as a gesture to previous hyper-performance Porsches. The Turbo S cost a huge 10% more than a standard Turbo. Due to customer demands, midway through 1988 any colour from the Porsche catalogue, along with any interior option, could be specified instead of the 'Silver Rose' scheme.

It is believed that only 77 "Silver Rose' 944s arrived in the UK (out of approximately 1200 examples world-wide). The car presented here is a genuine, limited edition 1988 "Silver Rose' 944 Turbo, being registered on the 1st February 1988. The chassis and engine numbers conform to the specific ranges for these special cars. It's an all original example with a good service and maintenance history, a complete Porsche book-pack and a spare key. This car has been used and enjoyed, as these well engineered machines were designed to do, covering 91,000 miles, but has had a recent recommissioning including belts, bearings, fluids & brakes. This thorough recommissioning was done by the Porsche technician who has serviced the car for the last 20 years. Cosmetically, the car's bodywork is in very good condition, but the interior could possibly benefit from some additional refreshing.

The initial 'options' chosen include: green graduated tinted windscreen (567), air-conditioning (573), Bosch ABS Braking System (593), rear split seats (685), special model 944 Turbo S 1988 Pack (758), front seats - cloth/cloth/leatherette (990).

The 944, the 968 and even the 928 are seeing their values rise in the wake of the '911 explosion' and the smooth and nimble 944 is now happily being recognised as a very desirable classic car. These rare limited edition examples are much sought-after by Porsche enthusiasts for good reason! This car represents a very accessible route into owning an extremely limited-run Porsche.