Most car brands only offer customers a very limited amount of freedom when it comes to choosing options on a new car. Porsche is the opposite. Since day dot, the German performance car perfectionists have always let customers take a rather creative approach to optioning their cars: from any paint colour under the sun to unique interior finishes, Porsche will do it for you. For a price, of course.
But sometimes there’s such a thing as too much choice; too much freedom. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should… And it’s that adage that best sums up this rare vintage Porsche 911 which recently popped up for sale in Canada – and has left us so completely conflicted that we don’t know what to think.
From the outside, this 1998 Porsche 993 Turbo S looks rather normal – if you can call a pristine example of one of the most desirable and beautiful 911s ever made ‘normal’. The Vanilla Yellow exterior is slightly unusual, but by no means unprecedented. It’s a tasteful colour that suits this 90s beast perfectly.
The same cannot be said about the interior, however…
Your eyes do not deceive you: that is indeed a two-tone orange and yellow leather interior. Even the gauge cluster, steering wheel, stick and centre console aren’t spared from the treatment. Let’s be clear, this car has not been customised. Shockingly, this is how it came from the factory.
According to the dealer, Pfaff Reserve Toronto, this eye-scarring Porsche was commissioned by His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, the 6th Prime Minister of Kuwait. That’s almost unsurprising: of course, this is the product of insane oil money! The front seats are even embroidered with his initials, NMS.
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The pièce de résistance though is the walnut burl trim across the dash and doors, which makes the car look especially shagadelic, baby. Comments on Pfaff’s Instagram have compared it to the Mystery Machine van from Scooby-Doo and the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. “Some say the original owner was Ray Charles,” one fan quipped.
Under all that garishness is a rather capable and desirable car, however. The last of the air-cooled 911 Turbos, the 993 Turbo S was capable of 0–100 km/h acceleration time of 3.7 seconds and had a top speed of 296.6 km/h. The interior might not be to everyone’s tastes but it’s totally pristine, as is the rest of the car, which only has 135,000kms on the clock.
The price? CA$888,888 (~US$697,340 or AU$968,520). That’s pretty punchy, considering how divisive that interior is… Although, you could also make the argument that because this is a one-of-a-kind interior, it’s a one-of-a-kind car, and therefore rare and valuable. Maybe.
It presents any prospective buyer with a dilemma: do you spend potentially tens of thousands of dollars to make the interior easier on the eyes, or do you keep it original? Does the interior raise or lower the value of the car? Argh… It’s too much to think about. It’s so damn weird!
Head on over to the Pfaff Reserve online showroom to take a closer look at this vibrant vehicle.
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