Vehicle Description
Chassis No. 11801124
Engine No. 4081409
Transmission No. 2281721
A digital copy of this 1968 911 S Coupe's Kardex warranty card
reveals that it was first sold via MAHAG Porsche of Munich, Germany
on 20 June 1968. Finished in the highly desirable shade of
Blutorange (Tangerine) over a Black upholstered interior with
Corduroy seat inserts, the coupe was selected without any
additional options, a light weight specification of sorts-most
notably ordered without an electric sliding sunroof. Powering this
second-year 911 S was the highest performing series production
engine available. While Porsche's flat-six now seems eternal, it
was just four years old at that point yet had already been modified
to produce 40 additional DIN horsepower, now clocking in at 170 per
period Porsche sales brochures. Naturally, the sporting five-speed
manual transmission and lighter forged Fuchs wheels were standard
on the 911 S, rather than an additional extra as on other 911
models. So too were strengthened struts, Koni adjustable shock
absorbers, stiffer sway bars, a leather-covered steering wheel,
additional instrumentation, fog lights, and thicker carpets among
other items.
As is well-known, the top-of-the-line 911 S model was withheld from
the United States in 1968 due to Porsche's fears regarding new
emissions regulations and, as a result, the model is rare
stateside. Being told the best 911 of the year was unavailable hit
Dave Evans hard enough that the San Diego, California resident
traveled to Europe in December 1968, found this 911 S Coupe-chassis
number 11801124-in Germany, and imported it to the U.S. before the
end of that year. The acquisition began a 37-year ownership span
with the car stored within a shipping container for the majority of
it, beginning in the late 1970s.
In 2005 the car passed to a longtime friend in La Mesa, California
for a short period and then reluctantly to its third owner,
Christopher Bramwell of El Cajon, California in 2006. It was
Bramwell who utilized a number of the Golden State's "who's who" to
individually restore certain components of the 911. Autobahn
Interiors recovered a pair of period-correct sport seats to match
the original upholstery specification, Al Reed Polishing correctly
refinished the Fuchs wheels, Just Dashes the original dashboard,
and a repaint in its correct shade of 6809 Tangerine was conducted
by Euro Sport. In 2011, the car was acquired by Jeff Lewis after
spotting it at the 2010 Dana Point Concours. Lewis showed his
"Tangerine Dream" at the Concours on the Avenue in
Carmel-by-the-Sea during the 2011 Pebble Beach Car Week, and later
it would be featured in the April 2013 issue of Excellence. In
January 2016 the 911 S entered the highly regarded Porsche-focused
collection of the current owner. Before leaving Southern California
for the first time in 48 years, the new caretaker brought the 911 S
Coupe to Henk Baars' well-known Carparc in Costa Mesa for an engine
rebuild and major service that totaled approximately $27,000.
Today this exceptional, show-worthy, matching numbers example of
Porsche's most sporting 911 for 1968 remains just as desirable
today as when Dave Evans traveled to Germany 57 years ago. It is
arguably finished in Porsche's most evocative late 1960s shade of
Tangerine and ordered without a sunroof. Simultaneously, it boasts
a known chain of dry-climate Southern California owners and has
been serviced by many of the best names in the community, in effect
forming the perfect storm for those searching for the ideal short
wheelbase 911 S.
