For Sale at Auction: 1996 Porsche 911 Turbo in Carmel, California

Chassis No. WP0ZZZ99ZTS371675

Twin turbochargers, four-wheel drive redeveloped from the 959, hollow-spoke wheels, "Kills bugs fast"-each of these statements about the final air-cooled Porsche 911 Turbo forms part of the narrative, yet all become secondary when considering an extraordinary example such as this.

Ordered for the C32 Arab Gulf States market, this 911 Turbo's option-code sticker records a bewildering array of rare order codes-confusing to most, but exciting to those immersed in Porsche minutiae. To start, the car was ordered in the Paint to Sample (L999) shade of Violet Blue Metallic, a color offered just a few years prior on the 964-generation 911 and 968, over a Leather to Sample (99) interior believed to be Florence Grey. While PTS is a well-known option, the combination of the two is extremely rare and even more so on a 993-generation 911 Turbo!

Its build sheet features a dozen Exclusive options and an impressive nine Z-Orders to facilitate the custom specification. Chief among them is the interior Light Rootwood Package (Y59) that added Light Rootwood Dashboard (X17), Light Rootwood Steering Wheel (X28), Light Rootwood Handbrake Lever (X31), and Light Rootwood Gear Knob (XC8). The interior further features trim panels in Light Rootwood (X86), leather-covered sun visors (XN8), colored dials with leather-trimmed instrument rings in Florence Grey leather (X34), and the extremely rare Custom shift knob (XK8) option for which the original owner selected an engraving of "WK" onto the shift knob cap.

The exterior features three Exclusive options, all quite rare for any 993-generation 911, let alone the top-of-the-line Turbo. The Turbo's 'Techno Rad' wheels (XD9) and center caps (X89) are effectively PTS as well, finished in wagenfarbe Violet Blue Metallic with the twin-turbo 3.6-liter 408 horsepower flat-six breathing through oval tailpipe tips (X54). Finally, the build also features the Digital Sound Package and Remote six-disc CD autochanger among its catalog options, in addition to the expected standard equipment that made a 911 Turbo a Turbo.

Finished in December 1995, the original service book for this special 911 Turbo reveals it was delivered to His Highness Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah of Shuwaikh Palace in Kuwait. The service book further shows that Sheikh Nasser, later Prime Minister of Kuwait, evidently enjoyed the car, with 22,124 kilometers recorded during a service visit in 2002. By 2006 the mileage had increased to just 26,010 km and by the time it left Kuwait via a public sale in Gstaad in 2022 it had only registered an additional 141 km.

Acquired under current ownership in July 2022, the consignor delivered the car to RUF Automobile Pfaffenhausen in October, where it received a thorough recommissioning over the next 12 months at a cost of over €35.000. The comprehensive 13-page invoice, on file and available for review, covers engine and transmission disassembly and reassembly, new turbochargers, complete fluid flushes and replacements, wheel repaint, new Michelin N-spec tires, and more, with RUF leaving no stone unturned to return this special 911 Turbo to the day it was delivered to its first owner.

In January 2024, this special Exclusive Turbo was imported to the United States and, at the time of cataloging, shows just 32,245 km or approximately 20,036 miles at the time of cataloging. Loaded with Exclusive options, finished in a striking Paint to Sample and Leather to Sample combination, offered with low mileage, and the beneficiary of a recent and thorough RUF recommissioning, this 911 Turbo leaves remarkably little to be desired-save perhaps that Porsche only built one exactly like it.