Rinspeed Porsche R69 Turbo Channels Its Inner Ferrari
Super low-mile Rinspeed 911 reminds us of a time when you could make your Porsche look like a Testarossa.
Interesting Find
The '80s are famous for being a time of excess, and mostly a dark time for the enthusiast automobile. Regardless, the Porsche 911 was still around during those times and presented the suddenly wealthy with a proper way to flaunt their status. For those that wanted a bit more, Rinspeed Design was happy to oblige with a body kit that borrowed heavily from the Ferrari Testarossa of the era. Today, you don't see many of these cars, but we recently spotted one for sale over at Sunset Classics.
Photos: Sunset Classics
Expensive Proposition
This particular R69 remained with its original owner until it was recently sold, and has just 8,700 miles on the clock. That person had to dish out a pretty penny for his converted ride back in the day because it carried an insane price tag of $160,000 back then. But the original owner also happened to be a Rinspeed dealer, so perhaps he got somewhat of a discount.
Photos: Sunset Classics
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Slice of History
As if all of that isn't enough, this car was also used to show off Blaupunkt's stereo systems at a couple of trade shows, so it's also fitted with $8,000 (in 1980s money) in sound equipment. Those details add up to make this particular R69 a fascinating piece of history, even if its styling isn't for everyone.
Photos: Sunset Classics
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Small Market
The exterior of the R69 is most certainly fit for an extrovert, but that was exactly the point of it in the first place. Rinspeed, a Swiss tuning house, wanted to add a little Italian style to the German 911, which is what inspired its exterior treatment. At the time, this was all the rage, but today, these cars enjoy a relatively small market.
Photos: Sunset Classics
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Fitting Build
But isn't that the ethos of the 1980s, anyway? Regardless, these rare rides sell for pretty solid money these days, unlike a lot of other Slantnose conversions. For the 1986 model year, only around a dozen of so were built in total, which is why we rarely see them running around anymore.
Photos: Sunset Classics
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Recouping an Investment
This particular car was also snatched up pretty quickly, though at an unlisted price. We've seen similar cars go in the $160,000 range, so it's quite possible that the seller recouped 100% of his original investment, an impressive feat, indeed.
Photos: Sunset Classics
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Sticking Around
The R69 is a small but interesting footnote in Porsche history and a glowing example of what made the '80s so darn interesting. Thus, we're happy to see this fine car still sticking around, even if we'd choose a stock 911 Turbo over it any day of the week.
Photos: Sunset Classics
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