Seven reasons to buy this peculiar Porsche 964 'Leichtbau'

Porsche only built 86 “Leichtbau” 964s. Mostly in the second-half of 1992. It was to be a more powerful, lightweight version of the existing 964 Turbo. Power was increased by 61bhp, giving a total of 381bhp from the turbocharged 3.3-litre flat-six, and weight was slashed by 180kg. More importantly, though…

And who wouldn’t want that? The Recaros get the same “Rubystone” treatment, which means tri-tone cherry/lilac/pink leather. There are many words to describe how it looks, but none at all that we can actually publish. Sorry. 

At least until the old Porsche 911 bubble bursts, and you can once again pick up a tidy 993 Turbo for something approaching sensible money. The estimate for the Leichtbau is between £475,000 and £575,000, which is much. But not as much as it could be, because of a) the lilac thing and b)...

Because unusually for a car like this, it doesn’t have a full history file. Records only go back to 2014, when it was first registered in the UK (presumably, having been imported at some point). It has a certificate of authenticity from Porsche that confirms it’s the 51st of 86 cars and was finished on the 13th of December ’92, but nothing whatsoever is known about its early life, so it’s impossible to verify whether the 69,000kms it’s showing are genuine.

Because Silverstone Auctions, who are offering it at their May Sale at Silverstone next month, have had it subjected to a 230-point specialist check. They conclude the mileage is probably genuine based on the car’s condition, that it still has “most” of its original paint and that it’s matching numbers. In other words, a genuine car that hasn’t been tampered with.

And Kevlar is cool. It’s what most bullet- and stab-proof vests are made out of, used here for its weight-saving properties. Other weight-saving measures Porsche took included removing much of the underbody protection and sound-deadening, the fitting of thinner glass and the removal of the power steering, rear seats and air-con. This car has had the air-con optioned back in. Oh, and one other thing...

Because why wouldn’t it?