Used buying guide
Bag a Porsche 968 from £10k up
Back in 1994, Autocar’s test fleet boasted a Porsche 968 Club Sport in its ranks. Shorn of 50kg by the removal of equipment and stiffer than the standard car, it was a sweet-handling device.
Some months after it arrived, we had reluctantly to return it. Someone should have made Porsche an offer for it. Today, you’ll be lucky to find a nice Club Sport (CS) for under £30k. In fact, as this was written, one dealer was asking £71,000 for a fully restored 1995 CS with 43,000 miles.
Based on its 944 predecessor’s front-engine rear-drive platform, itself derived from the 924, the 968 was launched in 1992. It had started life on the drawing board as a 944 S3 before Porsche decided it had moved
so far away from that model that a new name was called for. And so the 968, which shared around 20% of its parts with the 944 S2, was born.
It went on sale in 1992 in 2+2 coupé and two-seat convertible forms powered by an all-aluminium 3.0-litre four-cylinder engine driving the rear wheels through a six-speed gearbox. Fitted with Porsche’s new Variocam variable valve timing and Motronic fuel injection, it produced 237bhp – sufficient for 0-62mph in 6.5sec. The optional, dual-mode Tiptronic gearbox lengthened that to 7.9sec but then the standard 968 was never about straight-line performance. Rather, it was first and foremost a comfortable and engaging GT with, happily, everyday reliability and creature comforts.
In contrast, creature comforts were the last thing the Club Sport version could boast of. It arrived in 1993 devoid of electric mirrors and windows, central locking, a hatch release and the two rear seats. Meanwhile, the front chairs were replaced by a pair of lightweight Recaros and it sat 20mm lower.
The CS proved its value on the track but not in the showroom, where sales were nothing to write home about. Nonetheless, it had helped identify a strand of customer desirous of a semi-skimmed CS; still low, light and focused and perfect for weekend track days but also comfortable enough for the working week. And so the more popular 968 Sport was born at the end of 1994.
Some say this version is the best 968 of all (at least those who can’t afford the CS) but really, almost 25 years since the last one left the factory, the best 968 is any version with a solid service history complete with supporting invoices, no mechanical issues and no rust. Fortunately, there are enough decent-looking 968s costing between £12,000 and £19,000 to rummage among and rising values only mean more will come to market properly refurbished.
Relatively few 968s found homes in the UK, and when researching this guide, we encountered many specialists who claimed not to have seen a 968 in their workshop for years. No matter: the model’s scarcity and its reputation among enthusiasts is why, when you find a good one, you should snap it up.
❝ There are enough decent-looking 968s costing between £12k and £19k to rummage among ❞