1990 Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolet

Finished in Black (colour code A1V9) with a matching folding roof and a contrasting linen leather interior, this Porsche 944 Cabriolet S2 has covered fewer than 80,000 miles from new.

First registered on the 1st of January 1990 and offered for sale with a Certificate of Authenticity from Porsche GB, it was fully restored between 2016 and 2021 including a new roof and a full respray. A new windscreen was fitted and then the whole thing was treated to a Gtechniq ceramic coating.

The car’s mechanical components haven’t been ignored and recent work includes a timing belt, balance belt, and miscellaneous fettling. This work, which was carried out by a Porsche main dealer and an independent specialist, cost in excess of £5,000, all in the past two years.

All-in-all, the seller estimates the restoration would have set the previous owner back in excess of £20,000, a figure we have no cause to dispute.

Black’s a helluva colour for a classic because it highlights every single flaw, no matter how minor.

Which means that when a car looks as good as this you know it’s not hiding anything unpleasant. With mm-perfect shutlines, impeccable panel alignment, and an unholy shine to the paintwork, it looks absolutely stunning.

Of course, good glazing, lamp lenses, and badging help but the fact remains that the bodywork is excellent. Speaking of lights, the headlamps operate as they should, and nothing says 1990s sportscar like pop-up headlamps, does it?

The electrically operated folding roof furls and unfurls as it should, sealing tautly and offering almost coupé-like weatherproofing when it is raised and the full wind-in-the-hair experience when it is lowered – and if you like your hair unruffled, there’s a removable wind deflector.

The roof has been completely replaced as part of the restoration, and there are no rips, tears, or other damage, and the rear screen is bright and clear with no trace of yellowing.

A tonneau cover is also included, which hides the roof when it is folded down, giving a clean look to the open car.

The alloy wheels are excellent and they’re shod with matching Hankook Ventu Prime 3 tyres, all of which look to have good tread left on them.

We will never get tired of telling you that experience shows that matching high-quality tyres are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

There is a small stonechip near the bonnet shut but that seems to be the extent of the 944’s body issues.

If black is the worst-case scenario for coachwork, then linen leather has to be just as bad in the cabin. And yet, like the bodywork, the colour actually works in its favour here because its condition allows the hue to shine and lift what might otherwise have been a gloomy cockpit when the roof is up.

The electrically adjustable front seats look terrific, and the driver’s seat has only the gentlest of cracking, along with a couple of seams that have started to ease (#37). They’re still as supportive and firm as you could hope for though, and they adjust at the press of a button as they should.

The rear seats are in an even better condition but then given how little legroom there is, that’s not a surprise because we doubt they’ve seen much use over the years.

The pale carpets are in good shape too, helped, no doubt, by the black overmats that have protected them from the worst of the soiling over the years.

The door cards are equally good, as is the dashboard and instruments. The 944 benefits from electric windows and mirrors, plus central locking, an alarm/immobiliser, and a new Pioneer DAB radio with Bluetooth. We are told that everything works.

The boot is nicely presented too, and it’s home to the space saver spare wheel and tyre.

Interestingly, the seller points out that the interior lacks the musty smell he found on so many of the 944s he inspected before buying this one. We’ve never had that sort of thing mentioned before but he’s absolutely right!

As for flaws, the interior is now almost a quarter of a century old so there is bound to be a few marks and signs of use (e.g. #160, #163, #191) but there’s nothing there that needs your urgent attention.

The Porsche’s service history from 1990 to 2007 and 75,857 miles comprises a mixture of the stamped service history booklet and paper invoices.

Unfortunately, there is no service history between 2008 and 2016 but then the mileage at the end of that period was only 78,136 miles, so it had barely been used.

The restoration we mentioned earlier occupied the years from 2016 to 2021 and the latter two years saw more than £4,000 invested at Porsche Newcastle for work that included servicing, brakes, a timing belt and balance belt.

The seller is every bit as fastidious as the previous owner was, spending another £1,600 with MBS (Exeter) Ltd., his local independent Porsche specialist, on various items including rectifying a gearbox linkage issue and fitting new clutch slave and master cylinders.

It was money well-spent because it fires into life with a characteristic grumble, quickly settling into a nice tickover and showing good oil pressure and a healthy charge.

It revs nicely too, and the seller is full of praise for how well it drives and how strongly it pulls. He’s a long-time petrolhead and insists that his cars are on the button and as perfect as he can make them: with this one “all the niggles have been sorted.”

Oh, and there’s almost a full tank of fuel, which isn’t to be sniffed at given how expensive petrol is these days…

The restoration was documented by way of more than 700 photos before, during, and after. These are not shown here but will be given to the winning bidder.

The 944’s MoT certificate is valid until April 2024 and it was gained, needless to say, with no advisories.

The 944 comes with all of its old MoT certificates for the period 1992 – 2005, with electronic records covering the next decade. It was SORN’d from 2017 to 2020 and the electronic trail recommences at that point.

Many argue that cars like the Porsche 944 are the sweet spot of the classic car world; old enough to be largely analogue in their response and repairability yet still new enough to benefit from the sort of reliability and safety features we’ve all come to take for granted.

Most are still fairly cheap too, adding to their already considerable appeal.

Ah, we hear you ask: but how cheap? Well, at a time when the very best Porsche 944s are going for in excess of £30,000, we think this one will sell for between £14,000 and £18,000.

Or a sum that probably represents less than the cost of its restoration.

In the car world that is known as having your cake and eating it; this is, remember, a strong and solid example of a much-loved classic convertible sportscar that drives very well and handles even better.

Plus, as a last-of-the-line S2, it’s got the power the chassis deserves plus a decade of experience building it, so any production foibles would have been ironed out long before this one rolled off the line.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.