1989 Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolet

First registered in August 1989, this Cabriolet would have been one of the earliest 944 S2s built and also one of the first convertible variants of any of the 944s.

The first owner, a Mr Mattherson who owned a bakery business in the Swansea area, kept the 944 for several years and enjoyed going on holiday in the car, including one trip where he drove it to his holiday home in Majorca (via two ferries).

In 1995, his good friend Mr Snow who ran a building company and had asked for first refusal if he ever sold, took ownership of the car and has used it for “high days and holidays” ever since - keeping it garaged when not in use. He says that if he had a double garage he may not be selling but advancing years also means it’s no longer so easy to get in and out of a sports car.

A great footnote to this story is that when Mr Snow dropped the car off with us for auction, it was Mr Mattherson the first owner who followed him to give him a lift home.

The exterior of the car is painted in metallic Zermatt Silver and the paint and bodywork is in a fairly good condition with just a few small patches of bubbling in at the bottom of the rear arches and in a few other places. Overall, however, the car looks very nice.

The black mohair soft top is the car’s original and appears in good, unmarked condition - although the plastic rear window is starting to become cloudy. The powered folding and unfolding mechanism works well, if a little noisily and when folded the hood stows away neatly under a black tonneau.

The car sits on its original equipment 16-inch Design 90 alloy wheels, which are beginning to show some corrosion in the silver coating but appear otherwise undamaged. The fronts are fitted with Autogrip tyres from 2017 and the driven rears with Sumitomo rubber from 2019.

The interior is upholstered in light grey leather with light grey/white pinstripe cloth facings to the seats and door cards and a matching carpet. Although there is the wear and patina that you would expect given the mileage, there is no apparent damage to the car’s interior.

The leather-trimmed steering wheel looks original and in good order, as does the undamaged dash and centre console. The car is fitted with a modern Kenwood CD Radio with USB and Aux connectivity. A previous unit - not the original - is also retained with the car.

Despite the light colour of the carpet, it appears fairly clean and undamaged, helped in no small way by the dark coloured fitted overmats front and back and the rubberised front mats which are aftermarket items, not custom fit for the car.

Under the bonnet, the engine bay isn’t the prettiest we’ve seen and there is surface rust on the brake servo housing and many of the fixings around the compartment. However, it all looks honest, with no cosmetic beautification to distract from any issues. We know from the invoices and history that this car has been well looked after mechanically, so there should be little of concern here.

The undersides of the car have been well coated in underseal and the sills were cut out and replaced in 2014, but there are now signs of surface corrosion returning to a number of areas. However, there’s nothing that attracted an advisory at the most recent MOT and the wheel arches and mechanical components appear largely in order. Spend some time looking at the detailed photos from underneath the car to satisfy yourself of what may or may not need doing in the near future.

The boot is relatively small - thanks to the lack of hatchback on a Cabrio - although the space can be extended by folding forward the rear seatbacks. Inside, the light grey carpet and linings appear fairly clean and intact. They conceal the battery, spare wheel with collapsible tyre, Porsche air compressor, jack and a tool roll which appears complete. There are no signs of rust across the boot floor or in the wheel well and the underside of the boot lid retains its sound deadening insulation. There are no signs of rust around the opening either and the rubber seal is brand new.

The car has a current MOT, valid until July 2021, which it passed with no advisories. The combined online and paper MOT history shows regular use and annual testing back to at least 1995. It also validates the current mileage of 105,650 miles.

The car comes with its original owner’s manuals and service booklet, which is stamped by main dealers and specialists up until 2004:

May 1990 - 2,485 miles - Porsche Cardiff

Oct 1990 - 5,491 - Porsche Cardiff

Jun 1991 - 11,662 - Porsche Cardiff

Oct 1992 - 17,056 - Porsche Cardiff

Jul 1993 - 24,294 - Porsche Cardiff

Feb 1998 - 34,742 - Welsh Porsche (Specialist)

Oct 1998 - 36,206 - Welsh Porsche - Belt change

Feb 1999 - 37,287 - Welsh Porsche

May 2001 - 44,207 - Welsh Porsche

May 2002 - 48,408 - Welsh Porsche

May 2003 - 51,638 - Welsh Porsche

May 2004 - 59,413 - Welsh Porsche

There is then a bit of a gap in the documentation but the vendor reports that he had the car serviced every year and always had any work done that was required. Invoices do show more recent servicing as follows:

Apr 2013 - 93,734 - Garden City Garage

May 2015 - 97,903 - Garden City Garage

Jun 2016 - 101,115 - Garden City Garage - Belt change

Jul 2019 - 103,500 - Garden City Garage

Other notable recent expenditure includes:

May 2014 - sills and lower front wings replaced and repainted

Feb 2021 - new ignition switch and boot seal

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.

This 944 S2 Cabrio starts and runs beautifully - indeed it was driven from South Wales to Oxfordshire to be dropped off with us and never missed a beat.

Only the very best Porsche 944s have seen a significant rise in asking prices, some as high as £30k+, but most cars are still very affordable. And what do we consider affordable? Well, we think this one will sell for between £7,000 and £10,000.

To us that seems a real bargain, given that you’re getting a very usable, well maintained and low ownership example of a much-admired convertible Porsche sports car that only needs minor attention to be brought up to the next level.

Inspection is always encouraged (within Govt. guidelines of course), and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; 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’.