Lot 234: 1969 Porsche 912

The year after production of the legendary 911 had commenced in 1964, Porsche introduced the similarly bodied 912 as an entry level model to the prestigious German marque. As such it shared its monocoque steel chassis with that of the 911, together with independent front torsion bar and trailing arm rear suspension with all-round disc brakes. At the 912's heart, however, was a 1,582cc flat four cylinder engine - rather than the 911's 1,991cc six cylinder unit - that had last seen service in the final 356 model that the 911 had effectively replaced. Although the 912's performance was naturally not as rapid as that of its larger-engined stablemate, its 90bhp at 5,880rpm, allied to 901b/ft at 3,500rpm, was nonetheless sufficient to provide respectable 0-60mph acceleration in 11.9 seconds and an impressive top speed of 121mph. Changing during the 912's four year production life were minimal, the most notable being a power output increase in 1966 to 102bhp, again at 5,800rpm, and the 2.24in increase in wheelbase introduced simultaneously with the 911 late in 1968. The former improved overall acceleration - with 0-60mph dropping to 11.5 seconds - while the extra wheelbase length markedly improved the model's handling; the benefit of this to the 912 was to be short lived, however, Porsche having introduced a relatively inexpensive base model 911, the 911T, with carburettors rather than fuel injection. This was to prove a popular addition to the range with the result that the 912 was phased out of production over 1968/69 after only around 200 'long wheelbase' examples had been built. Unusually for a Porsche, this one has had very few owners, indeed since its original sale in 1969 the same owner has looked after the car right up until 2005; some 36 years. All its life until then has been spent in California and its body and structural integrity is, as one would expect, in extremely sound order. During that time all servicing has been undertaken by a Porsche specialist garage, and any remedial work and general maintenance details can be found in the extensive file of paperwork. It was bought and imported to the Great Britain in 2005 by an English gentleman and in due course offered for sale by the vendor. During its time in England, this fine 912 has been repainted and serviced and it comes with a MoT test certificate valid until March 2009. Riding on classic painted and polished Fuchs wheels, it is described as good to excellent in every respect - a reliable entry into Porsche 9-series ownership.