Backdates to give the look of pre-74 911s to the so-called impact bumper 911s

Most of my backdate customers have been looking for a pre-IB (impact bumper) 911, they want a car they can use regularly or just stick in the garage and take out on a sunny week end, knowing it will start and everything will work. They almost certainly only want a RHD car which makes finding a decent pre-IB car very difficult for under £30K, and that’s what it costs to buy and convert a nice late 80s 3.2. 

They will get

• The looks of the early car, very much so if we convert the interior and get the exterior trim polished and bright anodised
• Better brakes with servo assistance
• More performance with a very flexible motor, better fuel consumption, more probably reliable starting
• Less susceptibility to corrosion, although this can be a real problem with 3.2s
• More comfort with better seats (sometimes with heating) and sound deadening
• Better heating and ventilation, even air conditioning
• A fixed price (assuming we don’t find any rust surprises)
• The ability to tailor the look to that of a 2.7 RS replica or a Steve McQueen 1970 911S as used in the film Le Mans.
• A guarantee
• Something the wife can drive easily

I think looks, usability, value for money(!) and reliability are the best selling points.

Negatives are

• The difficulty of finding an IB that doesn’t need some corrosion repair work, and I haven’t found one yet
• The unknown depreciation/investment potential.
• The colour.  I always advise that we convert a car that is already the colour that the customer wants; it’s an expensive job to do a proper colour change on an IB, but few late cars are painted in the colours that were available in the early seventies

Early 911 uses genuine Porsche steel front wings, front slam panels, bonnets and engine lids for its conversions, but there are cheaper solutions out there; GRP wings and long bonnets that use the later latch position so that the slam panel doesn’t have to be changed, GRP indicator surrounds so that the IB wings can be converted.

We can also create a 1970/2 911 ST or convert a Turbo body 3.2 to a 1973 2.8 RSR or 1974 3.0 RS replica

Download the backdate price list.

This is a 1987 Carrera 3.2 backdated to look like a 1971 2.2S