1987 – 1989 Porsche 911 Clubsport: Less Is More Again

1989 Porsche 911 CS

Ask anyone to think of a Porsche and most people will come up with the evergreen 911, and for good reason. The 911 basic shape was born in the early ’60s and has not deviated too far from the original theme. From its humble roots as a light and efficient sports car, to its current status of supercar, there have been decades of slow evolution in between. A nice middle point in 911 evolution came in the late ’80s, from a stripper no less.

The 911 had grown in sophistication, weight and complexity and had slowly started to lose sight of its original mission as a light and nimble high performance car according to some critics. So to combat this trend, Porsche decided to use the less is more concept for its new Clubsport. Porsche had used the CS designation in other cars to denote slimmed

911 Clubsport interior

down for weight saving performance. By taking a standard 911 coupe and stripping it of frivolous items like door trim, rear seat (no one used it anyway), radio, power windows and fog lamps Porsche was able to save a total of 220 pounds. While the Club Sport still used the same 3.2 liter flat 6 that the regular 911 used, it had revised intake valves that helped push down it’s 0 to 60 time to around 6 seconds while upping the rev limit. Tweaks to the suspension improved high-speed maneuverability and road holding. The result was a much more fun to drive modern 911 that harken back to the days of the more simple 911s. Body colored wheels, an option delete CS decal and a large turbo like whale tail spoiler completed the look. Even stripped down the CS model showcased the late period early modern 911 wonderfully with simple uncluttered lines worthy of a page in an industrial design textbook.

Porsche had tried the stripped down approach before with the 1973 Carrera RS 2.7. Offering customers a lighter semi-stripped down or a super stripped down, almost race car like option called the Sport. These cars sold well, but were priced less than other 911s and were offered in limited numbers. Porsche decided that it would charge more for the higher performance of the 87 Clubsport, even though it had fewer comfort and conivence features. The media loved this car, not surprisingly, but sales did not match the presses enthusiasm. By this time, Porsche customers had grown accustomed to their 911s as being comfortable and fast and were not quick to snap up to the stripped down Clubsport that was simply just fast. Porsche sold less than 350 Clubsports in the period from 1987 to 1989. Reportedly there was only one CS Targa sold.

Needless to say this one is a very collectable version of a generally collectable car. It may be difficult to tell a CS by looking at it, especially if it has no CS script on the front fender as many owners deleted the option. Closer inspection would reveal what looked like a rolling cage from a race car with bare bones accommodations for the driver and a very manual 5-speed transmission. Although some will say that they are shameful and have no place in society, everybody loves a stripper, just not the ones from Stugart in during the late 80’s.

1989 Porsche 911 CS