By the late 1980s, the 911 had grown heavy and soft. Power windows and seats, powered sunroofs, more powerful audio systems with multiple speakers, extra sound deadening, climate control- all items that made the 911 Carrera substantially more luxurious, but at the cost of the agility and visceral driving experience that had made the 911 such a joy to drive. Enthusiasts expressed their disappointment, and Porsche responded by releasing a limited production model which addressed two very important characteristics that the standard Carrera Coupe had drifted away from- weight and engine balance.
The 911 Carrera Club Sport (CS) (option M637) was developed as a reduced-weight version of the standard Carrera that was purpose-built by Porsche for club racing. A total of 340 were produced worldwide from August 1987 to September 1989. Of those 340, only 28 are documented as delivered to North America- 21 in 1988 and just 7 in 1989.
In a similar fashion to Porsche’s R and RS models, the 911 Carrera Club Sport was put on a diet, stripping it of unnecessary luxury equipment which added weight and detracted from its performance. While the R and RS models which preceded it went to more extreme measures to save weight, the 911 Carrera Club Sport maintained a deceivingly stock appearance both inside and out while still sharpening its throttle response and being more agile than the stock Carrera.
All power options, sunroof, air conditioning, radio, rear seat, undercoating, sound insulation, rear wiper, door pocket lids, fog lamps, front hood locking mechanism, engine and luggage compartment lights, lockable wheel nuts and even the rear lid “Carrera” logo were deleted in order to save an estimated 70 kg (155 lb) in weight. Of the 340 examples, only one example retained its sunroof and two examples retained the air conditioning systems.
Hollow valves in the cylinder heads and modified DME programming to manage the fuel and injection systems allowed the engine to spin to a new redline of 6,840 RPMs. Cabriolet engine mounts which used a harder durometer rubber limited the engine’s movement under load. Bilstein Sport shock absorbers and 22/21mm front and rear sway bars kept the Club Sport flat through the corners, and a shortened shift lever reduced the throw between shifts. Lightweight, manual seats which consisted of Sport backs and standard bases were covered in cloth with “Porsche” lettering replaced the heavier leather power seats.
The Club Sport’s outward appearance was fairly restrained, with just a plastic front spoiler and non-Turbo style whale-tail spoiler. All are identifiable by the “CS Club Sport” decal on the left front fender. Most were delivered in Grand Prix White but a small percentage of clients took delivery in one of the special colors offered.
Today, we’ve gathered four examples of the 911 Carrera Club Sport models to share some of the details of what makes these truly special driver’s cars unique.
