√Creme de la Kremer: the story of the wildest Porsche Turbo ever to wear number plates
Back in 1985, if you wanted to add more turbo to your Turbo, a German race team had the answer, and it was all available direct from the showroom…
Back in the 1980s, the Porsche 930 Turbo was the undisputed king of the streets. Nothing told the world that you had ‘made it’ more than the fastest and most expensive machine that Zuffenhausen had to offer.
Considering that in 1985, the average Australian capital city house price was $71,200, any Porsche was an extravagance. Peering through the window of your local dealer, a regular 911 3.2 Carrera would have sat on the showroom floor for $83,402 before options and on-road costs, but the Turbo asked for 30 per cent more, at a hefty $108,020.
What a car it was though.
Low, wide and fitted with that now iconic whale-tail rear spoiler, the 930 Turbo shoved 221kW and 430Nm from its 3.3-litre rear-mounted flat-six through the nine-inch wide rear tyres, to the street below.
A poster child for turbo-lag, the 930’s performance envelope opened above 3000rpm with such sudden brutality that the car earned the nickname ‘widowmaker’. In the right hands though, it was thrilling and rewarding and was capable of a 0-100km/h sprint in 5.4 seconds, a time that is still considered quick some 40 years later.
But the ‘80s were a time of excess, and for some, the best was simply not enough.
If you wanted more from your Turbo, and more room in your chequebook, then Porsche had a solution that turned performance, and boost, up to eleven.
Kremer.
In 1962, brothers Erwin and Manfred Kremer opened a motorsports and engineering workshop in Cologne, Germany, specialising in Porsche vehicles.
When the Porsche 930 Turbo was initially released in 1976, the German marque offered a racing version for teams competing in FIA Group 4 (934) and Group 5 (935) competitions. As a race team, Kremer turned their attention to customer 935s and developed the 935 K1.
The team continued to evolve the ‘935 Kremer’ cars throughout the 1970s and in 1979, won the Le Mans 24-hour race with a Porsche 935 K3.
Given all this success came from a platform developed from a road car, it made sense that Kremer could support their customers on the way home from the racetrack by offering tuning kits for ‘regular’ 930 Turbos as well.
These kits were also offered to Australian customers, with just six buyers brave enough in both spend and skill to take up the mantle.
One car was built by Kremer in Germany, but the other five were actually built at Porsche Cars Australia by a Kremer engineer, Fikret Bagatir.
Bagatir had worked with Kremer during the 1970s and in 1984 came to Australia to support the race team for the Sandown 1000km endurance race. Porsche Australia boss Alan Hamilton reportedly asked Fikret to stay on, and he has lived here ever since.
One of these very special cars was recently advertised for sale at Melbourne-based Porsche specialist, ThePorschaden Classic, so we took the opportunity to get a closer look.
Finished in paint-to-sample Graphite Grey, this 1985 930 Turbo is one of the more ‘subtle’ Kremer creations to grace the blacktop. Buyers had the option of a unique front air dam, wider side skirts and even rear quarter fender vents, but this car has only one item that makes it visually different from a standard 930, the larger rear spoiler assembly that has been extended to accommodate the huge Kremer Racing intercooler.
The 3.3-litre engine features Group-B camshafts that extend valve opening times, which combined with Kremer headers, extractors and muffler, give the modified 930 better exhaust flow, needed to feed the larger KKK K27 turbocharger.
Matt Stoupas, owner of ThePorschaden Classic told Drive that “the bigger turbo and other engine tweaks increase power by around 25 per cent over a standard 930.”
“Where a normal 3.3-litre 930 will only start to get interesting around 4000rpm, the Kremer car will respond from around 2500rpm, and will stay on boost much longer,” said Stoupas.
“A 930 is always fast, this thing is just brutal!”
Photographer Mat can attest to this, needing a bit of a sit down after co-piloting the Kremer while Stoupas demonstrated the car’s off-the-line credentials…
Lucky then, Stoupas didn’t touch the giant boost adjustment valve between the car’s rear seats that enables the driver to literally wind the boost pressure up from 0.8-bar (11.6 psi) to 1.2-bar (17.4 psi) while on the go.
A circular LED boost gauge, impressive technology for 1985, replaces the standard clock and gives the driver a visual indication of just how ‘turbo’ their Turbo is performing.
Stoupas wisely notes “anything approaching the red zone is a danger point, you don’t want to go there, the car has quite enough horsepower already.”
This car was delivered new to a prominent Melbourne businessman and over four owners since 1985, has been well-loved. Some 235,000 exciting kilometres have run under the Kremer’s wheels, with the car only recently treated to a full cosmetic and mechanical restoration.
Since we photographed it, the grey Kremer 930 has been sold, and for the first time will reside in Sydney, in the hands of a very lucky Porsche fan.
“It’s not just a brilliant car,” says Stoupas “but a brilliant part of Porsche’s motorsport history that’s brave enough to wear numberplates.”
The post Creme de la Kremer: the story of the wildest Porsche Turbo ever to wear number plates appeared first on Drive.
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