Porsche 964: The Air-Cooled 911 That Defined a Generation
The Porsche 964 ran from 1989 to 1994 and is, by most measures, the most significant air-cooled 911 generation since the original. It was the last 911 to use torsion bar rear suspension. It introduced all-wheel drive and power steering to the 911 range. It became the platform that RWB, Singer and every serious 911 modifier has built on ever since. And in Turbo 3.6 specification it produced one of the most aggressive road cars of the early 1990s. This is the full story.
The Deckorate Porsche collection covers the 964 across three distinct expressions: the Martini livery, the Singer DLS, and the RWB widebody. For the full Porsche range, read our Porsche Le Mans liveries guide and our RWB Porsche story.
What the 964 was
Porsche launched the 964 in 1989 as the most extensively updated 911 since the original 1963 car. Approximately 85% of components were new compared to the 930 it replaced, despite the visual similarity. The suspension was revised at both axles. ABS became standard. The engine grew to 3.6 litres and gained twin-plug ignition producing 250 horsepower in naturally aspirated form. Power steering, previously absent from the 911 range entirely, arrived as standard on the Carrera 4 and as an option on the Carrera 2.
The bodywork was cleaner than any previous 911: retractable front and rear bumpers replaced the separate rubber units of the 930 era, integrating them into the body for a more cohesive appearance. A retractable rear spoiler replaced the fixed whale-tail of the 930. The car looked simultaneously more modern and more resolved than any previous 911, while retaining the essential silhouette that had defined the model since 1963.
The 964 was also the last 911 to use torsion bar rear suspension. The 993 that followed in 1994 introduced a multi-link rear setup that transformed the car's handling character. For purists who consider the torsion bar 911 the authentic article, the 964 represents the final expression of the original engineering philosophy. Everything that followed, however technically superior, is a different kind of car.
Carrera 2 and Carrera 4
The 964 launched in two configurations. The Carrera 4 came first, with Porsche's new all-wheel drive system distributing torque between front and rear axles. The Carrera 2 followed six months later with rear-wheel drive only and immediately became the driver's choice: lighter, more communicative, with a purity of steering response that the AWD system's additional components could not match.
The debate between C2 and C4 has never been fully resolved and probably never will be. The Carrera 4's all-weather traction is genuinely useful on a road car driven in northern European winters. The Carrera 2's balance and feedback reward drivers who want to feel what the rear axle is doing. Most 964 collectors today seek the Carrera 2, and values reflect this preference.
The Turbo 3.6: a different machine entirely
The 964 Turbo arrived in 1991 with a 3.3-litre turbocharged flat-six producing 320 horsepower. In 1993 this grew to 3.6 litres and 360 horsepower in the Turbo 3.6, making it the most powerful production Porsche yet built at the time of its launch. The 964 Turbo 3.6 weighed 1,470 kg and reached 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds with a top speed of 290 km/h.
The character was completely different from the naturally aspirated cars. The turbocharger produced its power in a sharp, aggressive surge that demanded total respect at the limit. The wide bodywork, the fixed whale-tail spoiler, and the flared arches announced its intentions to anyone who recognised what they were looking at. The 964 Turbo is the car that cemented the widebody 911 aesthetic that RWB and the broader modifier community has been referencing ever since.
The Martini livery
The Martini Racing livery is one of the most commercially successful in motorsport history. The white base with blue, red and light blue stripes has appeared on Porsches in endurance racing since the early 1970s, on Lancia in the WRC, and on Williams and Brabham in Formula 1. On a 964, the Martini livery connects the road car directly to Porsche's Le Mans racing heritage and produces one of the most immediately recognisable colour schemes in the collector car world.
The Deckorate 964 Martini deck captures this combination: the clean 964 silhouette, the Martini stripe pattern, and the visual language of a car that sits at the intersection of road car elegance and motorsport provenance.
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Singer Vehicle Design and the DLS
Singer Vehicle Design takes donor 964s and rebuilds them to a standard of engineering and aesthetic obsession that has no parallel in the restoration industry. Every component is evaluated, improved or replaced. The bodywork is recreated in carbon fibre to original dimensions with refined details. The engine is rebuilt by Cosworth to specifications that vary by customer brief. The interiors are handcrafted to individual specification.
The Dynamics and Lightweighting Study — DLS — is Singer's most extreme expression of this philosophy: a 964-based car developed in collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering, targeting maximum performance within the original body dimensions. A 500-horsepower naturally aspirated flat-six, a six-speed manual gearbox, and a total weight of around 850 kg. The DLS is not a modification of a 964. It is a reimagining of what the 964 could have been if engineering constraints had not applied.
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RWB: the widebody philosophy
Rauh-Welt Begriff is the most recognisable widebody Porsche brand in the world, and the 964 is the generation most closely associated with it. Akira Nakai travels to wherever the car is, cuts the original fenders with an angle grinder, rivets on hand-shaped fibreglass overfenders, and names each car before he leaves. Every RWB in the world has been built by one person. None can be replicated.
The 964 suits the RWB treatment particularly well because of its clean, resolved bodywork. Where the 930 Turbo's factory wide arches already push the visual boundaries, the naturally aspirated 964 Carrera 2 in standard form has a subtlety that the RWB overfenders transform completely. The result is a car that looks as though it was always supposed to be this wide, which is the highest compliment you can pay the quality of Nakai's eye.
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For the complete story of RWB and Akira Nakai, read our RWB Porsche guide.
Why the 964 became the modifier's 911
The 964's position at the intersection of classic air-cooled character and modern usability makes it uniquely suited to modification. Early air-cooled 911s — the 911S, the Carrera RS, the 930 — are now too valuable as collector pieces for most modifiers to consider cutting fenders or rebuilding to a different specification. The water-cooled cars from the 996 onwards carry different cultural associations and different engineering architecture. The 964 and 993 sit in between: recognisably classic, mechanically robust, available in sufficient numbers that committed owners are prepared to modify them permanently.
The result is that the 964 has become the canvas for the most significant 911 interpretation projects of the modern era. Singer. RWB. Gunther Werks. Every major 911 modifier of the past twenty years has started with a 964 or a 993. The car that Porsche built as a thorough update to an established formula turned out to be the most versatile base for reimagining what a 911 could be.
On your wall
The Deckorate 964 collection covers three distinct expressions of the generation: the Martini livery that connects the road car to Porsche's Le Mans racing heritage, the Singer DLS that represents the ultimate reimagining of what the 964 could become, and the RWB Stella livery that is the most recognised widebody 964 in the world.
Shop the Porsche 964 Martini deck →
Shop the Porsche 964 Singer DLS deck →