The Quest for Air-Cooled Porsche Authenticity
The pursuit of authenticity is common among air-cooled Porsche owners right down to the correct factory stickers being in the correct factory installed position on one’s Porsche. This is the story of Air Brigade member TD pursuing an illusive hood sticker missing on his 1989 25th anniversary edition Porsche 911 Carrera.
Air Brigade member TD acquired his rare 1989 25th Anniversary Edition Porsche 911 Carrera in 2018 after a two-year pursuit of the car. TD specifically wanted the silver version with silk grey leather interior of which fewer than 160 versions made it to the United States. TD’s car has color-matched Fuchs and the iconic whale tail spoiler.
One thing it didn’t have was the factory applied under-hood sticker that provided the option codes of the car. After more than 30 years since the original production and with several owners in the process, it is not known what happened to it, but to be authentic the sticker needed to be on the underside of the hood as it was the day it came down the assembly line.
The missing sticker is a paper “Option Code Sticker” that was applied on the underside of the front hood as the car moved down the assembly line so the workers knew what options to apply to the car as it passed their station. On TD’s car it was missing, but how hard could it be to acquire one?
It turns out the stickers are not readily available. TD started the search reaching out to other knowledgeable Air Brigade members who appreciate authenticity. Charlie, a lifelong Porsche owner and current 1972 911 owner had heard of a place in Europe that produces the stickers but didn’t remember the name. Further discussion with Air Brigade member and son, Todd, an owner of several early 911 models identified the Polish company Car Bone (www.car-bone.pl).
An inquiry to Car Bone indicated that they could produce the correct sticker but TD would have to provide the appropriate option codes for his car. Charlie sourced the option codes for the Carrera G-series of which there were over 1000 codes.
At this point TD had to go outside the Air Brigade orbit and connect with Porsche itself. James, the Parts Manager at Porsche Asheville was able to provide the correct codes and descriptions for TD’s 25th Anniversary Edition 911 Carrera through his VIN number. The info was just what Car Bone needed to produce the sticker and ship via DSL from Poland to TD under two weeks.
But, now the big question, where is the proper placement on the hood that the Porsche line worker would have applied the sticker. Once again, Air Brigade was the source. He first came to yours truly, The Commander, knowing that my 1986 Carrera 3,2 would have a similar sticker. My hood had a repaint though so the sticker was no longer there. I referred him to Mark who also had a ’86 Carrera, but Mark’s car had also had a hood repaint so no sticker.
Reviewing the Air Brigade data base of late 80’s Carreras indicated that two local options existed with Allen and Larry. Bingo, they both still had stickers in their hood. Allen shot a quick photo and emailed to TD for application to bring the final piece of authenticity to his 25th Anniversary Porsche 911 Carrera.
Car Bone provided two stickers as the factory did originally. One is affixed to the underside of the hood and the other is for the inside cover of the warranty book. TD is really happy that his option code stickers from Car Bone provided that last bit of authenticity needed for his special rare Carrera. TD attributes the success thanks to the network of eight Air Brigade members who helped to bring this search to completion.
Porsche Option Code Stickers sourced from Car Bone: www.Car-Bone.pl
Tags: Porsche 911 Carrera, 25th Anniversary Edition Porsche 911 Carrera