Porsche 930 Turbo Flachbau Slantnose

Porsche 930 Turbo Flachbau Slantnose

The Porsche 930 Turbo Flachbau — known in English as the Slantnose or Flatnose — represents one of the most visually arresting and desirable variants in the entire 911 lineage. The option was born from the Porsche Sonderwunsch (Special Wishes) department, which had been offering the modification on a custom basis since the late 1970s. In 1981, the Flachbau became an official factory option, designated M505 in Europe and M506 for US-specification cars.

The defining feature was a completely reshaped front end that replaced the iconic round headlights with pop-up units set into smooth, sloping fenders inspired by Porsche's fearsome 935 Group 5 race cars. The transformation was dramatic: where the standard 930 Turbo had its characteristic wide hips and round eyes, the Flachbau presented a sleek, aggressive, wedge-shaped profile that looked like nothing else on the road. Additional changes typically included fender-mounted air intakes, modified front bumper treatment, and frequently a different side mirror design.

Mechanically, the Flachbau shared its running gear with the standard 930 Turbo. The 3.3-liter turbocharged flat-six engine produced 300 horsepower in European trim (330 hp by 1986) and was mated exclusively to a 4-speed manual transmission — Porsche's engineers maintained that only four ratios could handle the engine's prodigious torque. The power delivery was famously peaky, with relatively mild boost below 4,000 RPM followed by a sudden and violent rush of power that earned the Turbo the nickname 'Widowmaker.'

The Flachbau option was extraordinarily expensive. On top of the already steep 930 Turbo price, the Slantnose conversion added roughly $20,000 to $28,000 depending on the year and specification, making it the most expensive factory option available from any manufacturer at the time. The conversion required extensive handwork: the steel front fenders were cut, reshaped, and welded, then the entire front end was finished and painted to factory standards. Each car spent additional weeks in the Sonderwunsch workshop.

Factory Slantnose cars are distinguished from aftermarket conversions by their build sheets and Porsche Certificate of Authenticity. This distinction is critical in the collector market, as numerous aftermarket kits replicated the look but not the quality. Factory cars feature precise panel gaps, proper structural modifications, and correct pop-up headlight mechanisms. They also carry their M505/M506 option code on their build sheet.

Production numbers were always low. Estimates suggest fewer than 950 factory Flachbau cars were built across the entire 1981-1989 production run, with the majority being produced in the final years. Both Coupe and Targa body styles were available, with the Targa being rarer still. Some customers combined the Flachbau option with other Sonderwunsch features like custom interior leather colors, creating truly unique machines.

Today, authentic factory Flachbau 930 Turbos are among the most sought-after air-cooled Porsches. Values have climbed steadily, with exceptional examples breaking the $500,000 barrier at auction. The combination of extreme rarity, dramatic styling, and the raw, visceral driving experience of the original Turbo makes the Slantnose a crown jewel of any Porsche collection.