1975 Porsche 911S Coupe ‘California’ H- Series

Engine: Original 2.7L Flat 6 (Full rebuild) 

Miles: 121,224 on chassis. Engine rebuilt at 115k

5-Speed manual gearbox

 

1975 911S Coupe Base Price _ 5-Speed: $12,125

Factory Options:

‘California Equipment’

Color: Hellgelb (light yellow) #117 $330

Electric sunroof $615

15’’ Fuchs alloy wheels $475

Koni Shocks $165

Black-look trim $180 . 

(Despite the trim around the windows looking like sliver, the door handles and the corners of the window trim are black. From the reading I’ve done, the coating they used back in the early/mid 70’s was a very early version of PVD coating and faded over time. The window trim always was first as the door handles were a different alloy blend and would hold onto the coating better.)

MSRP: $13,910

Dealer installed options:

Porsche Walnut gearshift knob $5.95

Porsche Factory AC $1,125

Coco mats: $13.95

History:

I purchased the car from the 2^nd owner in 1998 who is still a friend that owned the car dating back to 1980. It was purchased new in Southern California ( i think Long Beach) and stayed in Orange County till 2021 when I relocated to Arizona. Still have the original issued blue and yellow California plates and dealer sales brochure. Car has never been for sale on the open market before as it was last sold to me privately through a long term relationship. 

Notable work completed over the years:

• In 1999 a local classic car body shop applied a top coat of lacquer to refresh the original paint. This was the best way to keep the cars paint original and not having to do a respray. The base coat was good, the top coat paint technology at the time just didn't hold the luster despite having been professionally detailed by the previous owner several times. It’s always been garage kept and serviced professionally. 
• The tires were replaced in 2019 with Yokohama Ascend GT and have maybe 1,000 miles on them. 
• Shocks were replaced with new Koni units.
• Sway bars were replaced and upgraded to larger diameters by local classic car specialist. 
• Original engine was completely rebuilt by a Porsche specialist in Tucson, AZ (RADMACHER Porsche) 5k miles ago. He recommended not to install the AC unit as it just robbed the car of power and made it run hotter. I have all the parts for it in the garage. Oil was changed about a year ago with Porsche Classic Oil
• Battery was just replaced (Feb.2024) with new Duralast AGM unit. 
  
• New coco mats were purchased in 2000. 
• Clutch was replaced when engine was rebuilt. 
• CV boots have been replaced over the years.
• Alternator was replaced
• Gas tank was flushed and pressure tested 
• I think all of the auxiliary engine components have been replaced
• Fusebox was restored and rebuilt in the past 10 years 

It's in all original condition. Engine Starts every time and runs fantastically! 

Handlings is great. All suspension parts have been replaced over the pat 20 years and have less than 10k miles on them.

Arizona registration was just paid and good till 2028. No sales tax to any private party purchase within Arizona. 

No accidents that I can confirm from both the previous owner and myself who have owned the car for 44 years combined.

A 2-inch binder of sleeved documentation and receipts dating back to the early 80s is included. 

There is normal age related blemishes such as: 

• Foam in the lower rear seats has crumbled and can easily be refilled.
• Engine compartment (noise insulation) crumbled and was not reinstalled. 
• The 5th dial dash clock quit working back in the 90s. I found a small company that rebuilds then in Los Angeles. When i found out the price (if memory serves me right it was over $1,200 just in outside vendor work)
• The radio (not factory, the factory unit apparently went out in the late 80s/early 90s) quit working in 2015.
• Front lower bumper has a dent and scrape on drivers side. 
• Window trim 'Black-look' has faded and failed (very common for early 911's)
• Sun visors are puffy (again very common for the vintage 911's)
• Painted Porsche crest on hood and center caps on wheels have lost filled paint over the years.
• Steering wheel inner foam has unglued from the inner wheel structure at the 11-o'clock position. The leather is in good shape and the rest of the wheel is completely secure. Just if you grip it leather firmly in that one spot and rotate your hand in a front to back rotation you can feel it twisting. 
• As mention, car had dealer installed A/C put in when new. The compressor, condenser and lines were removed for better engine performance and cooling. All the original parts were saved and can be reinstalled. 
• The Ignition was replaced due to the mechanism failing. A a result the ignition key is new Porsche unit, but the door locks still use the original set of keys. So the car needs 2 keys in order to open and start the vehicle. 

Never abused or tracked. It's been a great car and was always serviced and respected. I have another 911 that I'm selling as well due to the fact that I just don't have enough time to enjoy them.  

Porsche History on the 1975 Porsche 911S 

The 1975 911 is interesting car in Porsche history. In 1974 Porsche launched the new, redesigned 911 (G) at the same time the oil embargo impacted the globe. Porsche saw its orders for cars drop a staggering 40% due to the oil crisis and the German auto industry was on the verge of collapse. The German government only made things worse by forcing a 60mph speed limit on the Autobahn and banned Sunday driving. Both of which only made the sports car market even less appealing. 

Volkswagen was the importer of both Audi and Porsche and to the USA market and did their best to integrate the new low speed impact bumpers into the car. Further efforts went to make the engines compliant to the California market. Porsche decided to make the car run HOT by design. This was a intermediate solution till M.Y.1976. Porsche did this with the use of a pair of thermal reactors. 

For obvious reasons, the 2.7L engines were know to fail. Usually between 70k-110K if oil changes were frequent (these engines are essentially oil-cooled). As a result, most elected to swap in the 3.0, 3.2 and others as it was a drop in replacements offering more power and better longevity. It was a very logical and practical reason but only makes original 2.7L engine survival numbers to be much smaller than it would be under more traditional circumstances. 

The engine is based on the 2.7L 1973 RS model and and is equipped with Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection. The US market saw the Carrera and 911S share the same engine that year and both received the detuned version compared to what was being offered in Europe. 

The transmission is a 5-speed manual code: 915/06

M.Y.1975 was the last year prior to Porsche using a galvanized coating on the steel that added an additional 20 pounds of weight to the car. This started in 1975 for the M.Y 1976 cars.

Production of the 911 M.Y. 1975 started in August 1974 and ended in July of 1975. This car specifically was built in at the very end of production, June 1975.

Styling is unique as well for the 75. The car received 1 exterior mirror on the driver side. In 1976 introduced the 'elephant-ear' side mirrors which has its place in history and used till 1991. Headlight rings where larger and in chrome. 

Production numbers for 1975 are said to be 2,695 for 911S Coupes. Of that number I don't know what the 4 speed vs 5 speed production was.