For decades, the front-engined Porsches — the 924, 944, and 968 — got the short end of the collector stick. Not enough cylinders, not air-cooled, not a 911. That narrative has been flipping in recent years, and no car makes that case more emphatically than the 968 Turbo S. One of the rarest road cars Porsche’s Motorsport division ever signed off on, a pristine 1993 example is heading to the block at Gooding Christie’s Amelia Island auction next month, carrying a pre-sale estimate of as high as $1.2 million. If it clears that range, it becomes the first front-engined Porsche to publicly sell for seven figures.
BUILT FOR THE TRACK, BARELY USED ON THE ROAD
The 968 launched in 1991 as the refined, final chapter of Porsche’s transaxle platform — a lineage stretching back to the 924. It was a capable sports car that history hasn’t always been kind to, mostly because the 911 was right there, casting its shadow. But in 1993, Porsche Motorsport veterans Jürgen Barth and Gerd Schmid cooked up something special: a homologation variant for international GT competition called the Turbo S.
The engineering changes from the standard 968 were significant. Porsche grafted a Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch turbocharger and air-to-air intercooler onto the existing 3.0-liter SOHC inline-four, revised the engine management, and extracted 305 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque in the process — up from 237 hp in the base car. That translated to a 0–60 time of 4.7 seconds and a 175 mph top speed, which would be solid numbers for performance cars today, let alone in 1993.
The chassis got the full treatment too with a ride height dropped by 0.8″. Weight was shed aggressively and Kevlar Clubsport buckets went in front. The whole package weighed in at a quoted 2,867 lbs wet.
OWNED BY A TENNIS LEGEND
Porsche initially planned 100 units. The market had other ideas. By the time production wrapped between early 1993 and spring 1994, just 14 examples — including a prototype — had been completed.
This particular example up for auction, chassis WP0ZZZ96ZPS890068, was ordered directly from the Porsche Racing Department by Helena Suková — the Czech tennis star who, at her peak, held the world No. 1 doubles ranking, won 14 Grand Slam titles, and took home Olympic silver in Seoul in 1988.
A true Porsche enthusiast, she specified the car in paint-to-sample Zermatt Silver Metallic over black leatherette with corduroy inserts, added central locking, air conditioning, and an alarm system, and kept it in Monaco until around 2014. From there it passed to German racing driver Andreas Knapp-Voith in Düsseldorf before making its way to the U.S. via noted Porsche collector Michael Kelter of Birmingham, Michigan — reportedly the last in a sequence of 968 Turbo S examples he sourced and prepared. The current owner acquired it in early 2024.
Through all of that, the odometer shows just 30,367 km — 18,872 miles at time of cataloguing. For a 32-year-old homologation special, that’s essentially untouched.
SPEC SHEET
Model: 1993 Porsche 968 Turbo S
Chassis: WP0ZZZ96ZPS890068
Engine: 2,990cc SOHC Inline 4-Cylinder, Single KKK Turbocharger
Power: 305 HP
Torque: 369 lb-ft
Transmission: 6-Speed Getrag Manual Transaxle with Limited-Slip Differential
0–60 mph: 4.7 seconds
Top Speed: 175 mph
Mileage: 18,872 miles
Production: 14 units (including 1 prototype)
Estimate: $900,000 – $1,200,000
Auction: Gooding Christie’s Amelia Island, March 5–6, 2026
PRICING & AVAILABILITY
The 1993 Porsche 968 Turbo S crosses the block at Gooding Christie’s Amelia Island auction on March 5–6, with a pre-sale estimate of $900,000–$1.2 million. A comparable Turbo S sold for $792,000 in 2021, so even the low estimate represents a meaningful jump.
Recap
1993 Porsche 968 Turbo S Gooding Christie’s Auction
A pristine 1993 Porsche 968 Turbo S — one of just 14 ever built and originally ordered by tennis legend Helena Suková — is heading to auction at Gooding Christie’s Amelia Island on March 5–6, with an estimate of $900K–$1.2M. If it hits that range, it’ll be the first front-engined Porsche to publicly crack seven figures.
