Changes….
I have often been asked about production changes made to the 968 over its 4 year run so I decided it was time to put a new page up on the site to highlight these changes but first I had to gather the info. I put together my list first and then ran it by the other 968 gurus to see if I missed anything. I think the list is a pretty comprehensive one at this point but that said, if you see something that was missed or incorrect let me know. I know there are some very small changes which I chose not to include.
So what is the list all about? Well first off, the 968 is pretty much the same car whether you are looking at a 92 or a 95 but they did make a few production line changes along the way, none of which I would classify as significant. I have done my best to identify them in the article below. In the list I have included the original, the area of change, the model year, and the production month that the change took place. I am getting close to having the exact VIN where the changeover occurred on some of these but I don’t have that in every case yet. And as always, we are talking about the North American 968s although I’m sure most of these changes applied to ROW cars produced at the same time as well.
You are seeing this list first in this article but Adam and I will have a page up on the site shortly. Enjoy.
Change: Hidden coolant bleeder/Exposed coolant bleeder
Model year change: 1992 , Production change month/year: September 1991
Coolant bleeder – Only the first 50 or so 968s were impacted by this change. On this early car photo on the left you’ll notice the coolant bleeder is missing. It is actually hiding under the fuel rail cover. By October of 1991 Porsche had switched to the “much easier to service” exposed bleeder design.
Change: Hood badge installed on recessed hood/Hood badge installed on flat hood
Model year change: 1992 , Production change month/year: December 1991
This unique feature is very cool and seen on 968s produced through December of 1991. For North American production, this represents the first 150 coupes and 250 cabriolets. When production first started the factory went through the trouble of stamping the steel hood with a recessed location for the famous Porsche badge. We can only speculate that this was pulled due to production challenges or cost.
Change: Larger edged rear 968 emblem/Rounded smaller rear 968 emblem
Model year change: 1992 , Production change month/year: December 1991
This change took place at the same time that the recessed hood badge was also eliminated. The slightly larger font and sharp edged emblem was only used on the first few hundred cars or so. There is no separate listing in the Porsche PET catalog for two different types of emblems. This red cab example of the edged emblem below has the paint polished off the edges but it better illustrates the difference.
Change: Coolant outlet pipe to hose/Engine lift bracket.
Model year: 1992.5 , Production change month/year: December 1991
Early 968s had a small rubber hose and a hard coolant outlet pipe. Later cars had a single hose with many bends. Note engine lift bracket on later car photo.
Change: Stamped ROW VIN in engine compartment/Lasered North American VIN in engine compartment
Model year: 1992 , Production change month/year: January 1992
When the 968 started production a German ROW VIN was stamped in the engine compartment. In mid-January of 1992 the factory changed to a laser produced VIN in the same location and also changed the number to the North American VIN that matches everything else on the car.
Change: Engine compartment glove box door raised gloves/smooth door
Model year: 1992 , Production change month/year: May 1992
Engine compartment glove box – When 968s began production they had a thoughtful glove box unit in the engine compartment that contained cloth gloves and a rag in special zip-lock bags. The piece looked great and, combined with the rear cover piece, cleaned up the 968 engine compartment so it looked even better. A minor change appears to have happened around May of the 1992 model year with the removal of the raised gloves from the glove box door. The September 1991 produced Minty has the gloves shown on the door of the glove box. The June 1992 produced Matador does not. So you’ll find the gloved door from 9/91 – 5/92 and the no-gloved door from 5/92 – 6/93.
Change: Cab sun visor without mirrors/cab sun visors had mirrors added
Model year: 1993 , Production change month/year: July 1992
This is a strange one as it impacts only cabriolets. 968 coupes always had sun visors with mirrors. For the 1992 model year cabriolets did not have sun visor mirrors. Minty does not have them. The Matador coupe does. Mirrors were added to the cabriolet for the 1993 model year.
Change: Limited Slip Differential design, ZF to Torsen
Model year: 1993 , Production change month/year: July 1992
Porsche changed the optional limited slip differential design from the ZF unit used in 1992 to the Torsen (Torque Sensing) unit for 1993 through the end of production.
Change: Standard suspension only/M030 suspension offered
Model year: 1993 , Production change month/year: July 1992
For the 1993 model year Porsche rolled out a performance suspension option for the North American market, the M030 sport chassis option. The package was made up of higher-performance oriented components including shocks, sway bars, brakes, and 17” wheels. See 968register.org for more details on this exciting option. Interesting fact: the first actual M030 968 coupe was a 1992! It was a white car produced in June of 1992 and shipped to Canada. It is the one and only 1992 M030 968.
Change: R12 refrigerant used in A/C/R134A refrigerant used in A/C
Model year: 1993 , Production change month/year: July 1992
Following regulatory requirements, Porsche moved to replace the R12 A/C refrigerant used in 1992 models with the more ozone friendly R134A for the 1993 model year.
Change: No dampeners on upper strut hold down/Dampener on upper strut hold down
Model year: 1993 , Production change month/year: July 1992
Porsche added a dampener to the front strut hold down to improve on road vibration. An interesting thing about this change is that in some cases they used rivets to retrofit the dampener to the original designed hold down and then came out with a cleaner non-retrofit version.
Change: Standard wheel center cap silver crest/blacked out crest
Model year: 1993 , Production change month/year: July 1992
When the 968 was introduced in 92 the Porsche crest was recessed into the wheel center cap with no additional paint. The crest was the same silver as the full cap. In 1993 Porsche decided to make the crest more pronounced by painting the recessed portion in black. This continued for the remainder of the 968 model years.
1994 – The early and late version model year
The biggest number of changes that were applied to the 968 during the production run occurred during July of 1993, mid-way through the 1994 model year, which resulted in a very confusing model year of 968s. 968s produced during the early half of 1994 model year (built between March of 1993 and June of 1993) do not reflect the changes (these would be the 718 cars, actually 1993s, reVINed to be 94s) and the later half (built between July of 1993 and February of 1994) show the changes (true 94s, non-718 cars, see the website for more details on the 718 cars). These changes seemed targeted towards simplifying 968 production somewhat and would be the final production changes applied to the model. Cabriolet production seized in June of 1994 and coupe production in October of 1994.
Change: Coupe B-pillar painted black/Coupe B-pillar painted body colored
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
The B-pillar on coupes was painted body-color as opposed to the black that was used from 92-94.5. This is probably the easiest way to tell whether you are looking at an early or late 968 coupe. Which looks better?
Change: Optional 17” wheel design, Cup 1 to Cup 2
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
The optional 17” wheel design was changed from the edgier spoked Cup 1 to smoother spoked Cup 2. Remember, the standard equipment 16” Cup1 wheel remained the same design for the entire production run of the 968.
Change: Torque tube/split vs solid design
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche made a strength improvement to the 6 speed torque tube for the later models. The early cars had a split in the tube where the later cars had a solid, stronger design.
Change: Engine compartment trim/No trim
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
When 968s began production they had a thoughtful glove box unit in the front engine compartment that contained cloth gloves and a rag in special zip-lock bags. The piece looked great and, combined with the rear cover piece, cleaned things up to the point where you could argue that the 968 had one of the best looking engine compartment presentations ever done by Porsche. When the mid-year 94 changes appeared on the 968 the engine trim pieces had been removed and things continued that way until the end of production. One could only guess that cost and production simplification were the reasons.
Change: Bucket seat design change
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche changed the design for the front bucket seat from the traditional 944 carry-over design to the new 993 comfort design.
Change: Rear seat design change
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Along with the front buckets, Porsche changed the design for the rear bucket seats from the traditional 944 full seat design to the new 993 comfort individual bucket design.
Change: Power steering reservoir/Clear to black
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche changed the power steering reservoir from a clear design where you could actually see the fluid level to a solid black design which forced you to remove the cap to check the level.
Change: Connecting Rod, original/Improved design
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
An improved connecting rod design with beam reinforcement to prevent bending.
Change: Rounded/Edged exhaust tips
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche had a nice rounded edged exhaust tip for the early car but decided to move to a simpler straight edged tip for the later cars. Most likely due to costs.
Change: Snap/Velcro rear carpet holders
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche changed the rear carpet holder design from a snap to a Velcro holder.
Change: Caps on shock tower bolts/No caps
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche decided to no longer include caps on the shock tower bolts on the later cars. We can guess the reason was to simplify production as it was largely a cosmetic feature.
Change: Blackout paint on lower windshield area
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche decided to no longer blackout the lower windshield area with paint black paint with the later cars.
Change: Wheel lock/Key design
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche decided to move to the much cleaner lug-key style design wheel lock similar to a McGard wheel lock (on the right) in mid-94 to replace the sleeve style lock with key and cap design.
Change: E-brake handle design
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche decided to move to the simpler stitch-less emergency brake handle design for the later cars. Most likely due to production costs.
Change: No air filtration in cabin/Pollen filter air filtration system added
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche decided to add an air filtration system to the 968 with the mid-94 model year changes. You can find it hiding under the driver’s side rear windshield trim cover, next to the fuse box. The filter requires changing as part of regular maintenance.
Change: Interior door handle pull, extra trim design/smooth design
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche decided to simplify the interior door handle pull design with a smooth design for the later cars.
Change: Two belly pans/One belly pan
Model year: 1994.5 , Production change month/year: July 1993
Porsche decided to eliminate the additional metal belly pan with the mid-94 MY changes. Most likely due to production cost and simplification.
Sincerely,
Jeff Coe
PCA 968 Register Advocate
