www.QV500.com - Porsche 964 Part 5: 964 Carrera 4 Lightweight
In 1991, Porsche's customer sport department at Weissach released the curious Carrera 4 Lightweight. A solitary batch of 20 Lightweight's was built, all of these being sold to special customers at a cost of around $190,000. They weren't originally legal for road use in any country but neither were they homologated for a GT racing category. Aimed at 'the serious club racer' as Jurgen Barth put it, the Carrera 4 Lightweight's came issued with special six digit VIN's ranging from 964001 to 964020. They were based on the M003-optioned RS shell albeit now with four-wheel drive. The wheels were 16-inch Cup alloys measuring seven and nine inches across.
Steering was power assisted, as on the stock Carrera 4, the braking system getting dual master cylinders with an adjustable balance bar for fine-tuning the bias. Underneath, a thin coat of Cosmoline was sprayed on for rust proofing. Very little was done to what was effectively the stock RS engine, but with no muffler or catalytic convertor, these cars were probably realising close to 300bhp. The motor was coupled to a Rally gearbox similar to the type used on Porsche's old Paris-Dakar contenders. It featured two switches on the centre console that allowed the driver to adjust the torque split of the centre and rear differentials. Meanwhile, the bodyshell was hopped-up with sliding plexiglas side windows, aluminium doors, an aluminium front lid and an engine cover fabricated in fibreglass.
A fixed spoiler similar to the type used on the 911 SC/RS was installed along with faired wing mirrors and retaining pins for the front lid and engine cover. In the cockpit, no carpeting or soundproofing was applied, Porsche equipping each of these factory hot rods with an aluminium roll cage, racing seats, a small three-spoke steering wheel and Halon fire system. Tipping the scales at precisely 1100kg, the Carrera 4 Lightweight's extremely short gearing meant it was typically good for around 130mph and 0-60mph in under 4.5 seconds. Just 20 were built, all of which are believed to have been finished in left-hand dive and painted Grand Prix White.
