Slant Nose Porsche: History Of The Flachbau

History of the Porsche Slant Nose: Where it came from

The Slant Nose Porsche design originated from motorsports and was first used in 1976. The design was first implemented on the Porsche 935 "Moby Dick”, which was developed for Group 5 racing. The one-off Porsche 935 Street was the first road-going model to feature the Porsche slant nose, but that signature front-end design is most prominent on the Porsche 930 Turbo.

The original Porsche 911 Turbo was an already-famous car, but not necessarily in a positive way. The 930 Turbo earned the nickname "Widowmaker” due to its driving characteristics, but that didn’t stop people from lusting after it even today. In fact, Porsche recently celebrated the Turbo’s 50th anniversary with a special-edition 992. Unlike the 935 race car though, the slant-nose Porsche 930 Turbo still required wing-mounted headlights. Hence, all road-going Porsche 911s that feature the "Flachbau" (slant nose) also come with pop-up headlights - a feature exclusive to this particular variant of the Porsche 930 Turbo.

Why Slantnose?

The Porsche slant nose is the brain-child of German automotive engineer, Norbert Singer, who cleverly exploited a gap in the FIA Group 5 regulations. According to Appendix J of the 1976 FIA Technical Regulations, the material and shape of the wings is free, as long as the wheel arches retain the factory car’s shape. In this case, the 935 race car was based on the 1975 Porsche 930 Turbo. Interestingly enough, the resto-mod company, Singer Vehicle Design, is named after the German engineer who created the Porsche slant nose. It also pays homage to SVD founder, Rob Dickinson, who was previously a singer. Like any motorsport-derived element, the Porsche slant nose is not just for show.

The Porsche slant nose aimed to increase downforce and improve aerodynamics. The 930 Turbo is known, among other things, for a notoriously poor drag coefficient of nearly 0.50 Cd while the Porsche 930 Slant nose improves the drag coefficient to 0.39 Cd. The slant nose did not make it onto the 930 Turbo until 1982 and was available as an option until the G-Body’s production ended in 1989.

Rarity and collectability

There are three generations of the Porsche 930 slant nose. First-generation cars were made between 1982 and 1983, with only 58 produced. Between 1983 and 1987, the second-generation slant-nose Porsche 930 Turbo was produced, in 204 examples. The third-generation Porsche 930 slant nose was produced between 1987 and 1989, and is the most mass-produced, with 686 examples.

A total of 948 slant-nose Porsche 930 Turbo were produced. To put things in perspective, a total of 21,589 Porsche 930 Turbo were built, which means slant-nose Porsche 930 cars amount to less than 4.4 percent of the total Porsche 930 production.

If you are looking for a Porsche 930 Slant nose for sale, you will have to come up with a hefty amount. The slant-nose Porsche is highly collectible and Classic.com shows an average market value of around $200,000. However, this may vary on the condition and model year of the car. Generation 1 Porsche 930 Slant Nose cars are the rarest, so they are expected to fetch more than the rest. The most expensive recorded sale of a slant nose Porsche 930 Turbo is for $500,000. The Porsche slant nose, also known as "Flachbau” was available, not just for the coupe, but also for the cabriolet and Targa body styles. Currently, there are a couple of Porsche 930 slant nose offerings on Elfersport that are for sale.

2019 Porsche 935: The Slant Nose legacy lives on

You would think it would be difficult to recreate the iconic Porsche slant nose in modern days, but in 2019, Porsche released a limited-production model that paid homage to the Porsche 935 "Moby Dick”. Based on the Porsche 991 GT2 RS, the modern-day Porsche 935 featured a modern version of the "Flachbau” along with a very pronounced rear end, this time without featuring the massive "Whale tail” rear wing.

Production of this epic homage to the original Porsche slant nose was limited to 77 units and they are not road-legal. If you are looking to buy one, be ready to part with at least $1.2 million, as the average market value is for the modern Porsche 935 is $1.5 million.