So You Assume You Like Porsches?

Warning: The following article contains content of a highly Porsche-graphic nature. Reader discretion is advised.

This feature is unashamedly Porsche, in its purest form. There are no Winston-smoking, hacksaw-wielding Japanese men bolting on body kits. Nor are there any power-crazed American tuners, inducing enough boost to blow diamonds out of the exhaust.

What we have here is a gorgeous collection of Porsche 911s, belonging to the husband and wife duo of Olli (@olli_ploeger) and Andrea Plöger. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve seen these cars on some form of social media in our little corner of the internet.

Photos of these cars get around. After all, it’s not often you see what’s basically a bag of Skittles in automotive form. Let alone under one roof. Let alone all being the same make and model.

The first time I saw a photo of the Plöger collection on my Instagram feed, I’m fairly certain my pupils dilated as if I’d taken a pill of the party variety.

I’ve been a Porsche fan, especially of the 964, from a rather young age. Young enough to have articles such as this, and this forever engrained in my memory. In fact, I was actually at the Urban Outlaw Porsche night at the Ace Cafe back in 2015. I’ve got the Urban Outlaw book signed by Magnus Walker, somewhere.

Let’s step back to 1990. At the time, 23-year-old Olli Plöger was fresh out of law school and working hard at his father’s firm. His grafting enabled him to buy his very first Porsche 964, the Mintgrün 1992 Carrera 2 Cabriolet you see below.

“It’s a ’92 model that happened to be first registered on my birthday, October 29th,” Olli recalls. “From the middle of 1993, I started searching for a 964 Coupé and actually looked at a few vehicles. I didn’t plan to own a convertible but the mint green colour convinced me, compared to black, silver, red and white.”

The minty-fresh Cabrio didn’t start life as you see it now. Olli had the narrow Carerra converted to a ‘WTL’, in line with his vision for the car. What’s a WTL, you might ask? It’s Porsche-speak for a ‘factory Turbo look’. This means it has the wide metal arches from the 964 Turbo, but without the whale tail spoiler.

I’m not traditionally a fan of a 911 Cabrio – I’d rather have a Targa – but I can’t deny this is a handsome little sports car.

Underneath the vibrant, curvaceous body shell lies a formidable upgrade package. Bilstein PSS10 coilovers and a factory Turbo ‘Big Red’ brake upgrade (from a 964 3.6 Turbo or 993 Twin Turbo) peek out behind the 18×8-inch and 18×10-inch Speedline wheels, wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres. An RS strut brace completes the handling upgrades.

You may be wondering why so much emphasis on cornering in a soft-top? Well, when you’re being pushed along by a 3.8L engine with 311hp and 375Nm of torque, you’ll want to be able to stop and turn as precisely as possible.

The eagle-eyed amongst you may already have noticed that the list of modifications I just mentioned applies to most, if not all, of the Plöger 964s. In fact for Olli, “a 964 is only my 964 if I have installed a Bilstein PSS10 coilover kit, Big Reds, original ‘Speedlines for Porsche’ and Michelin tyres.”

That doesn’t mean that Olli stops there when modifying a Porsche though. Far from it.

Take this pair of orange and lime Tic-Tacs, for example.

Whilst at a glance they appear to be identical bar the colour, this duo have been built to provide an equal amount of adrenaline in very different environments. The Continental Orange car was destined for track use, with a 964 RS 3.8L engine conversion including very aggressive 305-degree Schrick camshafts and a 5-speed gearbox. This car underwent a complete bare metal respray, with a full roll cage installed during the process.

The painted shell was left devoid of any insulation or sound deadening, with choice interior upgrades to keep the driving experience pleasant. A full leather centre console, genuine 964 Carrera RS Recaro seats, dashboard and door panels add a touch of civility to the cabin. The 993 GT2 Momo steering wheel and Porsche Exclusive gear knob/handbrake combo mark Olli out as a connoisseur of Porsche parts.

Walter Röhrl edition Bilstein PSS10 coilovers, Porsche Big Red brakes and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 round up the ‘Olli upgrades’, but in this case there are a particularly special set of Speedline wheels on the car.

18×9.5-inch ET57 and 18×11-inch ET5 are the holy grail variants of these wheels, as rare as hen’s teeth and über desirable to air-cooled Porsche enthusiasts. Combined with the 993 GT2 lightweight hubs and a 964 Carrera RS manual steering rack, the feedback must be absolutely incredible.

Not that I approve of old-hat, played-out automotive journalism terms, but I bet driving this car feels… ‘telepathic, on rails, as though the driver is connected directly to the road’, etc.

The Gelbgrün, or Yellow Green car is a very similar spec, however Olli wanted one for some seriously fast road use with more creature comforts. As a result you find a full leather interior with an RS carpet and no roll cage.

Whilst the handling modifications may be the same, the 3.8L engine is slightly more road-friendly with 288-degree Schrick camshaft at either end of the flat-six.

It may seem like overkill to have two near-identical cars, yet I do see Olli’s point of view. Sometimes you want to have a blast without the hassle of a cage, harnesses, noise and vibration. There’s a lot to be said for a car that can perform on the cutting edge, whilst also being easy to just get in and go.

From orange, to yellow-green, let’s look at some of Olli’s blue cars.

The Maritime Blue, ’30 Years of 911′ example is potentially Olli’s most offensive to Porsche purists. Why? Well for starters, Porsche never made a Maritime Blue 30 Jähre car. Affectionately known as ‘Jubi’ for short, all of the 964 Jubis only came in Viola, Amethyst or Polar Silver.

Not that Olli cared though. The Jubi’s factory WTL is what he was after, and he had the car completely resprayed and re-trimmed inside with two-tone grey leather. Oh, and all of the Jubis left the factory with 4WD Carrera 4 underpinnings.

Olli has had his converted to RWD.

Another neat touch? That ducktail is a custom item of Olli’s own design, where the leading edge of the spoiler lines up just right with the trailing edge of the rain guttering.

If Maritime Blue isn’t your cuppa, how about the only Porsche ever built to test the colour ‘Riviera Blue’ before it was officially launched with the 993 generation 911 in 1994? This blue didn’t even have a name when the 964 was painted.

Or we have the stunning Carrera 2 in Coppaflorio, possibly the single hardest non-metallic colour I have ever tried to capture accurately. I can only apologise for any (guaranteed) discrepancies across the photos.

There’s just something so reactive about the duck-egg paint in photos, but I can assure you it is phenomenal in person beyond any hue I can convey.

It goes without saying that this is an extraordinary collection of Porsches. More importantly they are owned by extraordinarily lovely people. Olli and Andrea were beyond welcoming when inviting me to their home and to view their cars. So much so that they cooked lunch for myself and Till, our go-to SH German correspondent at this point, which was a first.

“I have been happily married to Andrea for many years and have a very tolerant wife by my side, who not only allows me to pursue our passion for Porsche but also actively supports me,” says Olli. “She actually had the sceptre in her hand when it came to choosing the colour for some of our 964s. Our shared fascination for the cars is twice as nice as if I were to live it alone.”

You’d be surprised at how often Olli and Andrea use the Porsches too. “I often drive my Porsches during the week,” Olli explained. “Especially after a long day in my law firm, I like to treat myself to a little trip to relax in one of my ‘sweets’ at the end of the day. I still go shopping, run errands and use the 964s in everyday life. Each 964 is usually driven between 2,000 and 6,000km a year. Only my orange Carrera RS 3.8 Clubsport spends its few kilometres mostly on the trailer and on track.”

Olli was also keen to note that as with all classics and modern-classics, sitting stationary for too long is what causes nasty surprises to pop up. 964s are no different, even if “the build quality of the 964 is outstanding, and they still look like they’ve been milled out of billet.”

“The 30-year-old interior is timeless and the leather quality is better than in all subsequent 911s. Just closing the doors is a symphony for the ears; a 964 door slams shut without any strange noises.”

I couldn’t go without asking Olli and Andrea what their opinion is of the bubble in the classic Porsche market, after all having owned so many for so long they’ll have seen the prices shoot up over the past decade.

“In my opinion, there is no artificial price inflation, since the price is self-regulating through supply and demand,” said Olli on the subject. “Spare parts have also become extremely expensive at Porsche in recent years, good workshops are fully booked and also have correspondingly high hourly rates. A good 964 costs a lot of money to be kept in good condition.”

“The most important thing when buying a 964 is that you buy one because of its technical condition and not whether it has a lot of stamps in the service book or few previous owners and/or a low kilometres. With a 964 that’s around 30 years old, so many things can be defective without it being immediately obvious if you don’t have a specialist with you when you visit. In any case, you shouldn’t be put off by the prices. Once you own a 964, the emotions outweigh any investment, no matter how annoying, that you might not have expected when you bought it.”

That last sentence alone is enough to see Olli’s passion for his cars. I can’t begin to fathom the devotion and love you’d need to have to not only willingly, but joyously own 10 of the same car in such amazing condition.

If I had to choose one? It would likely be the Yellow Green ‘road-going’ 3.8 RS build. I love the balance it strikes between hardcore track car and comfortable road car. Paint it Coppaflorio and you have near enough my dream 964. For Olli though?

“I don’t have a favourite, every 964 is special to me. Every colour has its own effect on me and is great fun in its own way. If asked which I would give up last, it would be my first Porsche 964, the mint green convertible. When the weather is nice there is nothing better than an open-top, air-cooled, wide 964 convertible with some extra power, a sorted chassis and big brakes to be on the go.”

I’m still incredibly grateful to Olli and Andrea for their hospitality, and for allowing me to spend a day with them and their stunning cars. I can certainly count the day in my top three automotive experiences so far.

Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn