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I made a post about sunroof delete 968's in the U.S. and it didn't seem like anyone has ever seen one, unless they have and just didn't post about it. I'm still interested in knowing if there are any out there.
Dang, the sunroof-delete 924 I saw on monday was gone when I went back on friday with a saw. Oh well, I'll keep my eyes open but it looks like I keep my sunroof for now. Besides, it still works.
My '92 midnight blue coupe is an original sunroof delete car, but does come with LSD. It was born in Italy and imported to DK in 2015. But I haven't seen many other 968's without sunroof..
I hate sunroofs, they all become high maintenance, leaky, rattle traps eventually. I never use them anyway. I would certainly pay a premium for a car without one.
I did an article on these guys in the March 2015 issue of the PCA 968 register E-newsletter. Here it is below, reprinted with permission from the author:When I put together the 968 Registry databases years ago I looked for all the features of each 968s, exterior and interior colors, and optional equipment. One thing I didn’t look for was features that the car did NOT have and then someone asked me about the Sunroof delete 968s. I had the information, it just meant I had to re-review the data on all 2,234 North American 968 coupes. So recently I did that and by the time I was done I had counted just 6 sunroof delete 968s. The details on them are below:
1992 - NS820423 – N7 Amazon Green with a cashmere interior, 6 speed, side molding, hi-fi sound with amps, rear emblem delete.
1992 - NS820638 – A1 Black with a black cloth interior, 6 speed, limited slip, 17 Cup 1 wheels, sport seats.
1993 - PS820073 – A8 Polar silver with a black cloth interior, 6 speed, M030 sport suspension, limited slip, 17 Cup 1 wheels, sport seats, hi-fi sound with CD-2 am/fm single in-dash CD, rear emblem delete, painted rear spoiler.
1993 - PS820350 – A8 Polar silver with a black cloth interior, 6 speed, M030 sport suspension, limited slip, 17 Cup 1 wheels.
1994 - RS820586 – P5 Grand Prix white with a black cloth interior, 6 speed, Canadian package, M030 sport suspension, limited slip, 17 Cup 2 wheels, dual heated seats, headlight washers.
1995 - SS820172 – X4 Speed Yellow with a black partial leather interior, 6 speed, M030 sport suspension, limited slip, 17 Cup 2 wheels, sport seats, painted rear spoiler, deviated leather shifter boot, deviated leather door panels.
You’ll note that all these 968s share a performance-oriented theme being that they’re all M030 cars (with the exception of the 92s but as you know, M030 wasn’t officially offered in 1992). These cars had to be special ordered to be configured this way but then I wondered, why would you want a Sunroof delete car? I had some thoughts on the answer to that question but I decided to solicit opinions from the brilliant enthusiast minds found on the Rennlist and Pelican forums. After a number of days of discussion I came up with the following possibilities:
Cost savings/Money: I actual ordered my Audi Q5 and got one without a sunroof. It would have cost me $1,500 extra if I wanted it so I saved a good amount of money there. But when the sunroof is standard equipment, deleting it is usually a “no cost” with “no money” back option. I think that is the case with the 968 (although I have yet to see a window sticker from a SRD 968) so that is most likely not the reason.
Weight: Did the sunroof assembly weigh that much so that deleting it saved you that much weight for when you went racing? According to the great minds that wouldn’t be it. The assembly just doesn’t weigh that much.
Structural rigidity: Did not having the sunroof assembly cause the 968 to be more rigid for when you went racing? According to the great minds that wouldn’t be it. The roof is set up in a way that you really won’t notice a difference between a sunroof and a non-sunroof car. A roll bar? Yes! That will add rigidity. A deleted sunroof, not so much. Some went so far as to say the sunroof cars were actually stiffer due to the sunroof structure around the opening.
Looks: This one actually got many votes. Many reported that liked the nice clean roof line of a sunroof delete car. So that could be it.
Then a few other suggestions were made that I didn’t think about:
Headroom: If you are very tall, like 6’ 6”, and you are wearing a helmet on your head that the extra inch or so of clearance that the sunroof delete provides is much appreciated.
Access: Some racers reported that having access through the sunroof opening made it easy to get at things like welding up the roll cage joints.
Simplicity: The sunroof does require a motor and switches and a seal. All of these things can break and require some type of service. The drains can plug up and cause drainage leaks into the car and if left unattended for a prolonged period of time can result in rust. So maybe some have looked at the sunroof and said they just didn’t want it or the possible future headache and decided to delete it.
So after all that input what were my findings? The results were inconclusive. There was no single, great reason to delete the sunroof on your 968. If I could find one of the original six owners and ask them the reason for deletion it would probably be one of the above but each of the owners could very well site a different one of those reasons for their special 968 order. You will note that all of these special 968s are more performance oriented with their optional equipment hinting at the original owner’s thinking (remember, the M030 sport suspension option wasn’t available until 1993 so that is why you don’t see it on the 92s). One thing that is for sure, they are rare with only six produced so if you ever see one be sure to take in this rare sight and give the car a good look-over and decide which reason you think this special machine was produced.
Jeff968: I'd go for option 2: Weight: Did the sunroof assembly weigh that much so that deleting it saved you that much weight for when you went racing? According to the great minds that wouldn’t be it. The assembly just doesn’t weigh that much.
Sunroof delete car weighs 25lbs less than sunroof car and weight is up high. A factory replacement non-sunroof roof assembly weights 5lbs less than jus the removable sunroof panel. So for a racecar both the added weight and location would be important.
I love my sunroof. Only use it in the tilt mode. Took it out once, must weight more than 25 lbs and had terrible droning in my car at above 50 mph. Had to roll the windows down...
It gets tilted everytime I drive the car.
I love my sunroof. Only use it in the tilt mode. Took it out once, must weight more than 25 lbs and had terrible droning in my car at above 50 mph. Had to roll the windows down...
It gets tilted everytime I drive the car.
-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice
Were ALL CS's sunroof delete?
No, CS cars could have sunroofs optioned, many did atleast in Europe.
07-18-2008, 05:15 AM
sunroof delete 968s
