This is a disassembled Porsche 964 M64 flat-six with a displacement of 3.6 liters, that was originally fitted to the engine bay of a 964-series 911. All of the major parts are accounted for, and it now needs putting back together.
Exactly what happened to the Porsche 911 that this engine was fitted to isn’t listed, although the fact that it has a brand new, unused crankcase sourced from Porsche Cars North America Inc. may offer a clue.
The Porsche 964 was an almost completely redesigned 911 when compared to the earlier G model, however designer Benjamin Dimson had been careful to keep to the original style of the 911 so as to keep the purists happy. Image courtesy of Porsche AG.
The M64 flat-six engine debuted in the new Porsche 911 of 1989, officially called the Type 964. Though the styling of the car looked much like its predecessors due to the careful work of stylist Benjamin Dimson, the car was actually 85% new under the skin and relatively few parts were interchangeable with the earlier G model.
The 964 would remain on sale from 1989 until 1994 when it was replaced with the 993, the 993 being the last of the air-cooled Porsche 911s, the arrival of the 996 and its liquid-cooled engine in 1997 kicking off a firestorm of controversy.
There are many who view the 964 as being the ultimate evolution of the original air-cooled 911s that first appeared in 1964. The team at Singer Vehicle Design in California use the 964 as their platform of choice for each of their Porsche 911 Reimagined by Singer line of sports cars.
The Porsche 964 was powered by the M64 engine, a largely new flat-six with an alloy block and heads, a 3.6 liter displacement, and 247 bhp at 6,100 rpm with 229 lb ft of torque at 4,800 rpm. This was enough to propel the standard tea wheel drive Carrera 2 version of the model from 0 – 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 260 km/h (162 mph).
The M64 engine you see here is currently in pieces, and as noted further up, it has a brand new engine block from Porsche. The fact that it doesn’t come with a matching numbers car will reduce its appeal to collectors, but it also makes it perfect for those looking to build something a little unusual.
This Porsche M64 engine is waiting for reassembly, and it has a brand new, unused crankcase sourced from Porsche Cars North America Inc.
This engine, or the parts of the engine, are now being offered for sale out of El Cajon, California. The major parts are all here, including the block, barrels, heads, crankshaft, cams, valves, rockers, cam covers, pistons, and connecting rods.
If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing on Bring a Trailer here. It’s being offered at no reserve with assorted hardware.
Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
