I’m not often stumped when it comes to factory 968 options, but I was recently. When I was putting together my 968 coupe database I had found that coupe NS820384 had option code XG8. When I checked my files I found plenty of information on X-code options. These are typically wood or leather options such as a shifter knob or boot but XG8 was not listed anywhere. Looking further at all 4,242 North American 968 coupes and cabs, this car was the ONLY car with that option code. I made a note of it but left it as blank as I could not figure out what it was. 12 years later, wouldn’t you know it, the owner of that same car contacted the PCA 968 register! Now I made it a quest to figure out exactly what made this car different from all the others.

The car was a 1992 midnight blue coupe with a classic grey interior. It was optioned with partial leather, 17” Cup1s, hi-fi sound with amps, and a rear emblem delete. It also had that elusive XG8 option code. Looking at the photos the owner sent I could not see anything unusual. But there was one thing interesting on the option code tag. This car had code 09981 which means that car was pulled from the production line for special handling. It had to be option code XG8, but what was it???!!!

I re-checked Google and all my documentation, nothing. And then I invited my son Greg to join the hunt. He went to work and he found something. There was a 1991 928 listed for sale with option code XG8. Looking at it further, it was described on the 928 as a painted rear spoiler in body color. But that didn’t make any sense as the 968 coupe already had a regular production option code for that, option code 595. And the database told me that 412 of the 2,234 North American 968 coupes were equipped with it. But as I looked at my database closer I figured it out! I contacted the owner and he confirmed my suspicions.

The first 968 coupe to be produced with option code 595 painted rear spoiler was built in March of 1992. The car I was looking at, NS820384, was built in February. Thinking that XG8 might actually be the painted rear spoiler I contacted the car’s owner and sure enough, he confirmed that the car did indeed have a body-colored painted rear spoiler.

So what we are looking for here is the birth of a new option while production was underway. Regular 968 production had been going on since September of 1991. Porsche had offered a painted rear spoiler on the 928 previously as an exclusive option under option code XG8. Someone at the Porsche factory decided to try it out on the 968 and NS820384 was the first car they tried it on in February of 1992. They pulled the car from the regular production line, as indicated by the 09981 special handling code, and painted the rear spoiler, and added code XG8. They must have liked what they saw because a few weeks later the $213 regular production option code 595 was born. Mystery solved and a cool factoid about NS820384 along with some insight into how things worked on the production line all those years ago.