What this is

Porsche's build tool only shows you this year's cars. Once a model goes out of production nobody keeps its order sheet online — which options existed, which ones you couldn't combine, what each one cost. This puts that back together for the 911. Pick a model year and a trim, then build the car out of what you could actually have ordered at the time.

What is in it

10 generations, 1965–2024, 183 trims and 1472 equipment codes — the 1965 car through to the 992.1. For each model year: which options you could get, their factory codes, paint codes, EPA figures where the government published them, and period prices wherever a document backs them up. The wiki lists all of it. The configurator is the same data with the ordering rules switched on.

Why it exists

This material disappears. Dealer order guides were internal paperwork nobody meant to keep past the model year. Brochures survive because enthusiasts scanned them. A window sticker only makes it if someone photographed one before the car changed hands, and forum threads go when the forum does. Any one source is partial, and they contradict each other often enough that you can't take the first answer you find. Put enough of them side by side and you can start working out which ones are right.

How the data is made

Facts come from primary documents where they exist — original window stickers, brochure equipment grids, EPA records — and every price is recorded against the specific car it came off. A sticker's arithmetic has to work before anything on it is used: base MSRP, plus each itemised option, plus destination, has to match the total printed on the label. Where a figure hasn't been sourced, the dataset says so instead of guessing. The methodology page has the full rules, including which parts are checked against period documents and which are still reconstruction.

How it is built

A Rust engine compiled to WebAssembly. Option rules, price lookups and totals all run in your browser, and your build isn't sent anywhere. The terminal interface is on purpose: the thing being reproduced is a paper order form, and a text screen suits that better than a glossy render of a car nobody ever built.

Who makes it, and what it is not

RetroSpec CLI is an independent project run by an enthusiast. It is not a business, not a dealer, and is not affiliated with, authorised by, endorsed by, or connected to Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. Porsche, 911, Carrera, Targa and Turbo are trademarks of their owner, used here for identification and historical reference. Nothing here is for sale, and there are no listings, valuations or buying advice.

Licensing

The dataset — specifications, option codes, availability and prices — is published under the Open Database License, so anyone can use, adapt and redistribute it with attribution. See the data license. The website and configurator source are not open. Corrections and additions to the data are welcome, and each one is checked against a cited source before it goes in.

Contact

Corrections, sources, questions, and legal or privacy enquiries all reach the same place: admin@retrospec-cli.com.