By day, major cities from London to Paris and Bangkok to Dubai can feel like rolling car parks. But once darkness settles and the rush-hour hordes melt away, those same streets turn into a playground for anyone who enjoys the freedom of an empty road. After countless hours daydreaming about threading our favourite classics and supercars across Tokyo’s elevated expressways or along Los Angeles’ endless boulevards, we’re finally launching a new Classic Driver format: “Night Drive.” For the inaugural episode, we stayed close to home and roamed the quiet streets of Zurich in a truly special machine — the ultra-rare 911 Turbo S Lightweight, better known as the “Leichtbau.”
Born at the dawn of the 1990s, the Porsche 964 Turbo S Leichtbau was Stuttgart’s reminder that “less” can sometimes mean “a lot more.” As the outgoing 3.3-litre Turbo reached the end of its run, Porsche’s Exclusive department grabbed what it could from the motorsport shelves and set about purging the standard 964 Turbo of anything resembling comfort or unnecessary weight. Rear seats, sound-deadening, electric frills, and chunks of interior trim were all binned. Thin glass, aluminium panels, and a strict diet trimmed roughly 180 kilograms from the car — leaving a road-legal missile with a license plate.
The engineers didn’t stop at shedding kilos. The Leichtbau also received a reworked version of the trusty 3.3-litre flat-six, now good for 381 hp — potent stuff for its time. A stiffened chassis, sharper suspension setup, and stronger brakes ensured the car could keep its wits about it. And with its distinctive air scoops, squat stance, and often eccentric paint choices, the Turbo S Leichtbau looked every bit like a Porsche that had slipped out of Weissach’s locked workshop after hours.
Built in an ultra-limited run of just 86 examples, the 964 Turbo S Leichtbau has since become one of the most sought-after air-cooled 911s. It captures a fleeting moment when Porsche, despite financial pressures, still had the nerve to create a street-legal racer simply because it wanted to. Today, the Leichtbau stands as proof that Porsche’s most memorable cars aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest numbers — they’re the cars that make your pulse jump before the engine even fires.
And so there it stood in Zurich’s fast-changing Kreis 5, surrounded by brand-new banking towers rising over old industrial brickwork, thin fog curling through the headlights, and red neon dancing across the Polar Silver Metallic paint. It’s hard to imagine a more poised yet dramatic expression of the eternal 911 silhouette, waiting patiently for its next run. But we hadn’t come merely to admire the lines. We were here to press the loud pedal, let the flat-six clear its throat, and sweep through the sleeping city the way this car was always meant to be driven. Care to join us?
Video: Alpineracer for Classic Driver © 2025 — All rights reserved.
