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I had a little fun today 
The car at the top of my list to replace my Alfa and be car #2 that I fulfill from my “Cars I’d Like To Own At Some Time In My Life” list is a Porsche 944. One came up for sale here in Hobart this week and fortunately for me, the owner was kind enough to let me come around to his house, ask a few questions and…..go for a spin!
This is the car:
It’s a 1983 Porsche 944.
This model year, the 944 had a 2.5 litre, four cylinder engine in the front of the car with an output of around 150hp matched to a 5-speed gearbox. The 944 has a transaxle gearbox so the weight distribution is within a bee’s gennies of being dead on 50/50.
What I love about the Porsche 944.
First of all, I love the fact that it’s the second most affordable Porsche (the 924 being the most afforadble). I don’t think I could dream of ever getting into a decent 911, but even the best of the 944s is probably within my reach.
Second, I absolutely adore the styling of the car. Many of the cars I’ll drive in the next 10 years or so will be things that I loved as I grew up in the 1980s. You don’t get much more 1980s than pop-up headlights and in my view, there’s no prettier car with pop-us than the 944. In fact, despite the pop-ups, the 944 still manages to look quite contemporary.
Does the car in the photos above/below look like a 25 year old car to you?
Things I learned from driving this car today
The main thing that I learned is that there’s no way I’m going to buy a pre-1986 Porsche 944. This car, and all the 944s up to around mid 1985, had the 924 interior. Some time in 1985, Porsche gave the 944 a new interior that looks a whole lot better and is most likely quite a bit easier to live with.
This car, for instance, had no tilt adjustment for the steering wheel. Given that the wheel is so low and virtually sat right on my legs, this could be a problem (one that I hope will be remedied in a 1986-on car).
Just as it doesn’t look 25 years old, the car didn’t really feel 25 years old, either. The gearbox was still really tight and snappy. The steering wheel had a minimal amount of play when you first move the wheel, but after it had taken up the tiniest bit of slack it was really precise with superb feel and you could tell the car was really well balanced. It just hunkered down and stuck to the road.
This car had that 150hp engine I mentioned before and whilst it does have a bit of zip when you stick in the persuaders, I’d definitely need a bit more grunt to feel like I’m driving a Porsche and getting my money’s worth.
Today’s drive pretty much confirmed in my mind that I’ll most likely try and track down a good 944 Turbo. It seems logical and appropriate for a Saab guy, really. I just need to find one in good condition. The early Turbos (i.e. the ones I’ll be able to afford) had a 220hp engine, giving the 944 Viggen-like numbers but with a bit less torque.
It’s still going to take a while to save the money I’ll need to get one of these, but having got a taste of it today, I’m really looking forward to the day it happens.
Time to fix the clutch in my 900 and prep the Alfa for sale, I think
——
Old 924 style interior with aftermarket steering wheel:
Newer generation interior from 1986 onwards, with original steering wheel that’s a pain in the butt to use, hence the large number of aftermarket wheels out there:
–
22 responses so far ↓
1 Eduard(Edusaab)
// Nov 30, 2008 at 2:51 am
My father had during the 80’s, first one 924 and after that a 944. They were excellent cars, really comfortable and really good for everyday use.
cheers
2 SAABoy
// Nov 30, 2008 at 3:11 am
Def a secondary auto fetish of mine Swade. I love the styling, and the pop up headlights are godly. Good work…
3 eggsngrits
// Nov 30, 2008 at 3:11 am
The 924 that a college friend had was almost entirely a VW and was already falling apart at only a handful of years old.
The looks have worn well, yes. The blacked-out wheels are quite current, actually.
4 zippy
// Nov 30, 2008 at 3:24 am
Didnt Audi build the 924/944 model for Porsche? I used to see a ton of 944s back in the mid-80s and must admit I thought they were kinda cool but not as cool as a 900 T16S aka SPG.
5 wilfried
// Nov 30, 2008 at 3:27 am
Aha, ditching the Alfa for a proper sportscar.
Glad you like the design, but it is a hatch, which certainly works in your subconscious layers somewhere.
Among most porsche fans the transaxles (924/928/944/968) are being neglected as not being not porsche enough, the are told to miss the tough pedigree, miss the boxer-engine etc..
The german nickname “Hausfrauenporsche” says it all in case of the 924 & 944.
Much info can be found on http://www.pff-online.de, in german that is. But it has a vivid forum.
You better inform yourself buying a car like this. As (in Europe) most 924/944/968 are kept out of the dealer network for servicing, most examples I’ ve seen from closer are not in good shape. If finances aren’t a problem I would settle for a well serviced 944 SII (211 ps 3,0) or Turbo S (250 ps 2,7) version or a 968 - or a 968 clubsport if you have no need for the rear seats. One of the most rare ones is the 16-times build 968 turbo S: with its 305 ps and 500 Nm torque clearly a 911 attacker.
6 eggsngrits
// Nov 30, 2008 at 4:00 am
zippy: by then, Audi and VW were jointly developing most parts so one look under the hood of Jack’s 924 revealed parts stamped with both Audi and VW logos (that is, most parts had both logos stamped on them). VW being the more pejorative, we chose that marque.
7 Brian F
// Nov 30, 2008 at 4:34 am
I have had the pleasure of driving a 1983 924, a 1987 944, and a 1988 944 Turbo. The 1985.5 model year and up were much better cars than the pre-1985.5 944. If you can find a turbo, grab it. It’s an absolute blast to drive.
Brian
8 Mats
// Nov 30, 2008 at 4:49 am
A friend of mine got a 1992 944 S2 with the 210 hp 16v engine this summer. Really goes well, a small minus for high revs in motorway speeds, needs a sixth gear or why not just stay off the highway and take the long way home…
9 Eduard(Edusaab)
// Nov 30, 2008 at 5:13 am
I remember there is a spanish mag that in the 80’s tested the 900 turbo against the 944.
Here in Spain Porsche was the importer of Saab until 2003 aprox. when GM take control of the distribution. You can imagine on that time, Porsche-Saab dealers, many people here thought and thing that Saab has some technical relationship with Porsche.
On that time Saab always had a brand image of highly tech cars, beyond convential and sphisticated and ahead to the rest.
http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.es/preview/1983/06/29/pagina-26/32921544/pdf.html?search=saab
“Germany Sweden unusual market”
and this one…….
it’s logical, the best car in the earth comes from the sky
http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.es/preview/1982/10/27/pagina-38/32949500/pdf.html?search=saab
cheers
10 Andrew Baculy
// Nov 30, 2008 at 7:04 am
Swade. find a 944 Turbo! The 951 is great.. and you can hold true to the turbo heritage of Saab! Definitely my next non Saab(unless I could afford an e39 M5 or e46 M4 or the Z3 M models)
11 Markac
// Nov 30, 2008 at 9:02 am
Swade, it might be a case of “been there, done that”, but I’m sure you could find another nice Viggen for the price of a good 944 Turbo? It would also be a whole lot newer!
12 Bernard
// Nov 30, 2008 at 9:27 am
Swade,
How can you not like those yellow gauges? I think they’ve aged better than the mid-80’s redesign.
There is a spacer available that will bring the wheel an inch closer. It may do the trick for you.
924s were indeed almost Audis. They used an Audi 80 engine with the Audi transmission in the back and connected to the rear axle intead of the front one. The 944 uses a 928-based engine. It’s half a V8 and slanted, just like a 99/900 engine! 928 engines are known for a lot of things, but power and reliability are not two of them. They notoriously suffered from reverse oil flow at high RPM, which made them totally unsuitable for racing.
If you do get a 944, try to appreciate it for what it is. It’s not a fast car (even the later S2’s aren’t all that fast), it’s quite heavy, but it’s also extremely well built and handles great. If you want to know why it is so heavy, have a look at the pop-up headlamp mechanism; that’s almost 50 pounds of motor, rods and levers about as far away from the CoG as you can get.
One thing you should definitely know about the 944: many people much richer than you have tried to make 944’s into competitive track cars, and they have all failed. The engine just can’t make much power before becoming extremely short-lived, and there is no way to add enough “lightness” to compensate.
There’s a reason why the 944 Turbo barely puts out as much power as a 9-5 Aero. Porsche may have the cachet, but Saab could teach them a lot about making a reliable powerful engine.
13 wilfried
// Nov 30, 2008 at 9:51 am
Mmmh, could have been a nice project, Saab teaching Porsche how to build a reliable turbo engine ? I bet Saab could have used some teaching by Porsche how to be profitable, how to build an imago and how to milk a cash cow (cayenne, boxster, …. ).
14 swade
// Nov 30, 2008 at 9:59 am
Thanks for the thoughts, gents.
I’m not looking towards building a track monster at all. I’m just looking for a fun tourer with a reasonable amount of grunt. I’m sure a stock standard 944 Turbo will provide that in spades.
As for not going the Viggen route again, this (and the Alfa) are all part of a long-term project to own and drive as many different old favourites as I can. I’m sure I’ll return to a Viggen as part of that in time (if there’s any left by then)
15 ctm
// Nov 30, 2008 at 10:00 am
Haha! “Hausfrauenporsche”… Long time since I heard that name…
16 wilfried
// Nov 30, 2008 at 10:23 am
Well, some useful info in english on this page: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Pit/4786/index.html
Of course not your average houwewives car.
17 wilfried
// Nov 30, 2008 at 10:32 am
And I forgot this one: Ben Lovejoys very complete Nürburgring page.
Apparently he not only threw around a VW golf on the circuit but used also 944 & 968 for fun driving on that particular track.
http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/index.html
18 Andy Rupert
// Nov 30, 2008 at 11:31 am
A friend of mine is selling a 1985 or 1986 LHD Porsche 944 Turbo for $3500. Shall I ship it in a container to Hobart?
19 swade
// Nov 30, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Hausfrauenporsche = housewife’s Porsche?
yeah, yeah, funny funny.
A lot of the rear-engines Porsche owners look down their nose at the front-engines Porsches, too, but whether the company would have survived the 80’s without them is an open topic for debate.
And….I can’t afford a 911 anyway, not yet at least.
Andy, a good 944 turbo will cost somewhere north of $15K here in Oz. That one’s almost worth it at that price.
20 Andrew Baculy
// Nov 30, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Dave Finch’s 944 DOMINATED SCCA’s GT2 class fo many years. I’m not sure if he wrecked it or if he is still going. Something tells me he was hit or something.
21 regnisfon
// Nov 30, 2008 at 3:28 pm
My dad has owned a few 944’s and I did find them to be quite an enjoyable car. I think the best one that I have driven was a 1991 944 S2 3.0, that thing was a blast! Definitely a car I wouldn’t mind owning at some point..
22 Mats
// Nov 30, 2008 at 4:41 pm
The golden advice when it comes to 944’s: “Buy the most expensive one you can find.”