Price-wise, was the ’88 944 Turbo the Best-ever Porsche?
Front-engine, rear-drive 944 was once Porsche’s most successful seller. Now, it’s a pretty cheap one, too.
Too often, we 911-crazed Porsche fanatics overlook the many other offerings from Stuttgart, like the front-engine, rear-drive 944, for example. We often forget that this car long held the title of the most successful seller in Porsche’s history (before the Boxster and 997 bowed, of course). Despite a couple of nagging issues, like the ever expensive timing belt change and various electrical gremlins, the 944 is a pretty great car. And thanks to those issues and a lack of collector interest, it’s a pretty cheap one, too.
Of course, all of this means that you can find great deals even on top-of-the-line 944 Turbo models, like this 1988 that we spotted on the Hemmings classfieds. The clean, unmolested example shows only 60,474 miles on the odometer and is available for a reasonable $21,995. For a car that looks like it’s been babied its entire life, we’d call that a bargain.
With all the available red 944s, we like that fact that this one, well, isn’t. White looks great on the car, and the black interior is a nice match. Everywhere else, the 944 Turbo looks pretty much factory fresh. Like any certified used car you’d find on a local car lot. Except this is a little more special than your average Toyota Camry.
Whether or not the 944 eventually becomes a valuable collector car is a big unknown. But until that day does (or doesn’t) come, it’s a great-handling, fun Porsche you can pick up for a song. And in a world of skyrocketing 911 prices, there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
