Dan in Pasadena

What I mean is, 912's were/are the "lesser little brother" to the 911's. That may offend some 912 owners, but I think most people think of them that way, "nice car, too slow". I also understand what the marketing strategy was and it made sense...then. But the 912's have been geting their "just dues" more and more lately because of a general appreciation of the older 911 style body as well as the acknowledgement of the 912 as a great handling car in it's own right. I hear some vinatge racers really appreciate the 912, because when set up right, with 14" Fuch, lightened, etc you can run those around the track with out EVER lifting on the throttle, they just falt out STICK.

But there were so many 944's made I wonder if it will ever be appreciated (not to mention, will it appreciate in value?) in the way 912's are now starting to? What do you think?

The 912 had it's forerunner's drivetrain by and large (the 356). Our 944's (sort of) have it's forerunner's chassis -the 924 chassis, though fairly drammatically updated. So will this re-evaluation happen? If I hold onto my one-family, two-owner 944 NA will it ever recover some of it's worth? I am thinking when it gets to be about 25 years old...about 7-8 more years. But maybe I'm just all wrong. Thoughts?

Campeck

It might be awhile. But it will happen....It will happen.......

Skip

No, 912 is to 911 as 924 is to 944. 944 is to 951 as 911 is to 930.

TonD

Bing Bing Bing Bing....do you want the fridge, or the microwave ?

Dan in Pasadena

Skip, Well yes and no. The 912 came out at the same time as the 911, right?

The 924 preceeded the 944 for how many years? The 944 was the "newer, faster, sexier" BIG brother to the 924, I know. I remember being pretty young like 22 or 23 and working with a guy who had a then new '78 924 in light mettalic green with polished Fuchs (I think) and he was dying to get one of the "new" 944's!

I get what you're saying vis-a-vis the 911-930. The 930 was the new monster performer that came out later than the 911. In that I get the analogy of the 944 to the 951. I guess I am asking if NA's will really ever be appreciated for the great handling cars they are despite the lesser performance than the 951 or will they always be "alo out there" like 1.7 914's or something?

Porsche-O-Phile

944 is to 951 as AMC Gremlin is to Callaway Corvette.

Sorry, I had to. And I'm allowed to say that, since I own an n/a. And I do love her, despite my poking fun.

All you turbo guys happy now?

Dan in Pasadena

Geez, tough town!

951 guys that act like the 944 ISN'T their forerunner? Yeah, right.

Porsche-O-Phile, You really parted my hair with that one, Pilgrim.

Skip

I was honestly being jovial and argumentative - your points are very clear.

No, I don't think na's will ever be appreciated as much as or more than the Turbo or S2 or 968. For a few reasons. By today's standards, the 944na is severely underpowered. Today, Turbos are all the rage - so they should be. GRM just wheel dyno'd the SRT-4 at number HIGHER than than the factory crank numbers - can't recall the numbers right now but it amazed me. Turbos are the future of small displacement cars and most sports cars. The standard brakes and suspension on the 951 barely maintain pace with Import and Domestic trends of today. Stepping back to the NA would not be a wise choice. Then, there's styling - I think most of us will agree that the 951/S2 body style is preferred - it has ground effects, and that's what sells sports cars. There are simply too many of the more "profound" 944 examples available for the na to ever gain any more ground. For those of us who still like them, race them, or even collect them... this isn't all bad. You can't fight progress - at least within Porsche progress - I think you'd be hard pressed to find an early 911 enthusiast who doesn't prefer either the 993 or 996 (or 997) for an every-day car. The old ones have a certain elegance and passion that may not exist as much in the newer cars simply through the fact that they are more advanced in every way. But, the new ones are every bit as functionally superior as the earlier models were in their day, and, at nearly the same margin. In the end, it's all about what your favorite car is. Jason's is the 73 S - so, he has one. We should all be so lucky.

944T4ME

It will certainly happen. Imagine if this were 2020, our cars have everything. A classic shape, and good performance. Though I dont know about the NAs. Use history as a guideline. All muscle cars with the better engines are far more collectable than their normal counterparts. I often try to imagine it 50 years from now, which cars will be the Ferrari 250GT California or classic Jaguar E-type of todays cars.

Use looks as a big factor, along with performance and limited production runs will provide the top dollar cars of tomorrow.

Dan in Pasadena

Skip, I know you were joking -are you ever NOT joking!

I agree with your response. The "golden age of muscle cars" is well, NOW! The NA really is underpowered to any of the younger generation. For Christ's sake, my son's friggin pickup truck has 380 freaking horse power...a pick up! (Lightning) It's got the areodynamics of a brick!

I wish the 944's "elegance and passion" would someday be appreciated. But maybe it won't happen.

Porsche-O-Phile

It's interesting, but I actually like the n/a styling. I think it fills in the historical evolution of the 924-to-944-to-951-to-968 line pretty nicely.

I have a guy that works in the same building as me that has a very nicely restored 356. Hell of a nice car, but wouldn't even remotely be considered cool by today's "sports car" styling trends. In fact, my boss "pshaw-ed" it and called it a "nice rebodied Volkswagen". Oh, my horror at the lack of appreciation! Its time may have come and gone, but it is beautiful to a connoisseur / historian and more sought after because one can look at it and see exactly HOW it got us to where we are today - it's a piece of rolling history. So I see it with the 944s, particularly the early ones like mine. Not that I wouldn't mind getting (and probably will) a 951 or a later S2 or 968 at some point, but I really think the n/a cars fill in an important gap in the evolutionary history of sports car trends. Heck, the innovations present in the first year 944s are still very much noticeable in the cars of today. I think years from now, the overall contributions to the evolution of sports cars will have stemmed more from an '83 944 than from an '87 951. The latter may have contributed some excellent engineering regarding turbo cars, but the former contributed handling, styling, proper weight distribution and SO MUCH more to the overall evolutionary process.

Therein lies its value.

Skip

No, I am never NOT joking. Let's see if Ashton knows that...

Skip

That's why I said "most" prefer the 951/S2 body - there are still a few nuts out there like you that appreciate the "period" looks of the car. I'm one of those nuts, but also tend to appreciate what I have rather than what I haven't.

TonD

Over here, it will. I'm quite sure. Prices were at the lowest point ever as of last year, but I see them rising already. No, they probably never will be as much appreciated as old 911 and 912's. But that was just the fate of the whole transaxle family from the beginning. To way to many people, Porsche equals 911. All the rest is crap. Bull****, we all know that

However 944 n/a's will never be worth as much or more as 951's and S2's, but that wasn't your question to begin with, was it?

Dan in Pasadena

TonD - My question centers around "appreciation" of the non-financial type - though I;d gladly take the financial kind!

As for, "my boss "pshaw-ed" it and called it a "nice rebodied Volkswagen" this is hardly worthly of response. This is truly an ignorant person when it comes to cars. You can't argue with this mentality, so why bother? If he can't apprecaite a 356, doesn't understand it's prominence. then he's just right for a Civic SI or a PT Turbo or some such car. They are a fine fit for him.