Mine:

'82-'83: First iteration of the car, with no frills interior, manual everything, good fuel economy and less weight.

'86: First iteration 951, forged rods, fuchs option, most abundant version and so tempting to modify.

'91: Last of the breed, larger stock turbo, and all the upgrades and refinements made to the line that would be carried over to the 968.

 

1985.5 because its mine.

 

well i like the 86' because you can fit fuchs and bbs rims.plus its lighter,no air bags and such.and yeah,its alot more common than the others

 

85.5 and 86. Why?

1. Lighter than all of the other years (alu suspension bits and no airbags, no ABS, etc).

2. Early offset (so you can use Fuchs or early offset PD's, or any other newer Porsche factory wheel with spacers).

3. Newer style dash (and thus more legroom under the steering wheel than the earlier models)

4. Abundant parts

5. Mounting points already on the body for 951/S2 panel and parts upgrades.

 

86....gee...wonder why

 

87 - Birth of the 16V

 

'86, because as somebody said on this list at some point, don't remember who - I don't want a 15+ year-old explosive in my face.

Not to mention Fuchs, a little lighter, no ABS, rods, etc.
I think an '89 Turbo S would make for one nice daily driver though!

 

My favorites:

1989 951: Best of the turbos.

1991 944S2: Gotta love that rear spoiler, and the low-down torque of the S2 motor!

1992-1995 968: The peak of 4cyl-front engined Porsches!


I also like the later cars because of the additional safety features, namely: ABS and airbags.
-Z.

 

I loved the 87, ran like a champ. I know the dash update is most attractive- but I am so used to the "old" interior.
I have been considering an early 944 (Early 85 to be specific) for the fuchs aspect- they scream quintessential Porsche.
The 86 had the highest production numbers, and the 85.5 has such a amalgam of old/new parts it's frustrating.

If I had the cash in hand and the perfect example came up- it would be a M030 equipped 91 coupe- or an 83 sunroof delete.. First or last of the breed.

I'm hooked on Guards/black. Go figure.

 

1983
There's always some debate, but I think they're the lightest(or can be with the least amount of work). I love the old style interior. The replaceable ball joints. Basically, it's the purest execution of the car, without all the foo-foo stuff(airbags, ABS, power steering, cruise, etc)

 

Honestly 88 924S...
Early interir is nice for racing. Easy to move gauges around and put the tach in the center. 10.2:1 CR pistons with 158 factory hp!.

Stiffer alumium rear suspension, cheap steel front suspension. Not too many frills. Easy to back date to manual steering. Some came sans sun roof. Great for I-stock pca since they allow them to run at a lower weight vs 944's.

Turbo's... 88 Turbo S Limited edition (well sort of) most powerfull 4cylinder ever sent to USA. Lots of factory racing upgrades.

Then again there is no BAD year for the 944!

 

SWEET!!

 

If i had to choose a 944 it would probably be the 86 or 87 951, my uncle bought a silver one brand new back in the day, or the 89 951 S.

 

I have to agree about what M758 said about the '88 924S.

The model year of 944 i would want most is probably the '86 mostly due to everyone elses reasons such as no airbags, abs...etc. Otherwise a later model like an '89 which sported the higher compression engines.

As for the Turbo, id say either an '86 for the 'no frills' reason, or the '88 Turbo S for obvious reasons .

 

one car over all the others?

951 cup car.

since i'm living in reality - i'm going to go with either '83 or '84 sunroof delete. preferably '83 since it has manual steering... but nothing a little surgery didn't fix

i could list the other reasons but i'm pretty sure they've already been.

-Mike-