944Fest (aka Dan P)

I sort of doubt it, but anything is possible. I didn't know Rhen back in 87-88 when I knew of the car, but he has been around a long time. His car is a very early 86 Turbo that was made in to a race car, so we could have been talking about that. I'm not sure what conversation you are refering to. He has been instructing for many, many years and has seen a LOT of cars. Let's ask him next time we see him, which I hope is soon.

Tom R.

Paul,
I see in your signature the car has never been raced. Has it seen DE's?

I just learned (fortunately not first hand) that if one has an accident at a DE it may be covered, however there is a clause that gets the insurance co out if the event was a race or in preparation for a race. Hence if a DE driver participated in one race the ins. co can say an accident at a DE was in preparation of another race, or in someone I know's case in preparation for an autocross.

A fellow with a GT showed up at our autocross this past weekend. I was very impressed with the finish of the aluminum.

centerpunch

Yes, I autocrossed and DE'd the car, and took it to a few of Brian Redman's Targa 66 track days. Many of the car's miles are street miles, though. I used to drive the car to all the DE events (Mid Ohio and Putnam). I finally bought an enclosed trailer when I bought a Lotus Elise Sport 190 track car (kept it six months, decided the 951 was more fun, sold the Elise), and trailered to a few events. But I don't think I've done a DE event in 3 or 4 years now.

Tom R.

Now that we are old buddies, and I am surprised nobody came up with this earlier, how does rennlist get a group buy going for escort/valentine (haven't followed who went where) detectors?

When I got my second S2 what pushed me towards another 944 was the fact that it had air conditioning and would be easy to drive to DEs.

centerpunch

I was at Escort from 1977 to 1990 (I ran product development and marketing after Mike left in 1983), worked a few months for Valentine Research in 1994 or so, and I've been back at Escort mostly since 1997, currently a consultant there (I developed the G-Timer accelerometer and I'm currently doing all the advertising).

I will see if anything is possible (it may take a week or so to find out, lots of people will be at SEMA next week).

Tom R.

Thanks.

All married men hide this thread. Car-Nak sees another necessary expenditure looming on the horizon.

Oddjob

Dan P.

I looked over that Escort car today and it is #103, so for sure it still exists. No more "club sport" decal on the fender, but it has been painted a couple time since new. It has 16k miles on it now.

Paul, I gave the owner your contact info and he seemed very interested in contacting you, so do not be surprised if you hear from him in the near future.

I went over the car looking for some of the details. A couple things I found interesting - it does have the 3.0 bar Fuel Pressure Regulator, which came with the cars in '87 for use with the "300bhp - 100 octane" chips. It has a single cooling fan, instead of two. The rear hatch carpet is thick felt, not the standard carpet. The rear seat bottom has this same felt insert, not the fake leather vinyl, nor the "porsche" cloth insert. There is a factory installed ABS reset switch on the center console. Same type of toggle switch as the rear wiper, sunroof, etc.

All in all, a very fun and unique car. Considering that a couple of the original 9 have likely been written off, its neat to see and have access to such a rare factory car.

centerpunch

Jim-
Thanks for the info. My car came with the 3.0 reg in a box, with the chips (both immediately installed after the drive back from PA). Rear carpet and ABS switch same as my car. Here's a shot of the car the day I picked it up at Holberts (note the Porsche Indy car trailer).

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Jim and Paul, thanks for keeping the info up to date on these rare toys. While the mods seem minor, the net effect and lineage make them a very special item. Paul, your position of sitting on a never raced Cup car is certainly enviable, I'm glad we can help with the documentation trail. I never imagined 15 years ago when I saw that car how special she really was!
In the future, I'll try to refrain from calling it a 944 Turbo Club Sport (which I still think is a good description) but refer to her as a Turbo Cup.

Jim, did the new owner care about the possible body damage to the right rear, or has it been a race car long enough to not care about such things?

Soooo nice..

Oddjob

Paul, your car is the one on the left? Any idea which of the 9 the other two are?

Dan, I think the Club Sport description is appropriate. They are the M637 Club Sport optioned cars, and since the 9 were imported into the US to race in the SCCA Escort Endurance Championship, they are also referred to as Escort Cars. Although the Turbo Cup designation is appropriate from the performance and specification standpoint and more widely recognized, a "Turbo Cup" in north america can also imply an '88 Canandian Rothman's car.

I know that this particular car #103 was raced in PCA Club Racing for several years by at least two owners. And it did have some "CS" logos on it (nothing factory, just graphics added at somepoint), and one of the owners identified it as an 87T CS when registering it for race and DE events.

centerpunch

I think mine is the one on the left, and I think the other one is #105, which was I believe used for EPA testing, and was also for sale at the time I bought mine (but it had 5000 miles on it, and mine had zero).

Dilberto

Isn't Anders from Devek the only other 'lister here with one?

Zach

nine-44

centerpunch, I'd like to see your car sometime, hopefully before it is sold. Please PM me if you have time for a little walk around.

Scootin159

And his isn't even a US one.

centerpunch

Well, some of the mods are minor, but some aren't, and there are a bunch of changes compared to a normal 951. Here's a list from a factory sheet I had in my files on the car. It also says the car weighs over 400 pounds less than a standard car.

Magnesium racing wheels (8x16F, 9x16R)
Magnesium intake manifold
Magnesium oil pan
928 S4 brakes
Racing brake pads (front pads are 959 part numbers)
Brake cooling kit
Strut tower brace bar over engine
Fiberglass hood with race locks
Exterior power kill switch
Interior power kill switch
Larger higher output turbo unit
Larger sway bars, rear adjustable
High performance engine electronics
Surakrit safety windshield
Safety roll cage
Recaro racing seat
Driver racing harness
Lightweight side mirrors
Special front struts
Special rear shocks with springs
Strengthened rear torsion arms
Heavy duty racing clutch
Quick ratio steering
Higher degree limited slip axle
Strengthened differential and axle gears
Strengthened transmission gears
Close ratio 5th gear (this has been proven incorrect)
Transmission oil cooler
ABS brakes (with switch)
Stiffened main chassis
Strengthened strut towers
Hard rubber suspension mounts
Lightweight battery
Single engine cooling rad
Underbody drag reduction panels
Lightweight noise insulation
Delete - Power steering
Delete - Fender liners
Delete - Radio, speakers
Delete - Headlight washers
Delete - Air conditioning
Delete - Power windows
Delete - Rear wiper
Delete - Engine shield
Delete - Undercoating
Delete - Sunroof
Delete - Power seat
Delete - Leather interior
Delete - Rear trunk release
Delete - Power mirrors
Delete - Door storage pockets
Delete - Cassette storage