I went and looked at my P-car because of the badge. I *bought* it because I saw it and fell in love.

I don't wish I had a Carrera. I don't wish I had a 928. I love the look and feel of the 944, and whatever I'd put into buying a newer or more expensive Porsche, I'll put into upgrading mine. (Although maybe I *do* want a Cayman. They're really sexy, too. Maybe someday I'll buy one.) A 944 with enough money sunk into it is nicer and zippier than a Carrera, anyway.

I spend more on maintenance than *I* do on rent. (Well, my rent's cheap.)

I don't care about keeping it stock, I buy whatever parts will make it look and drive best.

I am *planning* to drop 6-8k on a new paint job.

I don't trust *myself* to work on it, but I have a personal mechanic who really knows his stuff.

In the end, I love because it draws admiring glances, but also because it's unique. (Well, not around here, but you know what I mean.) Anyone with enough dough can just buy a new Porsche. There's plenty of people with that kind of money. It says nothing about *you*. Driving something old and rare and quirky is better than that, because it's interesting and unique and fun.

Some cars just have a certain je ne sais quoi... the VW bug. The Kharmann Gia. The 68 mustang. The 944.

I think we're all a little guilty of budget badge-snobbery, but that isn't what keeps us going. If it were, we'd be scrapping up enough cash for the latest greatest Porsche we could afford.

 

I just wanted a cheap, simple, balanced, RWD track car. It was a 944 or a Miata. Miata was too small. That's about it.

I've never had much of a yearning for a Porsche of any kind, and owning the 944 has not changed that. In my dreams, my next track car is a 944 S2 or a 968. I put money into the car to make it a better track car and to fix things that break.

It's hard to claim much brand snobbery. People who own 911s don't give the 944 any credit, and people who don't know 944s think they they are Mazda RX-7s!

 

definitely majority user here heh. my daliy driver would smoke the 944 by train lengths.



u can find an elan or europa or eclat for under 10. i see some on ebay

 

heh well the FB and FC RX7 is like basically a copy of the 924 and 944 heh. just with a rotary instead of a 4banger.

FB


FC

 

Mine was $1200, not running, and had sat a long time. Put in new belts and rollers first thing, new fuel pump, and lots of muscle polishing off the oxidation. It has a noisy drivetrain (TT?), intermnittent dash issues, and needs an interior. I'm at $2500 now and have decided to leave it there. If it were prettier, I couldn't park it at WalMart; I'd worry about thievery; and would enjoy it LESS.

 

clutch is pretty difficult for the average person working on their own car.

but timing belt? that was one of the first things I changed on my 944 along with teh water pump and I didn't really have any mechanical experience on another car before this.

I would not recommend buying a 944 if you cannot do the majority of the work yourself.

if you are paying a capable shop to work on your 944 it's going to get way too expensive fast, and in that case I don't think it's worth buying a 944 as you'd be able to afford a newer porsche like a boxster which is a better car.

at least that's what I think.

 

and most of the "cheap" 944s here have lots of thigns that will cost you money to fix up and won't be as nice as the more expensive car. Body work, bad paint, bad interior can be very expensive to fix up.

most cheap 944s i've seen have crappy paint, torn up interior and no service records.

 

oh and about cost I paid 4100 for my 944 and I have receipts for probably 6000 or likely more since then as just my clutch and torque tube replacement recently cost me close to 3000.

most people would say that I'm crazy for spending so much money on a old 944 not worth anything but whatever I like the car. oh and I've only put about 15,000 kms on the car since buying it about 3 years ago.

 

I got my '83 for $1100... To get it running real good and maintenance up to date, I had $2000 into it and did all the work myself. For most jobs, especially the timing belt that everyone seems to hate to much, it's one of the easiest cars I've ever worked on. It doesn't have to be expensive, unless you pay someone else to work on it.

 

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