What is your goal for the car? First you have to decide between early, late, 8v, S, S2, and turbo.

 

op,

don't know if you'll ever come to see this, but it goes both ways. and clearly, you've chosen to post with a good deal of laxity—bordering on rudeness..... imagine for just a moment that maybe the people here actually prefer the near-perfect layout of the transaxle Porsche... did you even bother to watch the short clip i posted with Tiff Needell talking about the 944 ?

imagine if i showed up on the 930/964 forum raving about adding a disposable 964 ****box for the weekday beat down, so i could defer to enjoy my sparkling 993 to be [back from my tech and local detailer] for my weekends on the town, and so forth. do you think i'd be well received on that enthusiast forum ?

i don't mention dollars [too often], but since you seem to regard that these cars are so low on the $$$ scale, i'll mention a little from my couldn't be nearly real P-car... ok, some of the money is in routine maintenance and repairs, as i do tons of miles in my car [92 k miles since purchase].... so a fair amount of the total can be counted off.... but, including purchase [just short of five years ago], i'm a bit past $56 k in my 968.... it might put me a little above average for the guys on this board—but not much above.

and after my new engine and transmission goes in, i'm going to also be adding more leather — and passing $90 k in the car probably by sometime around the middle of the summer. i get to drive it, but most of the improvements are coming thanks to the the immense help i've received from the guys on this board and their vast knowledge. it's a list too long to mention.

my fake P-car will be a very good handling sports car [thanks to the folks at Porsche], but, now also have a proper engine and transmission. i'll be happy to hand you the keys. and you can broaden your horizons about what other guys on rennlist are driving.

you came here with much good intentions in mind.

 

Interesting read

My first Porsche was a 944 I placed money on at the dealer and waited 1.5 years to receive. 29 years later, I still own it and have added 5 more. All special cars in multiple special ways......
Added a 2.0 litre - 914 and an 88 Carrera also.
They are all different , they are all good, and they are ALL Porsche

And some day will add a GT3 RS and a Carrera GT.
But, I will NEVER replace any of the current group, especially any of the 944's. They are wholesome thoroughbreds; balanced, precise, invigorating.

And to approach a corner on track with a 944, its fast in, faster out, scrubbing any excess speed easily and with no drama. If too hot, the brake lightly brushed is all you need to settle it down and dance thru the apex........nirvana

 

Passive aggressive much..? It's sad when people use their cars as a means to feel better about themselves.

I think your avatar says everything I need to know...

 

When I stop seeing running 944s going on craigslist for $2500 I'll consider them a sought-after classic.

However if I was going to "ascend" and buy a 911 it would be a ye olde 911. Not a dulled-down secretary's car with awd.

 

Just because its cheap to buy it does not mean its cheap to restore and maintain. OEM parts are not always cheap or easly available.
Make NO mistake...the OEM clutch kit for a 924 turbo is DOUBLE the price of the clutch kit for the 997 !! Ask me how i know..
If he blows up the 944 you will throw it to the breakers as you wont afford to fix it ! just like your 911...so do yourself a favour and buy a honda civic.

Just a joke, like the one you made about the audi thing

 

I won't say anything bad about the 911, on the contrary I credit the 911 platform for making Porsche what it is. I also know that my 944, 928 and 968 would not be nearly as good without the 911 in existance.

 

Let's see, the 944 was produced between 1982 and 1991. In those 9 years Porsche sold just short of 171,000 of the various 944 models. That an average of 19,000 per year. Generally, the 944 and it's various models made up nearly half of Porsche's sales during it's production run.

The automotive press often referred to it as the best handling or one of the best handling sports cars of all time. While tire companies often used it as a primary test vehicle because of it's superior and neutral handling.

So, saying it was a sales flop is like saying a sunny, warm day with a couple of cloud isn't that good of a day.

 

Same old points thrown around about 944 cars and 911 cars. To each his own. IMHO the answer to the original question is the 944 a classic? I know mine is.....to me anyways, and that is what really matters, to me.

 

Reimu, Thats what I was looking at. I found several that ran and looked decent for only a few $K. I was thinking they might be worth salvaging or restoring. Then again, like Odurandina said, you dump $50K in it and its still a $2K car.

Also, I dont consider the 911 a "throw away" car. I do all my own repairs as noted in the DIY's I post. As far as the price of OEM Porsche parts, I agree they are way too high. To replace my C4S OEM headlights would cost more than most 944's out there purchase price.

I had just been thinking about the 944 platform from my school days and kind of liked them. I think they served their purpose which was to allow low budget n00bs to buy a Porsche. As far as their rep, thats why they are $2K cars, regardless what the English race guy said. If these cars were overpriced, I wouldnt even dream of buying one as a project.

In summary, I think it was more of a charity case that I would even consider restoring one to save it from the scrap yard. It might be cool to own one and talk about how great the 80's were. I do highly doubt a legit Porsche enthusiast would consider them classics.

 

I did.

Or just the type of person who would walk into someone's home and ask if you ever planned to move to a "nice" place in a better neighborhood, or hire an interior decorator someday, not even realizing they were being insulting and crude because they have no manners.

And for the record, I am a "legit Porsche Enthusiast" , and have been my whole life, and was previously a classic 912/911 owner, among many, many other classic fast cars.

I prefer my 951 over a 911, though I could own, daily drive, or race either one.

Jeff

 

I say if you want to restore a 944 go for it, I think also it will build a greater appreciation for it. Personally I would look at a turbo, s2, s or an early 944 NA pre 85.5, but that's my thinking.

As for the whole Porsche arguement crap, if Porsche put their badge and rep in a car then it's a Porsche, end of story. Like all manufactors every car has it's perks, I like 911's but only the old ones, 944's are excellent stylish cars and the turbo lightly modded will give a lot of cars the run for their money so I think it deserves the badge and the respect.

 

The OP clearly started this thread to stir the pot. Every post he makes is full of insults towards the model. Funny thing is he's an owner of a "Fake Porsche too".

 

See.. "low budget n00bs" is inflammatory. The 951/968 were good cars for the time. The 1993 968 retailed for $53k, while the 1993 911 retailed for a base of $71k. Hardly "low budget".

I think part of the reason for the current 944 prices is
a) absolute performance isn't all that great, as you noted.
b) lots of them were sold
c) as they depreciated, they were picked up by people looking for a cheap porsche, but didn't have the cash to maintain them.

The 968 had much lower production and commands values much greater than the 944/951 series, even though it's basically the same car.

 

You ask if the 944 is a classic? Well I can tell you that when the insurance company totaled out my near perfect S2 when I was rear-ended, they paid me handsomely enough to buy a older 911 or newer boxter. They considered it a classic. Whether you do is up to you.

I imagine in 15 years you will be trolling, asking the same stupid question about the boxter.

If your curious, I chose to rebuild my S2. I like the fact that 1-I belong to a community of enthusiast's that don't care what stage your car is in, just that its there. 2-when you see me drive by, I will be the only S2 you may see all month or even all year. 3-I don't have to measure my self worth by the price tag of my car. I drive a 944 because I love to drive it.