KrazyK

I heard something recently about 944's being sought after. If I remember correctly, wasnt the 944 the 80's flop of the decade with a low power four cylinder and plagued with problems? Werent they kind of thought of as Porsche wannabes?

I remember them when I was a kid and they were looked on as being about the same as a 912 or 914 or something. I thought the 944 looked cool at the time but remember they were really slow. Are these really making a comeback? If this is even the same 944 I remember.

mbardeen

It really depends which 944 you're talking about.

The early 944s NAs only had around 150hp, but the handling was excellent. The 944 Turbos were as fast as the 911s of the day (if not faster) and handled better.

The later 944 S and S2 had more HP and more of the sweet handling.

and the 968 (aka 944 s3) is decent spec, even today. Definitely not as fast as the newer sports cars, but can keep up or even pull away from them in the twisties.

Edit: The 912s and 914s are now becoming sought after classics too. Funny the way that works.

morghen

dont know for the 944..but the 924 is

http://www.porsche.com/usa/accessori...1&gitemindex=5

http://files.porsche.com/filestore.a...8-bb8f2d31986f

turbo944

Some of the air cooled people tended to look down on ALL the water cooled cars as "less than Porsche" but well, hey...how many new air cooled cars is Porsche building?

Outside of the snobbery of those people I don't really remember anybody looking down on them in the 80s. The 944 Turbo faced off against the Corvette and RX-7 Turbo and even the base 944 seemed to have a pretty good following because performance of ALL cars at the time was MUCH slower than today. The 928 probably had a harder time than the 944 because of the position Porsche tried to place it in as flagship, knowing that water cooled cars were eventually going to be the future of the company. It never made the die hard 911 people happy and never quite ended up in the place Porsche seemed to want to take it with all the amazing technology they were employing at the time.

But no, I don't ever remember them being looked down upon by the automotive community in general and i read most every car magazine I could get my hands on from about 85 until it was easier to find pictures and reviews/drives online. People of course like or dislike cars or certain things about them, but overall consensus wasn't bad.

I do remember writers talking about the 928 being too big for a sports car and in the same magazine a test of a 93 Camaro and how nimble and tossable it was and how small it felt (huh? It was bigger than the 928GT?) so right there goes to show you that even the direction a writer can take influences their article.

mfyoung1086

914's and 912's have become very collectable recently, the 944 is sort of a different horse in the fact they built a lot more of them than they did 912's and 914's

The 944S2, and 944 Turbos have held their value well, and are dollar for dollar with Carerra's and SC's nowadays.... Then after that you have the 924S and 944S which can still be had in nice condition for a good price for what ya get.... I don't believe 924's ever become collectable, its the biggest outcast of the P-Car community, I think the normal 944 falls into the category as well, while not so much an outcast its always been why spend the money making a normal 944 when you can just get a S or Turbo if you have the money.... I look at the NA944 the same as the NA rx-7, or all the other non turbo models of the sporty turbo cars from the 80's, they probably never become that collectable

V2Rocket

You are probably thinking of the original 924, with a 95HP 2.0L Volkswagen van engine,

The 944 was the entry level cash cow of Porsche in the 80s. They were well-received by most, even Jeremy Clarkson (Porsche detractor) has a soft spot for the 944.

That said, less 944s of any type were built than the 997 production run...so their value should be coming down shortly

gregeast

I would respectively submit that the esteemed Mr. KrazyK may in fact be attempting to stimulate conversation (aka "Stir the pot") amongst us poor, ill-begotten, under powered, red headed four cylinder step-children...

At least our intermediate shafts don't leak

etmracing

The 944 was a hot car to have in the 80's never a flop and helped to keep porsche dealers open during its time by bringing in new porsche customers. I saw a downturn in 944's in the mid 2000's but the last year or two I heared more positive talk regarding 944's. I think the car has moved into the classic car domain and values will rise in years to come for nice examples.

odurandina

op,

watch and learn a few things about the 944 from a guy who not only won w/ the car,

but also drove them to each next event....

seems he wouldn't have had it any other way [1:30 of the following clip]....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79__...tailpage#t=96s

V2Rocket

hadnt watched that clip before...that song really seems appropriate for the car though

odurandina

"take my wealth away......."

TexasRider

In the 911 world only 911's count. If you aint 911 you aint ****znigel.

911s today cant even keep the dealers lights on. If not for the front engine water cooled Cayenne then there might not be any Porsche dealer. Today the big sellers are Cayenne (front water cooled), Pananmera (same) , Cayman and Box (mid engine).

In 1986, the 951 with Derek Bell driving, cut better lap times than the 930. Porsche had to detune the 951.

In 1986 my 951 (Sept 1985 actually) was $35,000 or about $80,0000 today. Like most good older Porsches I probably have that in it anyway.

Flop . Yep. They sold 150,000 (50,000 USA) of them and used that cash to redo the manufacturing lines. Porsche did not use currency hedges but instead just relied on ignornat Americans to pay more as they had amazingly done - until one day. See 1987. Other factors were at work.

In 1986 Porsche sold 30,000 cars in North America with the 951 in the mix. In 1991 with the all new 911 only at the dealers, Porsche could barely restrain the buyers and Porsche sold a WHOPPING 4,000 cars in all of North America. Wow 300 a month - only a 90% decline in sales. Yep that 911 saved Porsche.

Your odds of seeing a really good 930 in top shape is a lot higher than seeing a 951 in top shape. So a really good 951 is rarer than a 930.

OP should do late night reading of some books on the history of Porsche until 2010 or so.

Remember if you aint 911 you aint ****znigel.

While you are reading along, look up something like the top sports cars in history using a transaxle design. The list is not long, but distinctive, kind of like my Johnston. But it gives some insight into what Porsche was thinking. As of course Mr Porsche said " This is our car. A PORSCHE car." Ooops - nah he didnt really mean that. Just as he didnt mean " Our cars were made to be driven, not looked at..." at the Concours .

Depends on your definition of really slow. My 1986 tested 162 mph which is right in there with the fastest cars of 1986. And way faster than most. You know this was 27 years ago right - so comparing it to a 2013 650 hp Mustang on drag lights is a little stiff. But beings a normal 911 would be dusted then they must be really really slow. The speed limit was 55 mph. So you get the drift ........

Classic - well I did sell a Ferrari 308 - how does that make me as a Classic believer in the 951.

In the 911 world only 911's count. No matter that a 951, or any garden Ford Mustang can dust you off. Only 911s are good. Repeat. Only 911's ...........

The last true 911 was built in 1989.

Remember if you aint 911 you aint ****znigel.

It must be really hard to have to look in the rear of a 911 and KNOW that the design histroy of your car starts with a VW Bug. That is the 911 great granddaddy. It must make them so crazy they have got to try to bash something else. Where is that 914. Or the 944.

Remember if you aint 911 you aint ****znigel.

Yawn ........ we really need some new tech subjects here.

Techno Duck

Jeez we know our cars are POS's, if you want to really stir the pot just goto the 993 forum and bring up resale value.

odurandina

it's funny you mention this, as i was going to troll on a 993 post last week by mentioning the fatal flaw....

that being of course being, that it's still a 911.

even worse, some 911s are 996s [like the op's sloppy C4].

KrazyK

Hmmm, dont see how my question could offend anyone. I was considering looking for a 944 to restore as another Porsche for my spare car stable. Its not my fault they were considered cheap and second rate compared to the 911 model (because of 4 cylinder and front engine I suppose). The 944 is still a Porsche relative just like a Ford Focus is to a Shelby Cobra.

I do like the body lines a little but the goofy rear spoiler is a bit ricey. I thought about finding an older one as a project for me and my son to work on together. I think the biggest issue is the lack of parts/support because it was such a short model run vs. the 911.

Regardless, yes it is a Porsche even if it is a "POS" as you said. Oh and there is nothing "sloppy" about a C4S. Read any review.