It’s occasionally hard to believe how old some cars are, and for me, the Porsche 944 is one of those.
Throughout most of the 1960’s Porsche’s line up consisted of effectively two versions of the same car – the 911 and the entry-level 912, which was basically a 911 with a 1.6-litre four cylinder engine. The company was looking to broaden its customer base, and the first attempt to do so, the 914 – developed in partnership with Volkswagen – while Porsche’s biggest seller up to that point, was a bit too unconventional in both layout and styling to gain wider acceptance, and by the mid-1970’s Porsche was in need of a replacement.
Earlier entry-level Porsches
In the quest for a sports car with greater potential mass appeal, Porsche turned again to Volkswagen, with a view to jointly creating a car that would be entry-level for Porsche but prestige level for VW. However the 1973 oil crisis focused Wolfsburg’s minds elsewhere – resulting in the cheaper to build and to buy Golf-based Scirocco – and the project was taken over entirely by Porsche although VW remained involved as a sub-contractor, with the 924 being produced in the ex-NSU factory in Neckarsulm and a 2-litre engine coming from Audi.
The 924 went on sale in 1976; water-cooled, front engined, not overtly performance oriented but dressed in a pretty sharp suit, it was dismissed by the Porsche purists, but the car-buying public loved it, and over 150,000 were sold in all.
To satisfy those who wanted more power and performance – not that the 924 was such a slouch, especially in Turbo and Carrera GTS form, the ultimate 924 – Porsche came up with the 944, which although it was announced at the 1981 Frankfurt Motor Show, didn’t go on sale in the UK until 1982 – 40 (yes, FORTY) years ago. The 944 is now a bona fide classic, and I would suggest is currently one of the best value for money classics money can buy.
Stylistically the 944 was a logical development from the 924, with wider wheel arches (not dissimilar to those on the 924 Carrera GT) to accommodate bigger wheels and tyres, and a generally more muscular look, certainly compared to the elegant but some would say somewhat dainty lines of the 924.
The biggest difference though was in the engine – one of the criticisms levelled at the 924 was it’s Audi-derived power unit, something Porsche addressed by installing an all-alloy 2.5-litre, 163bhp in-line four cylinder powerplant, at the time, one of the biggest four cylinder engines on the market. Why only four? It needed to be compact enough to be fitted from below on the Neckarsulm production line, which Porsche achieved by tilting the unit at 45 degrees and fitting two counter-rotating balancing shafts to smooth out vibrations, a system developed by Mitsubishi and which Porsche decided to licence from the Japanese company.
The standard five-speed gearbox was located at the rear of the car, a major factor in giving the 944 near perfect 50.7/49.3 front-to-rear weight distribution. The interior was basically taken from the 924. The 944 not only looked faster than the 924, it was faster, and by quite a margin – a top speed just shy of 140mph and a 0-60 time under 8 secs compared with the standard 924’s 125mph and 9.5 seconds.
However, as was – still is – the Porsche way, the 944 was not left alone after 1982; rather, it was subject to regular upgrades, starting in 1985 by giving the 944 an interior more like the 911 than the 924 among a whole raft of improvements and later that year a turbo was added to the engine, increasing output to 220bhp, making the 944 Turbo a seriously rapid proposition, a genuine 150mph sports coupé.
The 944 was very well received by the motoring press. In 1984 Car and Driver named the 944 the best handling car in America, and it made the magazine’s Top Ten list for three consecutive years. They liked the performance, especially as the car was improved through its lifespan, as well as the car’s balance, roadholding, and general driveability, although the testers were less enthused by the road noise and gearchange.
The competition depended on which 944 you were considering – there was and remains no shortage of contemporary high-performance coupés to choose. In December 1985 Autocar magazine compared the 944Lux with the Lotus Excel, Mercedes Benz 190 2.3-16, Mazda RX7 and TVR Tasmin 350i among others, although there was as much as £10k difference between the cheapest and most expensive.
Just a few weeks later in January the following year, it measured the 944 Turbo against cars ranging from the Audi Quattro, Lotus Esprit Turbo, BMW 635CSi and 5.3 litre V12 Jaguar XJS HE. Porsche’s own 911 Carrera was also a realistic alternative. It stood its ground well.
Some of the 944’s rivals
The 944 was born out of competition – the 2.5-litre engine had been thoroughly tested in a 924GTP that finished in seventh place in Le Mans in 1981 – so it’s unsurprising that it was extensively campaigned in motor sport. Porsche even set up a race series specifically for the 944 Turbo, named with a complete lack of imagination as the Turbo Cup.
A couple of years later, the 944S was introduced, slotting between the standard 944 Lux and the Turbo. The 944S’s 16-valve 2.7-litre engine pushed out 190bhp, almost exactly in the middle of the gap between the Lux and Turbo. 944 performance levels reached new heights in 1988 with the 944SE Turbo, now with 250bhp enabling a maximum speed of over 160mph and a 0-60 time of only 5.5 seconds – deep into 911 territory.
The following year saw the launch of the 944S2, with an even bigger – but still four-cylinder – engine of 3-litres and 212bhp, offering increased torque and therefore improved low-end performance. A cabriolet version was also made available alongside the coupé, and although it looked very cool with the roof down, the soft-top worked less well visually when in place.
The 944S2 was a 150mph, 0-60 in 6 seconds car; in other words, pretty damn quick. The S2 is generally considered to be the best version of the 944 to buy, combining 2+2 seating and hatchback practicality with impressive performance.
The Porsche 944 was a sales success for Porsche, outselling the 924 and was the company’s biggest seller until the advent of the Boxster in 1996. 163,192 were sold by the time it was replaced with the relate yet quite different 968.
Today, the 944 is increasingly seen as a desirable classic, especially the S2 versions. For all that, prices are generally still pretty reasonable, with availability below £20,000 still the norm rather than the exception, bringing classic Porsche ownership within the grasp of many classic enthusiasts. The exception is the S2 Turbo, but examples of even these rocketships can generally be bought for less than £30,000 – it’s surely just a matter of time before values start to move up. Over a thousand 944’s are on UK roads today, with Turbo numbers a little over 200, and there will be many more in Germany – perhaps this plentiful supply is why values remain relatively low.
Still, a 944, especially an S2, is an exceptionally appealing and – for two people – practical classic sports coupé that will provide fast, reliable classic transport for reasonable money. I gave it serious consideration when looking for a classic daily for myself about eighteen months ago, and if and when I replace my 280CE, I’ll consider the 944 again. Still hard to believe it’s 40 years old…
Follow Us!