924 Carrera GT

[Leithen]

Good to know a PH'er snaffled it! Congratulations.

Look forward to a raft of Pics once you take ownership, very jealous.

[Wozy68]

IMI A said:

Wallachie said:

IMI A said:

and therefor be nigh on untouchable even by more modern machinery

Best chassis Porsche put in a road car IMO and massively under exploited due to 911

Modern doesn't even come into the equation, they are not comparable with modern cars, they're based on a 30+ year old platform after all, so I don't really see the point in comparing them.

A well sorted 944 Turbo with M030 would be a great weapon though I agree.

I disagree. I've driven a 450bhp 944 turbo on slicks. I doubt many modern cars on track let alone a Porsche 911 would be able to keep up. 30 year old tech not bad

Dunno about a 944 (though I'd assume the chassis is basically the same) but a 968 would run rings around a simlair age 911. The 968CS at least was/is a fabulous handling Porsche, let down only by not having enough power of which it was easily capable of dealing with more.

OP congrats on the purchase. A 924 GT is a lovely limited addition Porsche. The value of which will not IMO diminish.

[YoungMD]

Great car and for that money probably as Gooder value as any older porsche these days.... Looking at the inflation curve of porsches compared to banks, houses, and pretty much anything else, the last two years have been unbelievable, so one would imagine the principles of economics would suggest the next 5 years not so good, but 20 probably pretty solid, but what do I know I never thought SC's would sell for more than £30k I remember trying to save £15k so I could get a 3.2 over a £10k sc as they were considered a bit of a dog!!

[stuartmmcfc]

I saw this car at Silverstone yesterday and I actually called my wife over to tell her how cool it was. Lovely car

[rubystone]

Can I ask. Did you see this car in the flesh? Did you have someone who knows these cars check it over for you? A comment from someone I respect, who was there, is the reason for my asking these questions....I wasn't there, so have no comment to make...,

In terms of price, they were at £30k for a long, long time. So a good example at £50k might make sense as an investment.

Personally, if I were buying one my first port of call would be Ricky. Pretty sure he has info on every RHD car made. I wouldn't buy without talking to him first.

[benjj]

My Porsche want list hierarchy:

1. 959
2. 924 Carrera GT & GTS
3. CGT
4. 918

Excellent purchase. It's a lovely looking car that one and I can't blame you for snaffling it up.

Irrespective of the investment potential it'll blow your socks off. I've been in DB's GTS at Goodwood and it's a hell of a thing.

[mickyveloce]

I ran one for a couple of years (some time ago now), as I always wanted one since I read a road test of one in CAR magazine in 1980.

I swapped my 944 for a left hand drive 924GT and enjoyed my time with the car.

Some details really stick out for me. Firstly, it travelled quickly off-boost and on a light throttle, which made it remarkably economical. Contemporary factory published figures show it used less fuel than the standard 924. The car had a very tall 5th gear for a German car of this vintage.

Secondly, and related to this, was the typical 1970's 80's turbo-lag. This made making progress more difficult than the 944, and demanded full on commitment at all times. The turbo demanded revs which the engine was slightly reluctant to deliver.

The steering was beautifully weighted, the handling precise and the road-holding strong. The gearbox pleasant, albeit with a long throw and an easily-mastered dog-leg first.

In terms of performance, the car was brisk rather than quick. A 2.5 Boxster would easily have the better of it on a racetrack, and the 944 made for more relaxing progress as a fast road car.

All in all though, a charming little car, which, for reasons I can't really articulate, I don't really miss.

[footsoldier]

rubystone said:

Can I ask. Did you see this car in the flesh? Did you have someone who knows these cars check it over for you? A comment from someone I respect, who was there, is the reason for my asking these questions....I wasn't there, so have no comment to make...,

In terms of price, they were at £30k for a long, long time. So a good example at £50k might make sense as an investment.

Personally, if I were buying one my first port of call would be Ricky. Pretty sure he has info on every RHD car made. I wouldn't buy without talking to him first.

No, I didn't see it in the flesh, as I'm on holiday, but had it checked by someone who I trust. The feedback was that it was described accurately.

There are a couple of minor things to be done, and potentially repaint, depending on what I think later. Mechanically and interior seem very sound, and I'd be more suspicious of a car that had a cheap fresh coat of paint!

Also, the long-term previous owner has since tracked me down off their own bat, and offered lots of input and advice, which doesn't seem indicative of someone who is expecting me to find lots of problems! He also referred me to Ricky.

Cheers

[bigmowley]

Nice car defiantly a keeper. I had a black one in the eighties when it was new and loved every second of it. It's a typical GT porsche as it's a lot more than the sum of its parts. The synchro on the dog leg first is a real weak spot and was horrifically expensive to fix even in the eighties you need the entire shaft assembly not just the cogs. It's very easy to scrunch the synchro if you hit first instead of third on a quick downshift from fourth. As soon as the synchro teeth get burred it jumps out of first. Give it a firm blast in first, if it stays in its good. The other issue was broken exhaust manifold studs, it's about a million hours work to get the turbo off and fix them. Slow by today's standards but a lovely drive and just love those headlights. The fit of the plastic panels was rubbish when they were new so nothing to worry about there
I hope you get to use it for long fun drives that is when it comes into its own.

[GC8]

Wallachie said:

IMI A said:

Are you being serious? 20 yrs none of us know if we'll be alive next week let alone in next 20 yrs! FWIW a 944 turbo is a far better drive values aside.

944 Turbo is a fantastic car, but an M030 968 Sport or CS is better still!

Having owned both, when they were new cars, I say *piffle*!

[bigmowley]

Quite got me going reading this one so I dug out an old photo of my CGT parked in the paddock at a Mallory Park race meeting. Happy memories

[rich888]

benjj said:

My Porsche want list hierarchy:

1. 959
2. 924 Carrera GT & GTS
3. CGT
4. 918

Excellent purchase. It's a lovely looking car that one and I can't blame you for snaffling it up.

Irrespective of the investment potential it'll blow your socks off. I've been in DB's GTS at Goodwood and it's a hell of a thing.

I have a feeling that that this purchase will be quite tame compared to what footsoldier is used to driving, now what he needs is a decent manual 928 GTS (if he doesn't already have one).

[rubystone]

Ultimately, what's always made these cars attractive is their looks. Back in the mid '80s I had a ride in one (thanks Mr C) and as others have said, I recall it as being crude, laggy and the engine pretty characterless. But it looked sensational compared to the standard 924 Turbo of the time. And don't forget that all turbocharged cars of that era were crude and laggy with characterless 4 cylinder engines....

If Ricky says it's a good 'un then that's as good as provenance as you'll get.

[benjj]

rich888 said:

I have a feeling that that this purchase will be quite tame compared to what footsoldier is used to driving, now what he needs is a decent manual 928 GTS (if he doesn't already have one).

Maybe, but I got into the GTS immediately after driving a (real) Shelby Mustang GT350 with biiiiiig power and having been passenger in a Shelby Cobra. Both were out and out racers, hundreds of thousands spent on prep alone. This was at Goodwood.

The GTS was like getting off the back of an elephant and onto the back of a racehorse. It was just so pointy.

Don't get me wrong, there are a million other things to buy with 50k, but the CGT/S are very special cars indeed.

[jasongibson]

I had a good look at it, albeit in the p155ing rain.
As you have already been told, it would benefit from body being stripped down and re painted.
As per the info sheet, the car has had the os door painted but i think also the rear arches at the same time as all 3 are the same shade of red.
Just probably due to different paints fading over time. OSF wing slightly crazed due to flex in the polyurethane wing (quite normal on these)
But overall it looks good, will be a cracker if you do the paint.

I've got a 968 engined 924S in red and mine has far more shades of red :0)

Original front wings and rear arches are hard to come by now so no being silly with it.

You need to buy this book, fabulous and loads of info on the GT and GTS

It's a shame it's heading north, would have been good to see it

[benjj]

jasongibson said:

Original front wings and rear arches are hard to come by now so no being silly with it.

I couldn't disagree more. Get it out there, turn 99RON and list 1B tyres into smiles and if you bin it, fix it.

[rubystone]

benjj said:

I couldn't disagree more. Get it out there, turn 99RON and list 1B tyres into smiles and if you bin it, fix it.

Why would you run an '80s car on '99 RON'? And why run it on hard tyres? This car is so not suited to that approach...an odd comment....best buy a cheap RWD car if you want to do that...perhaps a. MX5?

[benjj]

rubystone said:

Why would you run an '80s car on '99 RON'? And why run it on hard tyres? This car is so not suited to that approach...an odd comment....best buy a cheap RWD car if you want to do that...perhaps a. MX5?

My 80's cars all ask for a minimum of 98.

As for hard tyres, what are you talking about? I'm confused.

[GC8]

I think that he is confused.

With regards to repair: rear wings were still available for £700-odd + VAT when I first owned a 944 in the very early nineties, but have been NLA for years. Front wings were NLA even then.

Better to remove the original panels and replace them with GRP if youre going to enter any form of competition: even gentlemanly sprinting.

List 1B tyres are the most focussed, softest and grippiest tyres allowed in production motorsport, for those here not aware. So much so that many series rules seem to specify list 1A tyres.

[Richair]

benjj said:

rubystone said:

Why would you run an '80s car on '99 RON'? And why run it on hard tyres? This car is so not suited to that approach...an odd comment....best buy a cheap RWD car if you want to do that...perhaps a. MX5?

My 80's cars all ask for a minimum of 98.

As for hard tyres, what are you talking about? I'm confused.

Indeed, why would you not want to buy an 80's homologation special and use it properly!?.. It's perfectly suited to that approach, unless you're a garage queen polisher. I prefer my classics used, with a dash of patina. Or is that my women, I forget!