SOTW: Porsche 944

All right it's not a 993RS, but what do you expect for a thousand quid?

One of the key appeals of Shed motoring is the opportunity to smoke about in a car with a badge on the nose that Shed non-believers will struggle to believe is achievable for just £1k.

In that regard a Porsche SOTW is hard to beat, because when you casually drop the fact that you drive a Porsche into general conversation, people will often jump to the conclusion that you own and run a car that cost several tens of thousands of pounds. Which you manifestly don't (well, you might, but it won't be your Shed).

It's an appealing idea (providing you don't break the illusion by actually showing your car to those with whom you are conversing), which makes it all the more odd that the Porsche shield doesn't grace SOTW's pixels on a more regular basis.

There are a couple of good reasons for this, however. Firstly, there is the fact that most Porsches advertised within Shed's £1k budget are so evidently foxed that they fall beneath even Shed's distinctly low standards of quality.

Perhaps more importantly, although a Shed-level Porsche's sticker price might have fallen from premium levels, it won't have forgotten its premium roots when it comes to running costs. Put simply, while a Porsche like this might be cheap to buy, it is unlikely to be cheap to run.

Still, this particularly 944 looks like a surprisingly non-sheddy proposition. Its interior looks tidy, those refurbished teledial alloys look lovely and the vendor certainly claims to have done plenty of work on it.

Okay, you'll have to put up with the 150bhp (or possibly 158bhp) 2.5-litre slant four rather than the slightly pokier 2.7or the 3.0-litre S2, a fair few dings and dents (from the sound of it) and a "knocking noise coming from the back on when you come of the power", but you ain't going to find a concours condition car for SOTW money.

Oh, and we do find it odd/worrying that the seller omits any mention of how rusty the car is, but go in with the view that there is no such thing as a cheap Porsche, merely a cheap purchase price and you're unlikely to be disappointed.

So there we have it, a Porsche as SOTW. hope fully that makes up for the three Rovers we've featured in the past six weeks (sorry about that).

Advert is reproduced below:

Bargain!!! 1988 T&T Porsche 944 2.5 (1988)
160,000 miles £1,000

Porsche 944 2.5. The very last of the 2.5's. This car comes in (without doubt) the best colour.
6 months tax
6 months MOT.
The car has done 160k but till feels tight. This was gonna be an ongoing project for me but my girlfriend can't drive the car so it's gotta go.
Electric sunroof, wing mirrors, central locking, Porsche immobilizer, CD, uprated speakers, electric drivers seat, rear wipe etc.
Refurbished Interior. Seats and interior look like a new car (very expensive). Just had new armrest made (not in photo)
Refurbished teledial wheels - look fantastic (again, not cheap)

The car starts on the button every time. She's had new:
2 new tyres (50 miles ago)
Headlights (uprated)
Arm rest
Cam belt
Power steering belt
Alternator
Alternator belt
Battery
Earthing strip
All the electrics have been overhauled and everything works.
The bad news:
There is a knocking noise coming from the back on when you come of the power. I'm told this is to do with the clutch but the clutch is fine.
Just drove over 400 miles to Derbyshire and back with no problems - oil pressure, volts, & temp prefect, a real pleasure to drive. Feels like a new car.

There is a dent in the rear quarter
There are a few dents in the front wing
The is a whole in the front wing where is got curbed.
The previous owner lost the history but it doesn't matter on a car this age (it didn't matter to me!)
Not that bad for a 22 year old car.
Believe me this is a good solid car and I love it. It drives lovely and I absolutely love the car but after 18 months she has to go.