RE: SOTW: Porsche 944

[soad]

Power output varies then? No definitive answer in the article...
Old Porsche is tempting, but probably not a wallet-friendly purchase.

[benjj]

Power differences are down to US regs of the time. That car should be c.160bhp if a UK or European car.

[P2BS]

I've been following 924 & 944 values for a little while; £1500 - £2000 is the basic sum to be forced out of the piggy bank; a grand buys a shed, and this week's SOTW certainly is a Shed. It screams of previous abuse, and would take a lot of time & money to turn into something I would be seen dead in.

[J4CKO]

moskvich427 said:

Love these, but as has been mentioned before, I'd spend double that on a really nice one.

Wouldn't make a bad track-day toy with a few alterations though!

There is the rub, would you go and see this is it was priced higher ?

I am sure some of the trade advertisers in the classifieds could spend a couple of hundred tarting it up and write some flannel then put it up at seven grand, I exagerate a bit and am a great beleiver in you get what you pay for but each example needs to be assessed on condition, throughly, referencing the myriad of buyers guides, not simply price, not sure why a higher price gives reassurance on a 28 year old car.

Funny how Capri 2.8 injections of the same era cant be got for a grand any more, yet the Porsche was better and way more expensive when new.

[Lowtimer]

These can be lovely cars but deeply dangerous things to buy at Shed money unless your intention is to break them for spares. They are good at looking shiny while at the same time concealing huge amounts of corrosion.
The absent door handle on this is an MOT fail, surely?

As someone said above, if you for some reason really must buy a sub-£1000 Porsche, a 924 or 924S gives you a much better chance of getting something that is not a complete snotter. But a more expensive one will generally be much better value.

[LotusEspritTurbo]

Not a real Porsche? I seem to remember in the 80s the 944 was a real Porsche and a flashy one at that, and the 911 was looking long in the tooth.

[JoeBolt]

thirsty said:

Give it a good look over. If there are no major issues, buy it, thrash it, then trash it. I would think it's good for a year of fun driving?

Why do people repeat this kind of nonsense week in, week out? What a waste would that be of a car 'with no major issues'?

The mature option would be to buy it, service it, drive it, maintain and improve it, keep driving it. Hopefully, such measures would ensure that these cars are around and on the road for years to come.

[P2BS]

You would need a garage for it - otherwise anyone can open that drivers door with their key (no handle - not lockable).

[wildcat45]

I have been thinking about one of these as a grands worth of toy recently.

I am inspired by a very hasty trip in a workmate's 944 about 20 years ago.

As a potential money pit, I guess this would work on the basis that you buy it for less than a grand and if it really is going to cost something daft to fix you wheel it to the local scrap man and get a few bob for it.

What's the most you can lose? When I think that I have lost five figures sums in depreciation on cars, a few hundred quid loss as a worst case scenario may be worth it for the fun factor.......and who says it WILL go wrong? You could get a lot of enjoyment here for not very much cash.

The otehr good thing is that a couple of years ago, when at a loose end, my wife and I were mooching round a fairly dodgy second hand car lot. They had a tatty 944 there, and the quy was quite honest about its tatty state, but showed what appeared to be a brialliant serive history, lots of bills and Porsche Deler network for its first 20 years of life....

It wasn't much, but at the time I wasn't impressed. My wife, who only really lies new or nearly new cars, was sorely tempted...She still mentions "the nice white Porsche that I could have had" from time to time.

Perhaps now is the time for a little chat.....You never know. it's an itch I really want to scratch.

[soad]

benjj said:

Power differences are down to US regs of the time. That car should be c.160bhp if a UK or European car.

I see, makes sense. Thanks for the info.

[J4CKO]

P2BS said:

It screams of previous abuse, and would take a lot of time & money to turn into something I would be seen dead in.

What makes you say that, the sill extensions, thats the only thing I can see that detracts from its look of just being an early 944, some get Boxster wheels, lairy paint, 968 mirrors and all sorts of other sacrelige performed, I think those sills would have been added very ealy on, not sure if they ever came from the factory with them, people did all sorts to the poor old 944 to make it look newer, faster or more expensive but they look best as the early model, as they came from the factory, like this,



Though these days I have a hankering for an early 924 on the original wheels,



They look almost utilitarian by todays standards, was talking to next doors father who ran one for 20 odd years and 250,000 miles, has a new Boxster now which he like but misses his 924.

[Lowtimer]

wildcat45 said:

What's the most you can lose? When I think that I have lost five figures sums in depreciation on cars, a few hundred quid loss as a worst case scenario may be worth it for the fun factor.......and who says it WILL go wrong? You could get a lot of enjoyment here for not very much cash.

It doesn't have to 'go wrong', in terms of blowing up or failing to start, to be something that is not enjoyable at all.
Look at it this way.
A 944 on good suspension (which doesn't by any means mean fancy aftermarket suspension, just proper Porsche suspension in good, fresh order) is a sweet-handling car. A 944 on 30 year old suspension (and a lot of them are...) is a nasty, crashy, rattly, jittering POS.

A proper suspension refurb and geo setup is a couple of grand. If this car has had one in the last three or four years it might drive very nicely. But that's a VERY big if.

[g3org3y]

With the driver's side door handle missing, how do you get into it? Do you have to go in via the passenger door and scoot across?

I agree with a few of the posters above. Better to spend double and get one in really good order that you'd want to maintain/keep.

[P2BS]

J4CKO said:

P2BS said:

It screams of previous abuse, and would take a lot of time & money to turn into something I would be seen dead in.

What makes you say that...

The sill extensions, the chav glass, the 50 shades of blue, the door handle, the probably state of the interior, the probable maintenance neglect.
If you know 944's inside & out, go for it. As a 'risk it because I always wanted one' move, I'd run.

g3org3y said:

With the driver's side door handle missing, how do you get into it?

Using a flat blade screwdriver you can unlock it & get in. And probably start it too

Edited by P2BS on Friday 1st February 09:37

[monthefish]

turbo-ww said:

Always kept in the garage. But photographed half on the pavement

What's your point?

Would you rather he'd taken the photos whilst it was in the garage?




Great SOTW. Very tempted.

[TurboLizard]

At an extra £500 would this be a better bet? Looks nice although the description sounds worrying!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

[J4CKO]

P2BS said:

J4CKO said:

P2BS said:

It screams of previous abuse, and would take a lot of time & money to turn into something I would be seen dead in.

What makes you say that...

The sill extensions, the chav glass, the 50 shades of blue, the door handle, the probably state of the interior, the probable maintenance neglect.
If you know 944's inside & out, go for it. As a 'risk it because I always wanted one' move, I'd run.

g3org3y said:

With the driver's side door handle missing, how do you get into it?

Using a flat blade screwdriver you can unlock it & get in. And probably start it too

Edited by P2BS on Friday 1st February 09:37

Was looking on my phone, didnt notice the sunstrip and the film on the rear glass, paint doesnt look too bad, door handle is an easy job, if it had never been maintained it wouldnt still be going but you can only tell that by going tand seeing it, the interior will be manky, that would be my main issue as trim is scarce, well, good trim is scarce, the Dub boys like the seats, I have a kit to renovate the leather in mine, it isnt too bad just a little patina but the kit will have it looking new, the key I guess is spotting what can easily be remidied and what is a massive job.

I am doing the gear linkage on mine as it was sloppy, part was only £65 (quickshift from the US) but getting the old one off took almost four hours, utter pig of a job so with a lot of this if you DIY it, it is more time than cash, if you dont wield the spanners yourself, forget it as the labour at a Porsche indpendant could cost more for a days work than the car cost.

[MrTappets]

Our old Shogun had a 3.2l 4cyl. Doesn't that count as the largest?

[jimbro1000]

Am I right in saying that Porsche declared recently(ish) that the old front engined cars are no longer supported for spares? If that's the case then it becomes absolutely essential to buy the best you can find because if anything breaks you are at the mercy of specialists and breakers to get a replacement - just like all the other classics that cost a small fivetune to keep running.

Makes that missing door handle a bit more of a serious issue...

[ianwayne]

I had a 944 S2 for a while 2004-05,(which had the same 3.0 litre 4 cylinder engine carried over to the 968) and it was a blast. Practical classic had a buyers guide for the 944 a few years ago and for multiple reasons, the oval clocked post-85 cars are the ones seen to collect. But one of this age will probably not get any cheaper and although it's a shed, you could insure it as a 'classic' with limited miles and, as said before, if anything major goes get your money back as spares.

The one thing I remember from the review is that it's fiendishly difficult to get the pop-up headlamp area panel gaps right if it's been in a front-end prang.

Edited by ianwayne on Friday 1st February 10:08