I am thinking of buying a 924 or 944 to make into a track day car, there are loads on e-bay from as little as £100, i know it may be a shed and will require work, but, is there any problems that would make the car an absolute no no when looking to buy.
The 944 did get the name of being the poor mans Porsche at a £100 they are not joking! The engines were quite poor check for camshaft noise, check condition of the oil if is jet black could be poorly looked after if you are only paying a ton you can't complain though! Obviously if you are buying on E-bay you can't do this just a chance you take.
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Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that, who cares? ...He's a mile away and you've got his shoes.
the 924 was the poor mans porsche..it used a modified version of the vw lt van engine...still a good car tho, but not especially quick...944 is a real porsche...porsche engine etc...keep your eyes peeled and you will be amazed what you can find...i bought a 944 with mot and tax in decent nick for 600 quid!!...they are out there believe me, just be careful...rear axle mounts/bushes and gearbox mounts can be dodgy..engines are relatively understressed big torquey fours and with proper maintenance will keep on keepin on.....944 on its bigger tyres and bigger engine will make better track car i would say, though 924s(924 with detuned 944 engine)is a bit of a sleeper...but not many for sale and surprisingly expensive for what they are...
Originally posted by biggbn: the 924 was the poor mans porsche..it used a modified version of the vw lt van engine...still a good car tho, but not especially quick...944 is a real porsche...porsche engine etc...keep your eyes peeled and you will be amazed what you can find...i bought a 944 with mot and tax in decent nick for 600 quid!!...they are out there believe me, just be careful...rear axle mounts/bushes and gearbox mounts can be dodgy..engines are relatively understressed big torquey fours and with proper maintenance will keep on keepin on.....944 on its bigger tyres and bigger engine will make better track car i would say, though 924s(924 with detuned 944 engine)is a bit of a sleeper...but not many for sale and surprisingly expensive for what they are...
My mistake friend! you are correct. Had the joy driving a Type 993 3.6 l what a car wish I could afford such a machine, pure joy to drive and given the respect it deserves. Might one day own one oh too dream!
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Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that, who cares? ...He's a mile away and you've got his shoes.
944 in original, unmolested good condition absolutely superb and an 80s icon. Id love a red 2.7 automatic in good condition. My cousin had one in 1989 and it was lovely! It was an 85 model he bought it secondhand with a low mileage. I was only 13 then but i remember it. Excellent license plate number too:
TEXAS 944 - SA
Only drawback was it could have done with another gear, because it was only 3 speed, but the large-bore 4-cylinder engine was very torquey.
It even had a half-leather & pin-stripe interior. Very 80s!
Hard to find a good one these days but a pal has an 86 model which he has had from new & its beautiful. Imagine that, 20 years, same car, never broken down.
Avoid the awful, feeble 924 though.
And dont commit sacrilege by making it into a track day car! It should be kept pristine, polished and enjoyed at weekends on the road!
the 924 & 944 [&968] are all basically the same car so the 924 can hardly be awful if the 944 is "absolutely superb" - with same 2.5 engine fitted the 924 was faster!!
why is it when I stand on my head that sometimes, just sometimes ......?
The 924 was not built in the same factory, didnt have anywhere like the same build quality, had Audi 80 chassis and front suspension, and a 2.0 liter VW Van engine.
The 944 was a proper Stuttgart Porsche. It felt so much better on the road, performed better and had a nice torquey 2.7 engine in the later versions. The S2 was very nice indeed - i prefer it to the goofy 968 which replaced it and looked a bit like a startled rabbit with a long nose and wide eyes.
Very clever Variocam system in the 968's 3.0 liter engine though.
944 2.7 automatic every time though.
Only reason 2.5 version of the 924 was faster was because the 924 is tiny and light - and flimsy!
924 is much maligned cos it is judged as a porsche..if it had had vw(as originally intended) or indeed audi badges, history would remember it much more kindly...remember, this car competed against the fun but agricultural 2.8i capri, 280zx datsuns and alfa gtv6 of its time.....it is a light weight frugal fun car...iv driven quite a few and they have tremendous handling balance, refined performance and superb driving positions.....yes, the 944 was a proper porsche...yes it was a better car...yes..it bloody should have been..it was from the class above and was much more expensive.....judge the 924 as a cheap fun car not a classic porsche and you will be pleasantly surprised........
I have a 1978 924, owned it for over 5yrs now. They're dirt cheap to maintain because of the use of a lot of VW parts. They're not the fastest car in the world if you're looking at the stock 2.0ltr but they handle amazingly thanks to the weight spread (almost perfect 50/50 front to rear). While the engine is based on an audi unit, it is very much modified and more to the point bloody hard to break.
Like any car you get what you pay for, a cheap 924 could be a money pit or it could be a complete bargain. If you pick a 924 then go for 1980 onwards as the body was fully galvanised from that date (only the floor pans were prior to that) plus there were some changes to electronic ignition instead of old fashioned contact-breaker "points".
There's plenty of groups racing 924's in the UK, go to 924.org and have a chat to the people on there (mostly US but a lot of UK). The 924 is a pretty good choice for track day fun on a budget.
924 Turbo is a quick car but the gearboxes used on that model tend to have problems. 924"S" uses a de-tuned version of the 944 2.5ltr motor but while faster is more costly on parts. The holy grail is the 924 Carrera GTR/S, very rare and not something I'd want to risk destroying on a track day!
One thing all the 924s have is grin factor, they're great to throw around a country lane and the mix of the smell from the motor and rasp from the exhaust is quite unique. Don't be put off by people knocking them, ask the people who've owned them long-term.
We have lost our way, but we're way ahead of schedule.
Palmira, the 924 was designed by Porsche from the outset, the only reason it was built at Nekarsalum (spelling?) was that the factory was already geared up with a load of VW/Audi staff about to be looking at no work! The engine, for a little 2.0ltr is damned good, I've seen plenty of these little cars with 200+ thousand miles on without any major problems. I think calling the car "flimsy" is way off aswell, I've seen plenty of crashed 924's where the cabin is completely intact with little or no intrusion into it. I argued with a big old tree in mine a couple of years back and only had to repair the front bumper and brackets.
We have lost our way, but we're way ahead of schedule.
Wile-E, dont get me wrong dear chap, I would certainly say the 924 was better quality than alot of other 1970s/early 80s fayre..
BUT the 944 is absolutely miles ahead in every area. I would say these days, with both the 924 and 944 available at quite reasonable prices, id go 944 without thinking about it. The 924 is nowhere near the same experience as the 944. And as you say it has totally different components - mostly VW. In terms of when i referred to it as flimsy - i still stand by that. The interior and quality of materials isnt up to standard, as it is a Porsche built to a price. 944 interiors are far superior.
Id still go for a 944 2.7 automatic. In red with a full Porsche service history and low mileage. They do exist if you look in the right places.
Originally posted by crazy harry: I am thinking of buying a 924 or 944 to make into a track day car, there are loads on e-bay from as little as £100, i know it may be a shed and will require work, but, is there any problems that would make the car an absolute no no when looking to buy.
Might I suggest a porker forum might be more suited for this question especially if you are about to find out how deep pockets need to be? Probably find someone who has done it as well.
Palmira, why would you opt for a car with a slush box as a track car? 944 is faster, but it's also heavier, key point though is that the components for the 924 are a fraction of the cost and the 924 is very simple to work on with even just basic tools. As a road car the 944 would probably have been my choice of advice for the original poster, yes it is a major step up from the 924 (it had to be since it was its replacement), but they are looking for a budget track car so I'd think the car is going to be stripped out anyway plus needs to be affordable to fix repeatedly..
My 924's interior is lovely, very well made all leather - though I admit it was thanks to a kind previous owner for taking the car to a specialist and having the seats re-covered ;-)
My next Porsche will be a 968, that was the pinacle of the water-cooled front engined cars but I'm also well aware it's going to be a very costly undertaking.
We have lost our way, but we're way ahead of schedule.
Originally posted by Palmira: I wouldnt abuse one of Porsches classics as a track day car at all.
Instead id buy a mint condition 944 and have fun with it as a road car.
there is a healthy porsche racing scene incorporating virtually all models and many are used as road cars too.....car mag used to keep an old 944 stripped out of its creature comforts and fitted with a roll cage as a race car and road car...it was unburstable, cheap and fun....
I saw a roadgoing Porsche 911 (about 10 yrs ago but new at the time) do a massive spin at Castle Coombe when i went to a Porsche show there with my friend.
It was heart-stopping to watch because the chap driving nearly wrecked it. My friend and i tensed up and waited for it..
There was no such thing as track-day insurance in those days either.
I would never take a classic road car on a track. Its sacrilege.
Local Coys auction rooms have got a 1955 Mercedes Benz 300SL Gullwing in their showroom in perfect condition. What a beautiful car, and steeped in history - Stirling Moss etc. One of the most fantastic cars ever made i would definitely say. Not sure what it will go for, but they are priceless.
on the other hand, i love too see these kind of cars being used in anger for the purpose they were built for.....i adore classic racing and love seeing the likes of tony dron, willie green etc...hurling millions of pounds worth of ferrari, maserati, aston etc...round our tracks rather than see the cars sitting over polished in some museum or other, never to be let out to play again....i reckon cars are living things and need to be exercised as often as possible....
It doesn't take too much to make a car shine but it takes a lot more to make it purr like a cat. How many of the cars in motor museums can actually move under their own power? I fear that it's not even 80%. So much better to see classic racers actually racing.
