I haven't seen a Porsche 944 in years. I mean, years. This 1987 popped up on my Marketplace feed this morning for sale out in Willoughby, Ohio, just east of Cleveland. Asking price is $2,900. What could a prospective buyer be getting themselves into? Let's virtually kick a reifen or two—reifen is German for tire—and see.
First, some backstory on what the 944 was.
The Porsche 944 was a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive 2+2 sports car built by Porsche from 1982 through 1991. It was based on the 924's platform but received extensive mechanical and styling changes, including a Porsche-developed 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and the wide-body styling that made the 944 distinctly different from its predecessor.
The idea was to offer a relatively accessible Porsche sports car that was less expensive and less exotic than the company's flagship 911 and 928 while still delivering legitimate sports-car performance.
Like the 924, the 944 was powered by a four-cylinder engine.
Just like some Honda Civic or Chevrolet Celebrity.
Ha. Right. We're talking Porsche here, people.
The original 944, introduced for 1982, used a 2.5-liter overhead-cam inline-four developed by Porsche. In its original form, it produced about 160 horsepower. It was hardly your garden-variety economy-car four-banger.
And here's the really interesting part: the engine was essentially half of Porsche's 4.5-liter V8 used in the 928. In other words, Porsche didn't simply grab some ordinary four-cylinder off the shelf and slap it into a sports car. The 944's engine shared its basic architecture with one of Porsche's most sophisticated engines of the era.
This was heady stuff back in the day, kids.
In 1985, Porsche introduced the 944 Turbo, which turbocharged the 2.5-liter four-cylinder and bumped output about 217 horsepower. In 1988, Porsche introduced the limited-production 944 Turbo S with about 247 horsepower. For 1989, that 247-horse engine became standard in the regular 944 Turbo.
That kind of power from just 2.5 liters today isn't impressive; 40-years-ago, it was the stuff dreams.
The 944 S arrived for the 1987 model year with a high-compression, naturally aspirated, 16-valve version of the 2.5-liter engine. Porsche rated it at about 187 horsepower. It sat neatly between the standard 944 and the Turbo in both performance and price.
And this is where the 944 gets particularly interesting. It wasn't just a Porsche with a four-cylinder engine. With its front-mounted engine and rear-mounted transaxle, the 944 had nearly ideal weight distribution, which helped give it the balanced handling for which these cars became known.
This car, though.
Hoo-boy.
The big-little engine isn't running; there are issues with the body seemingly all over; and the interior is a train wreck. In fairness, it may just need a deep cleaning, although this looks nasty.
Someone swapping out the Blaupunkt radio it was born with, got lost in the wiring maze and give up?
The poster of the ad claims this car is a perfect project for that "special Porsche enthusiast" and, at this price, won't last long.
I beg to differ. To me this is a parts car.
But what do I know?
Frankly, if you have to have a Porsche 944, while you'll spend upwards of four times more for one that's not this side of a roller like this one is, I think that money would be better spent. A running, reasonably sorted 944 S is a whole different proposition from a $2,900 non-running project with questionable cosmetics and an interior that looks like the German army in the days, weeks and months after D-Day.
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