Porsche 924, 944, 968: from parts bin bitzer to blissful purebred

What is a Porsche? What makes a Porsche a Porsche apart from the very stylish emblem? It is a question that has been asked many times over the years and to which quite different answers have been given. But even before the original Cayenne, which shared so many of its components with the Volkswagen Tourag, outraged those purists who insisted a Porsche’s engine should always be behind the driver, even if not always behind the rear axle, this question had been answered in what might now look like surprising ways. But in the 1970s, the decision that future models would be front-engined seemed entirely logical.

It is a fascinating story. The first front-engined Porsche was never intended to be a Porsche. Even before program EA425 began in early 1972 as a joint venture between Porsche and Volkswagen, the former’s product planners had decided that the 911’s successor would be a front-engined, water-cooled car. As for EA425, this car was originally intended to be a Volkswagen to replace the unsuccessful Volkswagen-Porsche 914.

The 914 was sold as a ‘Volkswagen-Porsche’ in Europe and a ‘Porsche’ in the US. But EA425 was to be a Volkswagen wherever it was sold. This plan was soon disrupted. Rudolf Leiding became Volkswagen’s boss, after serving at Audi-NSU. Early on, Leiding cancelled the EA266 project, a water-cooled, mid-engined car which Leiding believed was a bad idea in the new world of front-wheel drive. EA266 was to have replaced the Beetle, Type 3 and the 411/412 as the company’s mainstream model.

Because EA266 was a Porsche joint venture, the question arose as to whether Volkswagen needed Porsche at all. Volkswagen had acquired many engineers from Audi and NSU, who had great experience with both front-wheel drive and water-cooling, neither of which had ever been seen in a production Porsche. But the new Volkswagen/Audi sports car had to emulate the Passat/Golf’s front-mounted water-cooled engine configuration. So Leiding told Ferry Porsche that the development contract with Porsche due to expire in 1973 would not be renewed; EA425 would be the last joint venture car. It was to be engineered entirely by Porsche but was to use existing Vokswagen and Audi componentry wherever possible.

One highlight in this drab interior is the interesting tachometer.

Leiding was determined that the new car would only ever be Volkswagen or Audi-badged. But Porsche management had been interested in getting themselves an entry-level model to broaden the marque’s appeal. We see parallels here with the Boxster and in a slightly different way the Cayenne: diversify or die.

Project head Jochen Freund believed that elements of the planned new Porsche flagship Project 928 could be incorporated into this lower-priced car. Even when EA425 was formally approved in mid-1974, Leiding’s position was difficult. Despite the early success of the new Golf and Scirocco, the company was racking up huge losses. In January 1975 the board asked Leiding to resign. His successor was an ex-Ford executive Toni Schmücker, who soon decided that with the recent memory of the oil embargo probably the last thing Volkswagen needed was a new sports car. That would have been the end of EA425.

Inherent plainness of styling could be well disguised by extroverted colour schemes: very 1970s!

Things weren’t too flash over at Porsche either. Production of the 914 was nearing an end. Sales of the 911 had been slowed by the OPEC oil embargo but were now gathering momentum again. But the Porsche bosses were determined to augment the range of models with something that was not a 911, a car that also proved the company could build a special car that didn’t have an air-cooled boxer engine stuck out the back. Schmücker agreed to sell the EA425 project to Porsche, provided the cars were built by Volkswagen, thereby allowing the threatened Neckarsulm plant to remain in business.

Now a Porsche project, EA425 received a new type number: 924. There was still some development work to be done but the basic specification had already been finalised. The 924 had to look a bit like a smaller 928. It was to use a Volkswagen van engine which was designed and built by Audi. But it got a Porsche-designed cylinder head and Bosch K-Jetronic fuel-injection. It was canted at 40 degrees to fit beneath the sleek bonnet line.

Like the Alfetta sedan introduced in Europe in 1972, the 924 would use a rear transaxle in the interests of better weight distribution (52:48). Audi already had a transaxle in its front-drive Fox, also a 1972 debutante. The suspension was a mixed bag of Golf, Beetle and Type 181 military vehicle bits. The 924 had Golf steering.

Initial gearbox choices were a four-speed manual and three-speed Daimler-Benz automatic. A five-speed Getrag gearbox (with second/third on the same plane, fourth and fifth ditto, with first a dogleg back towards the driver) was introduced in 1977, and in 1980 a conventional five-speed was made standard with the Getrag kept for the 924 Turbo.

Porsche prepared three one-fifth scale styling models to show Volkswagen. Leiding chose the one by Harm Lagaay, the Dutchman who would go on to do the Boxster, Cayenne, Carrera GT and many 911s.

Production began in November 1975 and the Porsche 924 went on sale in 1976. The car was beautifully built but some journalists complained about its modest performance, hard ride and dreadfully plain interior. Interestingly, the Porsche publicity people seemed delighted to acknowledge its origins as a Volkswagen/Audi. ‘After all,’ said the press release, ‘one must remember that Dr Porsche created the 356 from VW parts. With the 924 we return to his original concept.’ Does that sound like spin?

By this time the 928 was much rumoured. As far as Porsche management was concerned the 928 would soon replace the 911 and would make a perfect partner for the relatively inexpensive 924: this was to be Porsche’s future for the 1980s and beyond.

Porsche customers quickly formed a different view. How fascinating it is now, then, to read what experts believed when the 924 and 928 were relatively new and the 944 had just arrived. The great Denis Jenkinson (navigator to Stirling Moss in their thrilling 1955 Mille Miglia victory) wrote Porsche Past and Present which appeared in 1983. Jenkinson wrote:

Already the 924 is being phased out of the American market and the 944 has taken over. If we view the 924 as a ‘softener’ to introduce the ‘new world’ of Porsche, we can see that it served its purpose admirably. The 928 and 928S set the seal of Porsche in the 1980s and 1990s and the 944 now formed a first-class stepping stone for anyone warily setting out on the Porsche path.

The days of the riotous 911 are obviously numbered, although while there are people to buy them in sufficient numbers they will still be made.

That was, of course, the rub. It was as if the very fact of the big, aggressive V8-powered 928 finally allowed Porsche enthusiasts to realise that what they really loved about the brand was the unique character of the 911. Essentially, customers rejected the idea of a front-engined Porsche, at least as the marque’s premium model.

In a 1983 comparison between the Porsche 928S and the Jaguar XJS-HE, Wheels editor Peter Robinson put it like this:

The Porsche, Europe’s Car of the Year after it was released in 1977, was (although Porsche now likes to deny this) originally intended to replace the rear-engined, air-cooled 911. But the 911 buyers stayed away in droves and the 928 with its water-cooled front-mounted V8 driving the rear wheels struggled along at less than half the planned production capacity. In 1981 it was still only being built at the rate of 5000 a year compared with 10,000 911s and 17,000 924/944s.

Today Porsche has come to terms with this and markets the 928 more as a rival for the BMW Six Series coupes and Mercedes-Benz SEC (and, of course, the XJS) than the ultimate successor for the 911, which is now the subject of a major development program to keep it in production until the end of the decade and perhaps into the 1990s. (My bold lettering.)

Nevertheless, our yarn is not yet spun. Even though it had become obvious by the very early 1980s that the 928 would not be allowed to replace the 911, the availability of a much less expensive Porsche which happened to be front-engined brought many new customers to the marque. Those 17,000 sales on top of the 911’s 10,000 in 1981 more than compensated for the low volumes achieved by the 928. The front-engined Porsche sports car had a way to drive yet!

Writing in the January 1976 edition of Wheels, Mel Nichols enthused:

And so a new era begins for Porsche. The fact that the still-secret 928 is of similar concept to the 924 suggests that even had it not been for Leiding’s brief Porsche most likely would have chosen the same solution, for the use of as many proprietary parts as possible is just about the only way to produce a low-volume car of the 924’s quality in today’s world.

Nichols was not worried by the fact that it was ‘hardly a potent performer’. Here is his concluding paragraph:

Perhaps if the 924 has a notable fault, beyond the occasional deficiencies of the ride and the transference of road noise to the cabin, it is that the design and development of the chassis has been so good, so efficient, that character has been pushed aside. Is that a fault? Many would consider not, for it may indeed make the 924 not just the ultimate Porsche – but the ultimate German car.

Nichols’ enthusiasm at the international launch of the 924 was not echoed in the magazine’s December 1977 local test:

In its Mark 1 form the Porsche 924 can be criticised for its high noise level, poor gearing, firm, harsh ride and lack of engine response.

The June 1979 edition had a more positive review. Revised gear ratios made the car feel ‘more responsive and more easily kept at the top end of its power range’. The standing 400 metres took 17 seconds on the way to a top speed of 190 km/h. Amazingly, front and rear anti-roll bars were optional extras as was the five-speed gearbox.

The 924’s shortfall in power was remedied in 1979 when the Turbo variant was introduced. It still used the 1984 cc four-cylinder engine but it got a new cylinder head and different pistons so that the compression ratio could be dropped from 9.3: 1 to 7.5:1. Maximum power jumped from a barely acceptable 125 brake horsepower to 170, while torque increased by almost 50 per cent from 122 lb/ft to 181 lb/ft.

The 944 looked more like serious business, especially in Turbo guise.

Then in 1982 came the 944. The restyled exterior followed the theme set by the limited edition 924 Carrera GT but that car’s fibreglass flares were replaced with steel. Most panels were new but, effectively, the 944 looked like a much more muscular and purposeful 924 – a real Porsche rather than a car which had been destined to carry an Audi or even a Volkswagen badge.

The 944 got a real Porsche engine.

Neither did the 944 use a Volkswagen van engine. Porsche developed a new four-cylinder engine which in simple terms was half a 928’s 4.7-litre V8, although no important parts were interchangeable.  It was equipped with Mitsubishi balance shafts for which Porsche paid the Japanese manufacturer.  Top speed was an impressive 225 km/h, massively faster than the old 924. Much of the rest of the mechanical specification – rear-mounted five-speed transaxle, front struts, independent rear suspension – were carried over.

The first major revisions came in 1985, including a new dash, cast alloy control arms and semi-trailing arms and telephone-style alloys. The 944 Turbo headed up the range with maximum power of 162 kW.

In 1988 the Turbo S was tested by Car and Driver. It did the standing quarter-mile in 13.9 seconds. The factory claimed a maximum speed of 261 km/h.

This is a 1989 944 S2.

The following year brought the S2, which developed 155 kW from a naturally aspirated dual overhead camshaft 16-valve 3.0-litre variant of the 944S engine. This was then the world’s largest capacity four-cylinder production engine.

The 924/944/968 story in Australia was simpler than in Europe, the UK and the US where there was considerable overlap between the types. While the 944 superseded the 924 in Australia, the cheaper model lived on in various other markets. About half of the 13,616 924 Turbos ever made went to the US. In 1980 406 924 Carrera GTs were produced. The 924S was made from 1986 to 1988. The standard 944 was dropped in 1989 and the Turbo lasted into 1991.

When, in 1990, Porsche engineers began working on what was to have been the 944 S3, they realised that the changes were so extensive that this was really a new car. It received its own designation, 968.

The 968 was offered in two versions, far and away the more interesting of which is the Club Sport, which cost $119,900 in 1993. The ‘standard’ coupe cost $139,900 and preceded the CS to market by more than a year. By comparison, the least expensive 911 was $179,200. This Club Sport reminded us – if we needed reminding – that Porsche had always had a racing focus. Pleasant enough as the 968 was, it lacked focus and carried too much weight. In a two-car comparison against the Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo, the 968 (four-speed Tiptronic) was outclassed on performance, requiring 9.1 seconds to reach 100 km/h while the Mazda took 6.8. The standing 400 difference is equally striking – 16.5 @ 141 km/h to 15.0 @ 150.

The 968 Club Sport was a racer with a rego label as much a true Porsche as its 924 forebear arguably was not.

The Club Sport shed not only $20K and 50 kg. Out went the occasional rear seats. A pair of racing capsule seats and a smaller steering wheel delivered a clear message of intention. Huge brakes from the 911 Carrera RS sat beneath body-coloured 17-inch rims, spanning 7.5 inches at the front and an awesome nine inches at the rear.

There was no change to the 3.0-litre 16-valve four-cylinder engine, which produced 176 kW at 6200 rpm and 305 Nm at 4100 rpm, but it ran through a six-speed manual transmission. Problem solved: it raced through the 400 metres in 14.95 seconds, after despatching the 100 km/h sprint in seven seconds flat.

The Club Sport engine was unchanged but this adroit machine could easily have handled more power.

I attended the press launch of the Club Sport at Eastern Creek, a circuit with which I was very familiar and on which I had done quite a lot of long-distance racing. This Porsche felt like a pure-bred race car with quicksilver responses, no discernible body roll and a pleasingly pared-back feel.

In summary, all these four-cylinder front-engined Porsches deliver some of the magic associated with this revered name. But while the 924 had its origins as a Volkswagen sports car, the 968 Club Sport was a thoroughbred Porsche and highly desirable machine in the company’s Rennsport tradition. If you’re wondering who invented the Club Sport formula, wonder no more.  Porsche produced 17 ‘RSH’ homologation 2.7-litre 911 Carrera RS cars in 1972. Perhaps no other automotive company has ever worked so hard at developing a basic design, usually from a fairly basic starting point.  We think of the 911 in these terms, but the transformation from the underpowered though interesting 924 through the desirable 944 to the delectable 968 CS is at least equally remarkable.