PORSCHE 944

A stylish coupé with great performance and handling? That’ll be the Porsche 944, and now is the time to grab one for yourself!

‘The appeal of this classy coupé remains undimmed 20 years on’

Porsche is not a car manufacturer known for getting things wrong. So when it decided to add a fourth model to its line-up, you could be fairly certain that it was going to be a hit. And that’s exactly what the 944 became, with around 163,000 examples rolling out of Audi’s Neckarsulm and Porsche’s Stuttgart plants during a production run lasting almost a decade.

Making its debut at the 1981 Frankfurt Motor Show, the 944 went on sale in April the following year, and while its outline was clearly based on the popular 924, the new model boasted a more muscular aesthetic. The first 944s were powered by a 2.5-litre, fourcylinder engine managing a healthy 163bhp; the Porsche-developed unit avoided the VW references that had dogged the 924, but it wasn’t long before more power was added.

For the 1986 model year, buyers after more punch would have been more than satisfied by the potent 944 Turbo thanks to 220bhp ( later 250bhp), and the improvements kept on coming. The 16-valve 944S offered a normally-aspirated 190bhp; a 2.7-litre motor replaced the 2.5; and the introduction of the 944 S2 introduced a 3.0-litre engine with 211bhp, smoother styling, and a nigh-on 150mph top speed. The last major addition was a sleek Cabriolet before production drew to a close in 1991 to make way for the 968. Fast forward almost 20 years, and the appeal of this classy coupé remains undimmed thanks to a combination of punchy performance, practicality, quality engineering and terrific handling. Such a broad range of talents allows the 944 to entertain with superb balance on twisty roads and handle long motorway slogs with aplomb, and the price of all of this ability is surprisingly modest. You’ll need to dig deeper for an S2 or Turbo, but paying around £5000 for a tidy 16-valve S will feel like a proper bargain.