BUYING GUIDE: 944
What to be aware of before a test drive.
FWords Dan Furr Photography Dan Sherwood
ollowing in the footsteps of the much maligned 924 and as a more straightforward sibling of the futuristic V8-powered 928 'land shark', the 944 was viewed by many motoring journalists as Porsche's attempt to merge the best of both models. If you’ve flicked to this page, chances are you’re thinking about buying a 944 to call your own. Echoing sentiment expressed elsewhere in this magazine, fast-appreciating prices make this a good time to seek out a modern classic Porsche. After all, how long will a spotless 944 Turbo remain cheaper to buy than a tatty 911 SC in need of a rebuild?
If you’re not bothered about forced induction, the 944 becomes even more of a bargain. At the time of writing, little more than six grand gets you any one of a number of tidy pre or post-facelift coupes or cabriolets, with a choice of Porsche engines ranging from 2.5-litre eight-valvers to three-litre sixteen-valve units.
Launched in 1982 as a purely Porsche project following the joint Volkswagen-porsche parentage of the 924, the wide-quartered 944 not only inherited its basic shape and styling from the older car, but also much of its interior trim. Indeed, anybody stepping into the new Porsche’s cabin space would have noted the 924’s decidedly dated 'square' dashboard and dials. Porsche would get around to updating the 944’s cockpit and exterior styling for the launch of 1986’s 944 Turbo, when forced induction was joined by a redesigned front end and a beautifully presented ‘oval’ dash.
Drivers of naturally aspirated 944s would
have to wait a further three years for these age-defying features to be rolled out across the range, at which point, engines free of forced induction were boosted to three-litres of displacement. It should be noted, the launch model’s 2.5-litre inline-four was briefly enlarged to 2.7 litres prior to the rollout of the three-litre lump, which arrived with a new model designation: 944 S2.
At first glance, this new breed of 944 looked exactly like the Turbo. Power wasn’t far off, either. Where the Turbo kicked out close to 220bhp (an updated Turbo in 1988 added an extra thirty ponies) from its eight-valve beating heart, the S2 produced 208bhp from what was the world’s largest fourcylinder production engine. The S2 also received an updated transmission better suited to the demands of the torquey three-litre unit, which helped the Turbokitted new arrival reach 62mph from rest in just 6.8 seconds, topping out at 150mph. Helping to keep power planted was a sporty suspension package with a desirable cost-option limited-slip differential. Flat-faced Design 90 alloys were fitted as standard equipment.
The S2 introduced a cabriolet to the 944 line-up for the first time, though coupes outsold drop-tops by a ratio of almost three to one. S2 sales on the whole, however, were good, with almost twenty thousand units shifted worldwide in the two years preceding the arrival of the 944’s successor, the 968, in 1991. This was exactly the injection of cash Porsche needed at a time it was in serious financial difficulty.
High-volume production means you won’t have trouble getting hold of a 944 today. Furthermore, a wide range of paint colours and interior finishes were available to Porsche customers when the model was being offered in main dealer showrooms, meaning not only are there plenty of available 944s currently waiting for a new home, you can be choosy about the look of the Porsche you’re hoping to buy. Read through the following pages for an overview of what you should be aware of before arranging a test drive.