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porsche 944 s2 1990 side view

Porsche 924, 944 and 968 History

The Porsche 944 owes it's heritage to a contract held by Porsche in the early 1970's to fully develop a new Audi sports coupe (model 477) for Volkswagon-Audi to replace the jointly marketed VW-Porsche 914. Porsche's design team was headed by Tony Lapine, whist the 924's design was by Harm Lagaay. Upon completion of the contract (code-named EA425), VW-Audi (VAG) found itself in financial trouble and decided to shelve the project. Porsche saw the potential of the "almost ready to market" EA425 to broaden their model base and market appeal, negotiated with Audi and bought out the rights to build and release the 4-cylinder front-engined water-cooled model as the Porsche 924. Porsche started development on EA425 after their own 928 project was already past the concept stage. Therefore, it made sense for the EA425 to share common design concepts, although, WV-Audi had briefed Porsche to incorporate as many VAG parts as possible. The 924 was effectively a scaled-down, lower-cost version of the 928 concept.

The most outstanding technical feature of the new Porsche 924 (and 928) was the placement of the transmission which was attached at the differential directly before the rear axle. This "transaxle" arrangement was used for better weight distribution and achieved a near 50/50 front/rear ratio. The transaxle was 1st used in 1951 by Lancia and later re-discovered by Ferrari and used by Alfa Romeo in the Alfetta. However, Porsche engineers refined the transaxle arrangement by locating the clutch directly behind the engine and connecting the drive shaft thru a "torque-tube" to the rear transaxle.

924

In 1976, the first Porsche 924's were assembled under contract by Audi at their Neckarsulm plant (50km from Porsche's Zuffenhausen plant) using many VW-Audi components. The engine was an Audi 2.0 litre unit, based on the engine used in the then current Audi 100 and VW LT31 van and was also sold to GMC for their Gremlin. For use in the 924, the engine was fitted with Bosch's K-jetronic fuel injection system. The gearbox was made by VW's Kassel plant. Many other suspension, steering, instrumentation, switchgear and trim components were shared with the VW Golf/Rabbit and Beetle.

The Porsche 924 was immediately applauded for it's good looks and excellent handing due to it's near 50/50 front/rear weight distribution achieved by it's front-engine, rear transaxle gearbox platform. But the 924 was not always regarded as a true Porsche due to it's VW-Audi heritage. Over the years, Porsche improved the popular 924 and released the more powerful 924 Turbo.

931 (1979-1983)

931 is the factory designation for the 924 Turbo. The 924 Turbo has the same bodywork as the 924 with the exception of grills along the front and an air intake on the hood.

932 (1979-1983)

932 is the factory designation for the RHD (Right Hand Drive) 924 Turbo.

933 (1979)

A limited edition 924 based car developed for racing by the Sports Car Club of America.

937 (1981)

937 is the factory designation for the 924 Carrera GT. The Carrera GT was a limited edition of 924's developed for racing. They were fitted with wide firbreglass fenders which were to be adopted by the forthcoming 944.

938 (1981)

938 is the factory designation for the RHD (Right Hand Drive) 924 Carrera GT.

939 (1981)

939 is the factory designation for the 924 Carrera GT Le Mans.

944 (1982-1985)

In 1982, Porsche released the 944 which was inspired by the 924 "Carrera GT". The 944 was fitted with a new 4-cylinder 2.5 litre engine developed and built at Porsche's Zuffenhausen facility. This new "all Porsche" engine instantly won the respect of motoring journalists who had often been critical of the 924's lack of engine performance. To overcome vibrations sometimes encountered with in-line 4-cylinder engines, the smooth and powerful new 944 engine employed 2 balance shafts (originally patented by Mitsubishi but greatly improved by Porsche). The engine was described by Porsche as being basically half of the 928's V8 engine. The bodywork and final assembly of the 944 was still carried out at Neckarsulm. Although the 944's aggressive styling was well received, the interior still retained the original instrumentation from the 924.

944 (mid 1985-1987)

In mid 1985, the interior was completely upgraded and revised. The 944 had finally distanced itself from it's 924 sibling and gained an identity all of it's own.

porsche 944 s2 oval dashboard 85.5

944S (1987-1988)

Porsche has a tradition of continual development and always reserve the "S" designation for their more powerful and improved models. The "S" which stands for "Super" made it to the 944 badge in 1987 when the 944S was released which had a 16-valve engine.

944S2 (1989-1991)

The 944S2 was released in 1989 and took the normally-aspirated 16-valve 2.5 litre engine of the 944S and increased its capacity to 3.0 litres. The S2 also adopted many features from the 944 Turbo (951) including the more aerodynamic bodywork, improved suspension and brakes. Many of the popular options such as ABS brakes, electric seats, central locking & alarm were included in the 944S2 as standard equipment and a cabriolet version became available. During 1991, production of the 944S2 was moved from the Neckarsulm plant leased from Audi to Porsche's Zuffenhausen (Stuttgart) plant where the last 944S2's were assembled alongside the V8 928 model.

945

945 is the factory model identification for Right Hand Drive 944 models. All RHD specific parts are prefixed with 945 instead of the usual 944. RHD models built after mid-1985 have the battery located in the rear left luggage compartment cubby.

951 (1985-1991)

951 is the factory designation for the 944 Turbo. The 944 Turbo is identical in external appearance to the 944S2 except the rear badge says only Turbo instead of 944S2.

952 (1988)

The more powerful 1988 944 Turbo S is often incorrectly referred to as the 952. It appears this 952 designation was adopted by owners due to the M52 engine number prefix. Others speculate that 952 is actually the factory designation for the rare 944 Turbo Cabriolet. However, Porsche part numbers show that 952 was, in fact, the factory designation for all right hand drive 944 Turbos.

968 (1991-1995)

The S2's successor, finally designated the 968, was put into production in late 1991. Porsche claimed that 968 was 80% changed from the 944S2 and incorporated Porsche's new "VarioCam" technology. The 968's body styling was a blending of the 944 and it's larger brother, the 928. Production continued until the last 4-cylinder front-engined Porsche 968 rolled out of the Zuffenhausen plant in July 1995 ending a successful history of front engined Porsche automobiles. Strong competition from Japanese car makers (Mazda RX-7 and others) had forced Porsche to move upmarket and concentrate on the lower volume, rear-engined 911 models which were less exposed to market competition. Porsche's experience with water-cooling, DME and other technologies pioneered in the 944's can be seen in today's 996's and Boxsters.