For many car enthusiasts, it’s not unusual to buy a specialty vehicle to be purchased solely because it has some rare feature, like an unusual/desirable option or low miles. In the case of this donated Porsche 924, it appears to be sporting a very rare color known as Colibri Green Metallic. I had to look this up, and according to one of the official Porsche color databases, this is one of the most elusive colors you can find. The 924 is otherwise somewhat low in the desirability column, but the color alone makes it worth saving. Find it here on eBay with no reserve and bids to $950.
Now, I realize cars can always be repainted, but this so looks like Colibri Green Metallic. There were only a handful of greens offered during the 924’s production run, and they’re all distinctive in their own right. Since this is almost certainly a California car, there’s no rust, and it sports lots of original features, like its gigantic side marker lenses and original alloy wheels. The bodywork actually looks pretty sound, and really the only feature giving me some pause are the rocker panels, which appear to be a different color or perhaps covered up with an adhesive material of some kind.
The other clue that this color is likely original to the 924 is the matching paint inside the door jams. It looks consistent from the outside to the inner channels. The automatic is a serious bummer and these cars are by no means worth performing a manual swap on. The listing notes that the rear wheels are locked up, which could be due to a simple issue with a parking brake cable or seized brakes, or there could be something more nefarious happening with a faulty transmission. This 924 sports the desirable three-gauge pod cluster in the upper part of the center stack.
Again, we see more matching paint under the hood, so I’m more and more convinced this is the original paint job. The listing notes they did get the car to fire off with igniter fluid, but it promptly shut off after that point. If this 924 were a manual, it would absolutely be worth saving and putting some money into; with the automatic, I’m not sure. In 1978, the 924 produced 110 b.h.p. and 122 lb.-ft. of torque, which wasn’t much but it likely feels even more underpowered with the automatic. Still – Porsche people love their special colors, and this one looks pretty rare.
True Porsche-philes turned their noses up at the 924 when it first was released. “Front drive? Water-cooling? Inline 4 cylinder? Eeek! That’s not a Porsche it’s an Audi!” It was also cheaply made and they still snub it as a wannabe. Porsche tried to patch things up with their 928 a couple years later, and it was a much better “Porsche”.
The 924 was always RWD.
Even with a stick shift I’m not sure this would be worth more than a parts car.
“one of the most elusive colors you can find” – that’s a good copywriter’s way to say it.
Kermit, yes, cars, no.