While prices for upper-end 356 and 911 Porsche automobiles are approaching those of used Learjets, Porsche made a lot of other Porsches that have seen their share of attention as collectibles in the past decade.  One of the more overlooked is the 924.  Developed in the early seventies and built from 1976 through 1985 and updated for the 1986 through 1988 model run, this Volkswagen project was developed by Porsche.  However, it ended up as a Porsche with a VW/Audi engine yet again.  While the classic car market has traditionally looked down upon the 924, its turbocharged variant has always been collectible with a price to match.  If you are looking for a Porsche investment but are not on the Forbes 400 list, this 1982 Porsche 924 Turbo for sale on Craigslist in Southold, New York may be the right car for you.  This car has emerged from dry storage and has been refurbished as needed.  Is this strong running example of a stage two 924 Turbo with possibly 56,000 miles on it worth the $12,900 asking price?  Thanks to Mitchell G. for the tip!

To understand the 924, you must go back to Volkswagen and Porsche’s symbiotic relationship in the sixties and seventies.  At the time, Volkswagen was one of the world’s largest auto manufacturers, and Porsche was doing a respectable business selling sports cars.  Increasing regulations were making producing a completely new automobile a prospect that few small automakers could survive without help.  Porsche recognized this when they wanted to produce a lower-end car that would generate far more sales than their bread-and-butter 911 and 912 models.  Volkswagen wanted a successor to the Karman-Ghia.  The result was the Porsche 914.  What started as an amazingly informal handshake deal caused no end of grief for both companies in producing the mid-engine sportscar.  In the marketplace, the Volkswagen-powered Porsche was a sales success but looked down upon by the Porsche faithful.  Neither company was happy with how the deal went by the time production ended in 1976.

Despite this acrimony, the two companies forged ahead with another joint project.  Volkswagen wanted Porsche to develop a sportscar for them based upon the inline four-cylinder engine the company produced and sold in conjunction with Audi.  When Porsche did so, the water-cooled car was a radical departure from Porsche’s air-cooled reputation.  The aerodynamic 2+2 featured the VW/Audi four-cylinder engine in the front and a transaxle in the back to aid weight distribution.  Handling, as one would expect, was very good.  The problem was that sporty was not a word in this engine’s vocabulary at that time.  Car magazines and owners cried endlessly about the complete lack of performance with a scant 95 horsepower emanating from its 1.4 liters in the first year of production.  In 1977, 15 more horsepower was freed up when a catalytic converter was added, and some smog equipment was removed.

Even with that bump in horsepower, satisfaction was hard to find.  The remedy was the addition of a turbocharger in 1978.  This brought the engine up to 170 horsepower.  The turbocharged engines were assembled at Porsche rather than being sourced directly from VW, and many of the internal parts were beefed up to handle the added stress.  Turbos were only available with Porsche’s five-speed manual transmission with first gear down and to the left in a “dogleg” pattern instead of the standard 924’s conventional five-speed shift pattern due to the increased stress of the turbo’s power.  The added weight necessitated some suspension changes, and the only dead giveaways that you had purchased the turbocharged version were a NACA duct in the hood to vent heat from the turbocharger, four vents in the front panel, and a spoiler around the back hatch.  In 1981, changes to the turbocharger resulted in a bump to 177 horsepower.  In Porsche nomenclature, these are considered “Series Two” cars.

One of the biggest obstacles to sales was the unfavorable exchange rate for German automobiles.  This caused the 924 to be far more expensive than comparable cars from the United States and Japan.  Still, the model soldiered on.  When VW dropped the inline-four, Porsche had no choice but to install their in-house inline four-cylinder engine from the 944 line into a revised 924S for 1986.  Given that the 944 was built with the same body structure as the 924, the change was easy.  This shift did spell the end for the 924 Turbo, as Porsche felt no need to offer the new engine with a turbocharger in their budget line while trying to sell more upmarket 944s and 944 Turbos.  By 1988, the much improved but still maligned 924 faded into history.

Most Porsche enthusiasts consider the 1986-1988 cars to be the most desirable of the 924 lineups.  However, the Series Two 924 Turbos would be a close second.  Performance on these cars was considered to be much improved, and they handled as a Porsche should.  Low production numbers combined with a low survival rate make these cars rare to see today, especially in running condition.  Many feel that rapid depreciation once they left the lot put them in the hands of people who wanted a Porsche but didn’t understand how difficult and expensive upkeep is on such a vehicle.  It didn’t help that these early turbocharged engines were intolerant of abuse either.

So, finding a 924 Turbo in this condition is unusual.  The seller gives us several pictures, but few words.  As previously mentioned, the car has 56,000 miles on the odometer with the caveat that the true mileage is unknown.  The car has emerged from a long period of dry storage and has been refurbished as needed.  The seller has kept records of these repairs and will provide them upon request.  As it sits, we assume that the car runs and drives because the seller states that it “runs strong.”  There are no glaring problems indicated in the photographs, but it would have been nice to see a few shots of the engine and the undercarriage.

As always with such a vehicle, it would probably be a good idea to have a Porsche mechanic check the car out from stem to stern.  Even if it is a version of an entry-level Porsche, there is nothing entry-level about keeping such a car on the road.  If it passes inspection with flying colors, the current realities of the market would dictate treating this as an investment car first and a fun sportscar second.

Have you ever owned a 924, 924 Turbo, or 924S?  What was the experience like?  Please share your memories in the comments.