The Porsche 924 has long been the red-headed stepchild in the company’s lineup. Long considered the “cheap” Porsche and not even on par with the closely-related 944, the 924 has been the throwaway car in the family, and its close ties with Volkswagen certainly didn’t help matters. The 924 Turbo, however, was essentially a completely different sort of car, with numerous under-the-skin upgrades that make it a Porsche worth watching. Find this longtime California garage-find here on eBay with bids to $4,050 and no reserve.
Personally, I have always felt the 931 – as its internal chassis code designates it – has been vastly underappreciated by the Porsche community and certainly the car enthusiast demographic at large. Porsche threw an incredible amount of high-end engineering at the 924 Turbo, effectively making it a brand new car under the skin. While the engine benefits from a K26 turbocharger and Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection, the car was further upgraded with a limited-slip differential, external oil cooler, and more.
The interior got a set of tidy leather bucket seats, power windows and locks, a steering wheel lifted directly from the 911 SC, and a lift-out style sunroof. The chassis also benefitted from numerous enhancements courtesy of the M471 “S” Sport package, which added Koni shocks, 4-wheel ventilated disc brakes, forged wheels in the same style as a 928, bigger roll bars front and rear, stiffer springs, and 5-bolt hubs. This was no merely warmed-over 924; Porsche swung for the fences when building this car, with the engine actually being assembled at the company’s Zuffenhausen plant.
Looks-wise, it’s not that dramatic of a transformation compared to the powertrain and chassis engineering. The flat-faced wheels are a tell, as is the NACA duct in the hood and the vents that run the length of the nose panel. The performance was outstanding, reaching 60 in well under 8 seconds and going on to a top speed just shy of 140 miles per hour. I don’t have the 911’s numbers in front of me, but the 924 Turbo had to have been nipping at the heels of the standard 911 of the day. Perhaps that’s why it didn’t have a longer shelf life? What a cool piece of kit that deserves a proper restoration.
Beautiful car. One note, the steering wheel was introduced in 1974 on the Carrera line of 911s. Liked it well enough in the ’80s to put one in our 914 street rod. Always thought that Porsche waited too long to introduce the turbo version of the 924. Our modified ’77 was a blast to drive and I’d bet this car is too.
“ Perhaps that’s why it didn’t have a longer shelf life?” other than braking the 924 Turbo was practically a match for the 911SC! I’d say you’re right on the money Jeff with an additional caveat that the visual difference between the two wasn’t so significant that the nouveau rich boy racers of the day could tell them apart.
A coworker and friend had one back in the day drove one identical to this-a 2 hour drive from another state each way! We had a pedantic jackass as a supervisor that told him he MUST get a local address within 1/2 drive to the yard or he’d be fired, though the city didn’t require that proviso!
My friend said his biggest regret was he didn’t get to get the fun drive time to gear up and wind down after he rented a room in town to stay at during the week..
Interesting too that he can’t keep it running for more than 5-10 minutes at a time, perhaps that and the AC not being 100% (it was 112* there a few days ago!) accounts for the very reasonable price for this Zuffenhausen hot rod.
Kinda like the 914 history repeating itself?
Bosch Jetronics still fully dependent upon vacuum pressure and not forgiving of dirty PCV or leaks in pressure. The fact it runs and then dies sounds like vacuum pressure relevant to gas tank recirculation vacuum lines. A pinched hose or hose with a crack. Or even as simple as a bad gas tank cap. The human has to become the “OBD” reader. That’s really the main problem with early electronic fuel injection. Not a ‘self-adapting’ set of instructions to contend with worn hoses and dirty sensors. You gotta go through the whole system. Of course after doing so, you’re saving time later understanding what hasn’t been replaced.
5 digit odometer and its before Carfax and autoCheck so your having to take the seller at their word or your own evaluation for the stated mileage nice find
Very poor grammar in the *bay listing makes it hard to read. I had to read the listing three times to figure out what he was saying.
Agree with TomP !
I wondered if that Bosch k- jetronic injection is the problem with running time?
But I suppose there are other small sensors that play a part in that shutdown as well.
Odd that the seller did not remedy that first before listing it…
BF: The performance was outstanding, reaching 60 in well under 8 seconds…”
The performance figures cited by BF are not typical for this car. Car and Driver tested one and got 0-60 in 9.3 seconds and 17.0 in the quarter — that’s in line with Porsche’s own claimed performance figures. They were never “well under 8 seconds” 0-60 but more like 7.7 for an early production version tested in Germany and calibrated to 1979 emissions standards whereas the slower figures were for a regular production car bought in the U.S. that met the tougher 1980 standards. With 143 hp and 147 torque they weren’t rocket ships, let alone a performance near-match for a 911 SC.
Did you miss the part about TURBO VERSION?
Armor-All
Hell, it has a clean gas tunk. What more could you want?
Sold for under $8k. Ridiculous. That was a great buy. Easily worth double the selling price. Obviously someone not doing a good job marketing the car. Try finding anything like it at that price. Not happening! I hope it was the seller who fumbled, but congrats to new owner. As Roger Daltrey said: “I call that a bargain!”