This 1983 Porsche 944 has been parked for several years following a headgasket failure in 2006. The 944 is typically a more desirable specimen than its 924 sibling, but given the abundance of either model listed for sale at a given time, this one would be a true labor of love. At least it’s cheap, listed for $1K here on craigslist in Orlando.
The 16-inch Fuchs wheels may be the most desirable part of this 944, but the asking price seems to represent a good value if you’re thinking of a part-out. The taillight lenses, bumpers, glass, and wheels all would sell for a fair amount, not to mention any good, rust-free sheetmetal.
The passenger seat, sadly, looks past the point of reasonable return. The driver’s seat is in far better condition and would bring a few bucks. The door panels don’t look past the point of return, either. The seller provides little information about the 944’s mechanical past other than the failed headgasket, so there’s not much to go on in terms of chassis health.
The seller says it has A/C but I doubt it still works. If the dash is crack-free, that would be a desirable part to hawk, along with the center console stack with the VDO gauges. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find a period aftermarket steering wheel inside, but I doubt it. Drop the price by another $500 and this one starts to make sense. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Brian A. for the find.
Needs everything.
LS swap! Now, that’s out of the way. More of a $500 car and only for parts.
LS swap!!!, now that it’s out of the way, this is likely a 500$ parts car and the wheels are a big part of that
That actually makes sense with this car, if there aren’t too many issues with rust.
Steve R
Too old for an LS. An old LT will fit a first gen car. You need an 87 or later for an LS swap to work well. The guy should sell the wheels for four hundred bucks and scrap the car.
This looks like a complete car with a mechanical issue. The passenger seat needs replacing, but it looks better than a parts car. Admittedly, I don’t know what a running 944 goes for, so maybe it’s not worth the money and effort.
I like this one a lot, but they’re common enough that this one is probably best for parting out, unless you are really familiar with 944s or if you’re happy with a ratty driver or want to make a track car. This is almost certainly a negative-value car since a decent running 944 (like this one) is $5k and a nice 944 is $10-15k. This one is almost certainly not worth a full restoration. If the engine only needs a head gasket, that’s great, but it then needs at least some interior work, and most likely a good handful of other parts from having sat for so long.
These were ugly things! Glad Porsche stuck with the 911 body style all these years.
I think these were very cool looking cars. I’m pretty sure that the drivers seat is probably the passenger seat, and they did a swap?
If I could find one like that (manual) for $500 near me I would take it home.
This is what on that floor
“parked for several years”
Simple math says that it is a dozen. A decade is a long time, and certainly the engine has many more problems than just the head gasket. Blowing one usually means coolant in the cylinder and/or the sump, and that brings corrosion in those places. Yep, this is a Parts Car!
Had an 85 stick car, red of course. Best handling car I ever drove. Always wanted to upgrade to a 928 but never did. IMO this one’s for parts.