Needy 931: 1980 Porsche 924 Turbo

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While the Porsche 924 is a take-it-or-leave-it car for many, the turbocharged example makes picking one up as a project a more compelling argument. This example is said to retain lots of original details after many years with one owner, but it does have mechanical faults and cosmetic damage to fix in its next go-round. Mileage is low and the starting bid seems reasonable, but there’s no action yet in the listing here on eBay.

The seller notes this example was acquired from the grandson of the original owner. Because I’m a bit of a softy, I could never let a car like this go if it belonged to my grandfather (who clearly has enthusiast blood running through his veins). The Turbo does turn over but doesn’t run at the moment; the seller has also thrown a bunch of new parts at it apparently with no change in its ability to start (fuel pump, starter, distributor, cap and rotor, etc.) Will it run again? Perhaps a timing belt job will help shake things loose.

The interior is intimidating, with loose wires everywhere and the driver’s seat missing. The passenger seat is quite rough, but it doesn’t appear to be rodent damage – more likely the sun caused the deterioration. The seller notes that original books and manuals will come with the 924, but no word on whether dealer service books are littered with stamps. The 924 Turbo was a compelling buy at the time, offering performance that was darn close to the 911 SC of the same era. Which would you have bought?

Then again, turbocharging was still an emerging art form at the time, so I wonder just how challenging it would be to sort through this mess. Background reporting indicates the 931 suffered from a somewhat early / crude setup that isn’t the easiest to tune. Still, with that NACA duct in the hood and the original flat-face alloys back on the car, this 924 Turbo will regain the superficial qualities that will make people want to sort out the mechanical issues and use it all day long. With just over 60,000 miles, it seems like a decent buy to me.

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Comments

  1. Dean

    Rough 60k…the fuel disty, challenging as it will be, should be the next move.

    Like 0
  2. Wrong Way

    Would be a very difficult car for the average guy or gal to work on! A great buy for anyone knows the mechanics of the car! Like it was said very early stage of turbos!

    Like 0
  3. BobinBexley Bob in BexleyMember

    Been there, won’t done that again. For the fuel injection system alone.

    Like 0
  4. Sam

    S1 924 Turbo (931) are not a lot more challenging than the N/A really … just a bit different. Electronically, they are way less complex than the S2 but the mechanical side is pretty straightforward. If you can ever score a ride/drive in a sorted one, be sure to accept the offer! 170 HP in a car that weighs about as much as a marshmallow is a recipe for fun! If I lived in US, I would be all over this!

    Like 1

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