One of the unsung heroes of the water-cooled era of Porsches is the 944 Turbo S. While the 944 Turbo is obviously a well-loved 1980s classic, the Turbo S was a different model in its own right. The seller’s car supposedly came from a private estate auction years ago when he bought multiple classics as a package deal. He’s now winding down the fleet and while the Turbo S has been updated in some ways, it will still need the normal mix of servicing for a car that’s seen minimal use over the years. The Turbo S is listed with no reserve here on eBay with bids to just under $12,000.
The Turbo S was limited to around 1,000 examples and featured a host of upgrades over the standard Turbo – but you’d be hard-pressed to notice them from the outside if you didn’t know you were looking at a Turbo S. The first run featured just one color scheme which made it easier to spot (Silver Rose); as the seller points out, the 1989 model year made it possible to add some variety to the color palette, including this striking “Dove Blue” shade of paint that the seller’s car wears. The reason the paint looks so good is because it’s a respray, which the seller undertook in response to sun fading. It’s still surprising to see a brand-new PPG paint job on a car that likely still needs a belt service.
Now, it sounds like the seller bought the 944 Turbo S out of the collection and proceeded to simply store it with his other collector vehicles until it was time to either invest in the maintenance or move it along. He has chosen the latter, which had to be a tough call given the robust upgrades present on a genuine Turbo S. A bigger turbo; Koni shocks; shorter final drive; four-piston Brembo front brakes; chassis reinforcements; and wider wheels and tires all combined to transform the standard Turbo into a machine that was more than capable of hunting down 911s on the road course.
The seller indicates that the Turbo S has some immediate needs, which he’s flagged in the listing. These include a new dash pad; reupholstering of the front seats; and general servicing to address the years the car spent idle with the previous owner. The seller doesn’t provide much detail here, and given it’s a big spread between changing out the brakes versus replacing the clutch, we’d like to know a little bit more about any obvious mechanical needs. The repsray suggests the seller believes this is a car worth investing in, but there’s more to a car like this than just the cosmetics. The 944 Turbo S is a rare bird and the price seems quite fair for the performance capabilities it brings to the table.
No interior pictures! No engine pictures! 944miles on a repaint and worn out interior? For a running driving 944 turbo S it’s worth that if you show up in person and it’s what the seller says it is. I do like the blue but it looks like they spayed the doors off of the car. Maybe it’s just the camera but it looks like a different shade between the door and the rear quarter. I have only driven the turbo and man it was a very fun car to drive. Felt much faster than the HP suggests.
The apparent “different shade between the door and the rear quarter” is probably just a lighting artifact due to the rear box-flare bulge starting right at the door cutline, so there’s really no way to get sunlight falling evenly on both panels at once.
If you instead look at where the door panel transitions to the front fender, or to the small strip of rear fender above the flare, the coloring looks even to me.
Nice car, but if the referenced “maintenance” includes the clutch you are talking about removing the rear mounted transmission and driveshaft tube to get to it. That includes removing the drive axles and shift linkage. If you can do it yourself it’s obviously not expensive except for the cost of the clutch disc and throw out bearing. Send it a shop, another story.
These are finely balanced track weapons. The front to rear balance, fantastic brakes and linear power delivery make it so. Also the aero body shape has aged well and still looks fresh today.
Same with our suspension modified 924. Great fun at autocrosses and track days.
That’s a Turbo not a Turbo S. Turbo S was introduced in 1988 as a limited series of around 1000 only for that year along side the regular 944 turbo . In 1989 Porsche 944 turbo was reintroduced with the same specs as the turbo S . 1989 944 Turbo is basically same as the turbo S of1988 but not produced on a limited basis.
I agree that there are question marks here. Apparently they lost the lower rear body work in the repaint, too. All Turbos have aerofoils below the rear bumpers.
Rare barn find in West Palm Beach, the same place that had a ton of flooding this year, nah no thanks .
I have a 1988 944 Turbo S and they are wonderful cars. One detail though – the 1989 car, though functionally identical, was not sold as a Turbo S, it was called a 944 Turbo. It is also quite rare, but to be technically correct the 1,006 944 Turbo Ss were all 1988 cars. The second half of the 1988 Turbo S production included various colors as well. The silver rose cars had the turbo S option code, the other colored cars had separate option codes for all the goodies.
So this is just a 944 optioned out like a Turbo S. Kinda like asking for a double cheese burger dressed out like a Big Mac?