Here is what I know about the genesis of the 924, and hopefully I am remembering it correctly.
Audi and VW commissioned Porsche in the 1970’s to design a modestly-priced sports coupe that they could sell with their badges on it. About the time the design and testing were wrapping up the Arab oil embargo hit and VW got cold feet and pulled out of the project. (Not sure what happened to Audi).
Rather than scrap the project, Porsche paid VW $60 million for all the rights designs whatever and built it themselves under their name. I believe the first model year was either 1976 or 77. The US version had an underpowered engine with a 4-speed that really wasn’t all that great performance-wise. It had a VW engine from one of their sedans.
The 924 was noteworthy for two reasons for Porsche. It was the first Porsche to have a front-mounted engine and also the first engine that was water-cooled. Apparently these were radical ideas for the 1970’s.
Anyhoo. Porsche continued to build on the design, bringing out a turbocharged model, increasing the horsepower, adding a 5th speed to the tranny, upgrading the interior slightly and so on.
Around 1982 they introduced the 944, which had an actual Porsche engine wrapped in bulbous body panels and fender skirts to make it look more aggressive. For a period of time in the mid 80’s Porsche stopped selling 924’s in the US altogether.
In 1987 they introduced the 924S model. It is essentially a 944 with the regular 924 body panels. It has the 944’s engine, although “detuned” by 10 horsepower.
I have read the 924S was actually faster than the 944 because of how much heavier the 944 was. Hah.
In 1988 production of the 924 came to an end. The 944 lived on until 1991 or 92.
The sales numbers for Porsche were pretty good. They sold a bunch of the cars not just in the US but worldwide. Being the “affordable” Porsche gave lots of people a chance to own an icon. The current affordable Porsche is called the Boxster and clocks in around $50k.
Check out this wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_924
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