“It’s not a real Porsche.” I hear this all the time. This is what many owners of expensive, legendary Porsches(looking at you, 911) say about affordable, obscure Porsches(the car pictured above). There is a widespread dismissal of the 924S as being too slow, too front engined, and too accessible to be considered a genuine, red blooded Porsche. To me, it seems hypocritical: the purists seem to forget that their hallowed 911s trace their lineage back to the humble Volkswagen Beetle(which, it begs mentioning, was the brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche and his pal Adolf). But I understand their indignation. The guy in the 911 likely has a Rolex, a beach house, and an inexhaustible supply of Cohiba cigars. I’m a 20 year old punk who makes near minimum wage. We’re both Porsche owners, though. I’d be pissed.
I can also understand their argument as it pertains to the original 924: originally intended to be sold as a VW, it was, for all intents and purposes, a lowly Volkswagen at a Stuttgart masquerade party. Low, sleek, and replete with Porsche badges, this car looked good. It looked fast. It wasn’t. Powered by Volkswagen’s pedestrian EA831 2.0 four-cylinder, the original 924 pumped out a dismal 95 horsepower, and it reached 60 mph in about the time it takes make a lasagna. So yes, based on its totally anemic, totally non-Porsche engine, I would agree that the first incarnation of the 924 is “not a Porsche” in the way Cheese Nips aren’t Cheese-Its and Mega Bloks aren’t Legos.
However, the 924S, introduced in 1986, was different. The 924S came out in an era when S badging wasn’t just marketing, but was actually substantive. The 924S, despite looking nearly identical to the 924, was equipped with the engine of its big brother, the 944—a Porsche-designed 2.5 liter inline four cylinder making around 150 horsepower. This turned the previously dreary moaner that was the 924 into a relatively sprightly little machine, a machine that didn’t feel reluctant to do what Porsches are supposed to do: drive, hard.
Drive hard, yes, but still not particularly fast. Despite the 924S’ modest curb weight of around 2,400 pounds, it was by no means blisteringly quick. 0-60 happened in a little over 8 seconds with the 5-speed manual, and with the automatic, well, like the Porsche product line circa 1944, let’s not talk about it.
It is a bit embarrassing to know that my 924S, in a drag race, would get trounced by a 2018 Honda Odyssey weighed down by a family weighed down with Golden Corral chicken tenders and soft serve. It’s faster than the 924, sure, but in the eyes of many enthusiasts, it’s still slow enough to be relegated to the “wannabe fast” camp of stanced Miatas and tastelessly modified Civics, driven by those who think putting huge spoiler on the rump of a front-wheel-drive sedan is a stroke of genius.
But, as the Miata guys and girls preach, it’s not all about speed. It’s the little things. With good tires, The 50-50 weight distribution enables the 924S to corner hard enough to induce nausea in its passengers, and the ride, not too harsh yet not too soft, would make goldilocks blush. Like any 80’s Porsche, the car is screwed together so tightly and seamlessly that it’s simply peerless among cars of that era. Closing the doors—even after thirty years—produces a satisfying, bank-vault esque clack, and the five speed still feels tight and smooth. There’s also a surprising amount of cargo room to be had thanks to the huge glass hatchback, which also affords the driver superb visibility. This hatchback, however, generates such extreme heat during summer months that even the briefest outing can quickly become a sweaty, perilous dance with heatstroke. Hope your A/C works.
Another hatchback issue that I feel obligated to mention: the rubber seals on the body of the car that meet the hatchback have a tendency to go bad, often pulling away from each other over time and creating a gap through which a surprising amount of exhaust fumes can enter the cabin. In my teenage ignorance, I considered the smell of exhaust that pervaded the cabin upon acceleration as merely an “old car smell” that was perfectly innocuous; charming even. So yeah, anyone contemplating getting one of these should allot at least some of their budget to preserving their brain cells.
These cars attract a lot of attention, which can either be a huge upside or a dealbreaker, depending on your natural disposition and willingness to “talk cars” even when you’re exiting the dentist’s office after a root canal. I’ve been at the opposite pump of a guy in a brand new 911 Turbo, which, with a starting price around 160k, is about 155k more valuable than my humble little “Porsche,” and yet my car garnered all the attention, all the questions and comments, all the thumbs ups, all the inquiries of it’s speed, to which I answered “Yeah, it’s pretty fast” while fixing the 911 guy in a smug stare. I’m convinced that there’s no car as cheap that’s as much of a hit with car people and non-car people as a 924/944.
If you’re bent on getting one of these proletariat Porsches, go for the 1988. That was the final year of the 924S, and also the best. Horsepower was bumped up a bit to 160, on par with that of the 944, which actually made the lighter and more aerodynamic 924S slightly faster than its big brother, topping out a claimed 137 MPH. A nice one can be had for around 5 grand.
Junkyard Jalopies 