Do you like the Porsche 944?

[Rainmaker]

I'm in the market for a bit of a project car... I threw the Volvo 240 thread out there awhile back, but not set on that path yet.

I've always been a Porsche guy, my first car was a 1974 Porsche 914, drove it daily for 10 years, been all through the issues on that thing. I actually still have it, but It's just a garage girl at the moment. All that to say, I'm not afraid of regular maintenance on a 30+ year old car. I would love to daily drive something a bit unique, and the 944 has always piqued my interest. Plus, the 944 has one up on the 914 in that it has AC (kind of a must here in Alabama).

I can get into a decent running 944 for ~$5K in my area. Timing belts, weather seals, general all around old-car stuff aside... what are your thoughts on the 944?

[NONOBLITUS]

I think they are cool as hell looking. I’m an American hot rod guy but have a soft spot for the Porsche. They just have that speedy look. Go for it if it’s what you like.

[Siress]

I'd get a roll cage installed before taking it on the highway. Those pillars were not designed with the foresight of modern truck and SUV bumpers being at head height.

[jokers]

Something to consider is they are making full conversion kits for the older Porsche so they can be full electric.

[Cdn_Cuda]

Just make sure to take it to all the Porsche events you possibly can.

[Siress]

Something to consider is they are making full conversion kits for the older Porsche so they can be full electric.

That's awesome. More weight means more energy absorbing crumple zones are needed. Are those included?

[jokers]

Well I would imagine that they are not adding crumple zones or air bags or really anything more safety wise but they are keeping weight in mind the videos i have seen they say that the weight is 1/3 the weight of a Tesla vehicle. They do not use a Tesla battery pack due to weight constraints. I would imagine that while this is a cool idea at a price tag of 50k or a donor Tesla (15-20k) plus the cost of an old Porsche this is not something that everyone can do. It is a cool idea that may have some merit in the future.
Jay's Garage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEZItg7-Khg
The Verge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYrk5r4kiSM

[Siress]

I would make this conversion. Extremely well done.

[RAZRBAKK]

IMHO they are nice looking and drive OK, and that is about where the list of positives end.

They made Jalopniks Top 10 Nightmare Cars, and that was like 11 years ago.

Maintenance is genuinely outrageously expensive, and things just seem to fail more often.

If you're up for a challenge, you probably found it. Otherwise I'd start looking at something else.

[Jordan]

Nope. I hate working on 5 year old VAG cars, I don't even want to imagine how nasty something with another 20+ years of neglect would be to work on.


... actually... yes! Document everything! I want to see you suf- I mean enjoy yourself!

🙂

[Chuck E Ducky]

Older Porsche 944 I wouldn’t parts add up quickly. That’s why it’s cheap.

I use to have a 944 Turbo S back in the day loved that car but pricy to fix even then. Maintenance is going to slaughter you even doing the work yourself on any of the older cars. Newer Porsches are very reliable but man when they break parts are super pricy. I would hate to have to buy out of production parts for a Porsche.

[Blackmagic71]

Personally I think 944’s are very cool cars. If you think you can maintain it in driving condition I say go for it.

[Tarsun2]

they are pretty cool but get allota hate from the Porsche purist community. BUT, what was uncool is now cool again and maybe things have changed.
i like them, they have such a classic sports car look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hwt9gTVSYs

i remember one of my buddies in high school had one. slow as all hell. lol
it was no faster than my twin cam engine swapped SATURN SL1...

if youre looking for speed or performance, look elsewhere.
if youre looking for reliability, look elsewhere.
if youre looking for an easy to work on project car, look elsewhere.
if youre looking for fuel efficiency, look elsewhere.

pretty much, get the car for you if you like it.

[Grendel]

Love the 944 because it upsets the Porsche purists so much and it was a "cheaper" alternative to the 928 that I lusted after back in the day. Get it have fun with it and keep us up to date so we can live vicariously through you

[Cunha]

There’s a big difference between a normal 944, and an s2 and a turbo 944.

the better ones are great performance wise but price of parts like others mentioned really sucks.

they’re just cars so you can figure out how to do the work when it’s needed but I’m sure there will be expensive stuff that kills you.

as with most stuff you’re better off getting a better one than a beat up one

[cockerpunk]

i had a 86 turbo. the guy i sold mine too offered to sell it back to me after 3 years, i said no.

it was a very cool car. it was not overall a great ownership experience. mostly the cost of parts is insane. they are at least well documented from a DIY standpoint. so like when you need to fix something, someone has already well documented how to do it.

the non turbos are slow as balls, and they arnt like small, light, nimble either, they are just slow, and pretty big, and pretty heavy. the turbo was pretty fast, fast enough anyway, but they are still pretty big and heavy.

and they are uncompetative in any amature racing series.

they are still, one of the best looking and well proportioned coupes of all time.

[cockerpunk]

honestly, in the porsche department i would buy a 2.5L boxster now a days over a 944. much better driving car, if less "classic"

porsches are amazing in general though. not because the GT3 or GT4 or whatever, if your building a hundred grand car, and you you dont build a perfect car, you fucking suck. but the magic in porsches is that even the base model boxsters and 924s and 914s, were all, all of them, fantastic cars. when your base model car is just a fantastic car, um, you are doing great.

ill own another porsche someday. my old man car is a nice 997.2 C2S. i'm currently casually browsing for a cheap and ratty 996 to build into my next ice car. i might consider a 3.2L boxster, but i really want that pure rear engine for the ice. i also might go NC2/3.