The Porsche 924 was an automobile produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1976 to 1988. A two-door, 2+2 seat sports car coupe, the 924 replaced the 914 as the company's entry-level model, and was the model that finally retired the 912. It was the first Porsche model powered by a water-cooled, front-mounted engine to make production, although the similarly-configured 928 was designed before the 924. The front-engine, rear wheel drive arrangement was normal for most other manufacturers, but it was unusual for Porsche, who had previously only used mid or rear-mounted engines of a boxer configuration, all of which had been air-cooled. The 924 was a success, and not only helped to take Porsche out of financial ruin, but created the revenue stream needed to continue building and developing the 911. The 924 was replaced by the 944, but the two were produced together for some time.

History

The 924 was originally intended to be Volkswagen's flagship sports coupe. Volkswagen commissioned Porsche to design the car, who developed a fresh chassis and transmission that would work with an existing Audi I4 engine. They also handled the suspension and the interior and exterior design. Porsche decided on a rear wheel drive layout, and designed a rear transaxle to help provide 50/50 front/rear weight distribution.

Due to growing concern over the oil crisis, Volkswagen put the project on hold, eventually dumping it entirely after their decision to move forward with the Quattro Coupe model instead. Porsche, who needed a model to replace the 914, made a deal with Volkswagen leadership, agreeing to buy the design for 100 million DM. The deal specified that the car would be built at the ex-NSU factory in Neckarsulm located north of the Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart, the Volkswagen employees would do the actual production line work and that Porsche would own the design. It became one of Porsche's best-selling models to date, and the relative cheapness of building the car made it both profitable and fairly easy to Porsche to finance.

The original design used an Audi-sourced four-speed manual transmission for the 924 (initially an automatic transmission was not offered) mated to VW's EA831 2.0 L I4 engine, previously used in the Audi 100 and Volkswagen LT van and producing 95 hp (71 kW) in North American trim. European models, which didn't require power-sapping emissions equipment, made 110 hp (82 kW). The original 5-speed transmission was a "dogleg" Porsche unit, which was subsequently replaced with a normal H-pattern five speed, a three speed automatic transmission eventually became available as well. The brakes were solid discs at the front and drums at the rear. The overall styling was penned by Dutchman Harm Lagaay, a member of the Porsche styling team, with the hidden headlights, sloping hoodline and grille-less nose giving the car its popular wedge shape. The car went on sale in the USA in July 1976 as a 1977 model with a base price of $9,395. Porsche made small improvements to the 924 each model year between 1977 and 1985, but nothing major was changed.

J. Pasha, writing in Excellence magazine, at the time, described the 924 as "the best handling Porsche in stock form".

924 Turbo

Porsche executives soon recognised the need for a higher-performance version of the 924 that could bridge the gap between the basic 924 and the 911s. Having already found the benefits of turbochargers on several race cars and the 1975 911 Turbo, Porsche choose to use this technology for the 924, eventually introducing the 924 Turbo as a 1978 model. Porsche started with the same Audi-sourced 2.0 L I4, and engineered a turbocharger for it from the ground up, helping boost output to 170 hp (127 kW). In order to help make the car more functional, as well as to distinguish it from the naturally-aspirated version, Porsche added a NACA duct in the hood and air intakes in the nose, 15-inch spoke-style alloy wheels, four-wheel disc brakes and a Getrag five-speed, dog leg transmission. Porsche called it 931 (left hand drive) and 932 (right hand drive) internally, much like the Carrera Turbo, which had been "Type 930".

The turbocharged engine allowed the 924's performance to come surprisingly close to that of the 911 SC, thanks in part to a lighter curb weight, but it also brought reliability problems. Intense heat in the engine bay lead to short turbocharger life and turbo-related seal and seat problems. To fix the problems, Porsche released a revised 924 Turbo series 2 (although badging still read 924 Turbo) in 1981. By using a smaller turbocharger running at increased boost and an improved fuel injection system with DITC ignition triggered by the flywheel, reliability improved and power rose to 177 hp (132 kW).

After a successful sales run of both naturally-aspirated and turbo models, Porsche decided to try the 924 as a race car, and set out to develop a modified version capable of running long endurance races. By adding an intercooler, making mass weight reductions and "tweaking" other key areas, Porsche was able to develop the 924 Turbo into the race car they had wanted, dubbing it 924 Carrera and setting out to race it at the 24 hours of Le Mans. In order to comply with the homologation regulations, the 924 Carrera GT and later 924 Carrera GTS were offered as road cars as well, producing 210 and 245 hp (157 and 183 kW) respectively. The ultimate development of the 924 in its race trim was the 924 Carrera GTR race car, which produced 375 hp (280 kW) from a highly modified version of the 2.0 L I4 used in all 924s except the S. Carrera versions were known by model numbers 937 (left hand drive) and 938 (right hand drive).

Production of the 924 Turbo ceased in 1982 (Italy 1984).

Production

3.1 924

* includes 3000 special edition "Martini" cars
† includes 1030 special edition "Le Mans" cars

‡ includes 1015 special edition "50 Jahre Porsche/Weissach" cars

3.2 924 Turbo

* sum total of cars brought into US and Japan
† cars brought only into Italy

3.2 924 Carrera GT (937)

3.3 924S

There was also a sport package for the 924S, brought into the US, for which we have no production data.

3.4 924 Special Production

References

• Wood, J (1997). Porsche: The Legend. Parragon. ISBN 0-75252-072-5.
• Long, B (2000). Porsche 924. Veloce. ISBN 1-901295-85-0.
• 924/944/968 Frequently Asked Questions

External links

• 924/944/968 Frequently Asked Questions
• A fan page for the Porsche 924

Porsche vehicles | Rear wheel drive vehicles | Sports cars

Porsche 924 | Porsche 924 | ポルシェ 924 | Porsche 924 | Porsche 924