PORSCHE

944

The Porsche 944 was the car that finally fulfilled the promise of Porsche's front-engined, water-cooled transaxle range. It evolved directly from the 924, which had used a humble Audi-sourced engine, but the Porsche 944, launched in 1982, was a far more serious machine, powered by a proper Porsche-designed 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine that was effectively half of the 928's V8, complete with balancer shafts for remarkable smoothness. Clothed in a muscular, flared body penned in the Porsche style, with the engine at the front and the gearbox mounted at the rear in a transaxle, the Porsche 944 enjoyed near-perfect 50-50 weight distribution and handling that was widely praised as among the best of its era. The range grew quickly: the formidable Porsche 944 Turbo arrived in 1985 for the 1986 model year with around 220 horsepower, followed by the high-revving 16-valve 944 S, the enlarged 944 S2 with a 3.0-litre engine, and the rare, hard-edged Turbo S of 1988 with 247 horsepower. The Porsche 944 was a sales triumph and a fixture of 1980s culture, helping carry Porsche through a difficult decade. Production ran until 1991, when the model evolved into the 968, and a total of 163,192 examples of the Porsche 944 were built across all versions. Long undervalued as an affordable used Porsche, the Porsche 944, and especially the Turbo and S2 cars, has become a genuinely appreciating modern classic.