1987 Porsche 944 Turbo Project (part 1)
The Porsche 944 is a car that embodies the ethos of the 1980s. A decade driven by material obsession and excess, it was a car to which young yuppie stock brokers flocked. With its prominent Porsche badging, ostentatious fender flares and low-slung bodywork, it won as many hearts as the 911 but still left a bit of cash for some decent Peruvian flake.
I'll admit, I coveted them from the first time I saw them in the mid 80s. They were received by the press as one of most balanced sports cars in production and I sure wanted one. When the turbo version came out in 1986, Porsche had created a car that was a match for their coveted 911 Carrera, as well as contending with the Corvette and Ferrari 328. If this ad didn't make you want one, nothing would:
Fast forward many years and used standard 944s could be had for very cheap prices, but often were beaten to hell and neglected. 944 Turbos held their values much better, so in my obsessive hobby of looking for Porsches I might some day be able to afford, they seemed out of reach.
But to get to the point in the story of my 944 Turbo, we actually have to move forward to the end of the model line. As the 944 styling began to look dated by the end of the 80s, the factory came out with a new version of the car that was going to be dubbed the 944 S3, as a follow up to the capable non-turbo 944 S2. But Porsche deemed the car too far developed from its brethren, so it was called the 968. Built from 1992 to 1995, the 968 was a unique looking car, with hints of 959 and the 993 that was to come in its styling and generous performance from a normally-aspirated 3.0 16 valve engine with an early version of Variocam (variable cam timing that allowed the engine to produce good power throughout the rev range).
This was the car that would galvanize me into action. My brother, ever ready to make my live difficult by finding cool cars for sale to tempt me, said he was going to look at a 968 that was for sale locally. I said I didn't want to go because I knew I would want it! At this point, I had put a lot of time and effort into my vintage Datsun 1600 Roadster, but I was really feeling ready to move into Porsche ownership. Well, against my better judgement, I went with him. Even though it had 217k miles on the clock, the black on tan 968 coupe with 6 speed manual transmission was a revelation to me. It seemed that my brother wasn't going to buy it, so a hasty deal was put together to sell my Datsun to someone I knew wanted it, and the next thing I knew, I owned my first Porsche, for the paltry sum of $3500! And since I felt like I stole it, that's how I drove it.
After a few years of ownership, during which time I really grew to love and respect the front engined/rear transaxle design, the car was unfortunately totaled. Knowing I didn't really want to step back from the performance of the 968, I went in search of an affordable Boxster. This ended with me buying the 1997 Boxster that I still own. But that car will be another story.
Even though I really enjoyed the Boxster, I couldn't quite get the transaxle appeal out of my head and heart. And though I loved the 968, a 944 Turbo was the transaxle car I really wanted for it's classic looks and incredible tunability. Once again, my regular obsession of looking for used Porsches yielded a simple, non-descriptive ad for an 87 944 Turbo. It turned out the car was less than a mile from my house under a carport at an apartment complex. It ran and drove, though it was not boosting well and had a clunky, worn out suspension that was well oiled by the profuse number of fluid leaks from the engine. Perfect! $2500 later, I owned my third Porsche.
Once I had it home, I promptly gave it a good bath and tossed on my old 17 inch Boxster wheels, which had decent tires. All of sudden, it was looking pretty good!
But it would be folly to think that a 30 year old $2500 Porsche was going to be ready to use. Though truthfully, I did drive it around in that state for while. But I had a vision for this car, and I wanted to get going on the process. As mentioned, the suspension was clunking, so I crawled underneath and took a look. One of the sway bushings was completely disintegrated from leaky power steering fluid. A quick peek in the box of parts that came with the car revealed a brand new bushing. Thirty minutes later and things actually felt and sounded much better. Maybe this wouldn't be so expensive after all...
