Porsche 924
The Porsche 924 was an automobile made by Porsche from 1976 to 1988. It was a two door, 2+2 seat sports car coupe that replaced the Porsche 914 as the company's entry level model. It was the first Porsche model to feature a water-cooled, front mounted engine. This arrangement is normal for other manufacturers but at the time was unusual for Porsche.
History
The 924 was originally intended to be a Volkswagen model co-developed by Porsche. However, when Volkswagen cancelled the project Porsche bought the design and decided to sell it as a model of their own. This was done on the condition that the 924 would be built at Audi's Neckarsulm factory (Audi is part of the Volkswagen Group). In fact, the 924 used many Audi components including the engine block and the gearbox. It had rear wheel drive and featured a rear transaxle to provide 50–50 weight distribution.
The original model had a four speed gearbox and was powered by a 2.0 litre straight-4 engine that produced 125 bhp at 5800 rpm. All North American versions had lower power output due to stricter emissions regulations. The brakes were discs at the front and drums at the rear.
Porsche soon recognised the need for a higher-performance version so in 1978 they introduced the 924 Turbo, first in Europe and six months later in North America. It featured a turbocharged version of the same engine that produced 170 bhp at 5500 rpm, rising to 177 bhp (132 kW) from 1981 onwards. Other differences to the base model included a Getrag five speed dog leg gearbox, all round disc brakes, air intakes and vents on the bonnet and spoke style alloy wheels. It was known internally as the 931 (left hand drive) and 932 (right hand drive).
The 924S, introduced in 1986 featured a detuned version of the 2.5 litre engine from the Porsche 944.
The 924 was a success and helped to take Porsche out of financial ruin. It was replaced by the Porsche 944 although the two were produced together for some time.
