Low Miles: 1981 Porsche 924 Weissach Edition
Porsche is the king of low-production variants. The Carrera Club Sport, the 911R, the 930 LE – we’re barely scratching the surface. Many of its most valuable variants were race-prepared cars, but some were nothing more than selective trim. Here on eBay is a 1981 Porsche 924 Weissach edition, bid to $3051. The odometer shows only 52,000 miles and it is located in Michigan City, Indiana. The Weissach was a trim edition, with brown and cream special seating surfaces, a brown dash, ATS alloy wheels, and a spoiler. The paint color was platinum. (I can understand the wheels and the spoiler, but have trouble connecting the interior colors to Weissach.) Four hundred of these were made for the US, a large percentage of the entire population of 2100 924’s sold in the US for 1981.
The 924 was designed at Volkswagen in a joint venture with Porsche, to be a follow-on car after retiring the Karmann Ghia and the 914. When VW decided to move forward with the Scirocco instead, Porsche purchased the project from VW to fit into its own portfolio as an entry-level offering. With a front-mounted water-cooled engine, rear drum brakes, its early heritage at VW, and a high population of cars supplied with automatic transmissions, the 924 garnered little love from Porschephiles. The early motor supplied in US-delivery cars was a 2.0-liter Audi-based inline four-cylinder with Bosch fuel injection making about 95 hp. By 1980, a higher compression ratio and a new catalytic converter boosted the power to about 110 hp but the car was still not quick, particularly for a Porsche. Adding to the bad news was the step away from the expensive but bullet-proof Getrag five-speed to one sourced from Audi. The seller indicates that after some time in storage, this car’s fuel tank was cleaned, and it has new brakes all around as well as a new master cylinder. It now starts, runs, and stops.
The interior is decent, though the dash has cracks. The pop-up lights, climate controls, and wipers are in working order. Among the gauges, the tach, oil pressure, and ammeter function correctly, but the speedometer and gas gauge do not. The car has an aftermarket radio. The headliner is in great condition. Some faint staining on the rear seats may be dirt or the result of a leaky sunroof. The carpets are faded. The seller notes that the tires are old and should be replaced.
Despite the negative press hounding the car’s introduction, Porsche sold over 100,000 924s of various ilks. The Turbo and the 924S are better performers than the plain Jane version we see here, but nearly any model can be had for $10k to $15k. While this car may need more time and money before it’s up to snuff, the current price is reasonable.
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Comments
Yea these were unloved in the Porsche community and I was one of them. The 2 liter engine was corse and unrefined and the interiors on these cars were biodegradable and started breaking down as soon as they rolled off the dealer lots. Porsche did right by the chassis and made a much better 944 which further improved in 85-1/2 with much needed interior and electrical revisions as well as new suspension pieces. The 968 was the best of the best in this chassis but by then the buying public had moved on.
With a few engine and suspension mods our ’77 proved to be a fast fun car. It was a daily driver as I was in the Air Force and my flight bags fit nicely in the back trunk space. Suspension also allowed for fast times on the autocross course.
I own #179 of the Weissach editions. Not sure how many of the 400 are left. Best guess is 50. This is the first on ebay in 4 years. Mine has undergone full mechanical refurb. They are worth saving, fun to drive, fairly cheap to maintain. It’s the last bargain basement Porsche and this was the rarest version. Buy it, love it, treasure it.
Sentence fragments and poor grammer, hard to understand. On to the next comment.
@TomP – Poor spelling and a judgmental attitude. Not a good look, son …
Not perfect grammar, but what part of the words on the page are hard for you to understand?
Speedometers and Gas Gauges are overrated
We sold our ’78 last year on BaT and got over $7k for it. Dad bought it brand new and it was an actual head turner in our town. This was when sports cars were seldom seen driving amongst all the malaise era sedans and tin can imports.
Is it difficult to change the timing belt?
no, not on the 924
it is easy-peasy
Stop the music. The previous negative comments are based on when the 924 came out fifty years ago. Since then, 924 ownership has experienced a downturn and an then an upturn. Porsche owners of today (2023) have no clue of what a 924 even is, because the current Porsche owner wasn’t even born when 924’s came out. For example: I saw a 2023 911 in the parking lot of the local supermarket a few weeks ago. Just for kicks, I asked the owner where the engine was (front, mid, or rear), he said he didn’t know… So the takeaway from this is that in 2023, the logic of a 924 being a “real” Porsche is long defunct. Let’s bury this archaic method of logic here on Barnfinds and move on.
Hard to understand. On to the next comment.
Price is reasonable as long as the FI holds & does not become problematic. A whole era of cars awaits a prolonged scratching of the head coupled with nickle & diming one to the automotive funny farm extended stay.
I sure think the 924 looks like a much classier car with the spiderweb or snowflake wheels as fitted to this car. Things have changed a lot since I bought my first 924, a running driving project for $1000, in 2016. I think I probably could have got it for even less. There was recently one of these on Jalopnik’s Nice Price or No Dice that got a nice price win at $6,000 or so with some seller admitted mechanical needs. An unscientific poll for sure, but a good indicator of how far these cars have come.
I know I am in the minority, but I prefer the clean looks of the early cars to the 944 and 968.
Seller of the 924 here…….is now relisted because some dirt bag bid to the moon and then cancelled on me…..so it’s back up if anyone sees this article and is interested. I love the no reserve auction action and absolutely respect the outcome no matter how high or low. So feel free to shoot your shot! It’s a great little Porsche/Audi/VW ride!
Link to the new listing:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/166033279723