Parked Since 1990: 1980 Porsche 924 Turbo
One of my favorite underappreciated classics at the moment is the Porsche Type 931, otherwise known as the 924 Turbo. It has all the hallmarks of a future collector car that we all should have purchased when they were cheap, from its limited production numbers to more than respectable performance out of the box. This example is listed here on Barn Finds Classifieds and is apparently a California garage find that has been parked since 1990.
I recently opined about cars that have found their ceiling and will likely never clear it, with my post about the AMC Eagle wagon 4×4. It was basically saying that cars and trucks have a tendency to get hot and what happens after that moment determines if there’s more gas in the tank. I believe the 931 has the potential to keep going, for a few different reasons I’ll get into below. In regards to this car, I love the light fern green paint and the BBS-style wheels that came on certain batches of the 924 Turbo.
As far as why the 924 Turbo is a smart buy (in my opinion), it can be summarized by the following points: it’s a limited-production Porsche that actually packs serious performance gains over the standard 924. Second, the upgrades it features represents seriously impressive tuning for the era in which it was made, yielding out-of-the-box performance that’s still impressive today. Finally, it got all of the other classic, high-performance model upgrades, like these gorgeous sport bucket seats with generous side bolsters.
Now, some 924 Turbos were christened unreliable due to owners not understanding or following proper warm-up/cool-down procedures when handling a sensitive, turbocharged engine. The odometer indicates this 924 Turbo saw over 82,000 miles before being parked, which is as good of an indicator as any that it was actually driven and possibly maintained. That’s not to say it doesn’t still have some unforeseen mechanical issue that led to its last owner parking it indefinitely, but the overall condition points to perhaps a less worrisome reason for it being parked. Does anyone else feel the same way about the Porsche 931?
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Comments
Agree Jeff. As a former 924 owner I consider the cars one of the best drivers ever made. The turbo is just the icing on the cake.
Thanks Jeff, I have said before my preference would be a 944 due to the better powertrain and better interior. However I love this color combination and think it’s pretty special being a turbo. Messaged the seller if a title is guaranteed then I’m all in.
Yes, I have a 924S Special Edition, in some ways maybe the ultimate 924 by the numbers, but the Turbo definitely has more cool factor, with the NACA duct and extra vents in the grill, also better color combinations and wheels.
I prefer the 924 to the 944 looks wise.
Wonder if it has an engine since there isn’t any under the hood pictures? Just saying.
The problem is they don’t look like a Porsche. It looks like a Japanese-French automaker designed it.
This car is currently being auctioned, see below. I wonder if the person who listed it here is trying to flip it to a buyer on barn finds before they’ve even won the auction?
https://www.proxibid.com/Collector-Cars/Classic-Vintage-Cars/1980-Porsche-924-Turbo/lotInformation/78641343
No, it’s the same company selling it. I guess they use multiple auction sites and combine the bids right at the end. Strange way to do it.
Just a German money pit! If you want performance, just get any of the plenty 5.0 Mustang GT or Z28 Camaros. Just about the same footprint for at least half the maint costs.