Porsche 924 - History

History

The 924 was originally intended to be Volkswagen's flagship coupé sports car and was dubbed "Project 425" during its development. At the time, Volkswagen lacked an internal research and design division, and Porsche was doing the bulk of the company's development work, per a deal that went back to the 1950s; in keeping with this history, Porsche was contracted to develop a new sporting vehicle with the caveat that this vehicle must work with an existing VW/Audi I4 engine. Porsche chose a rear wheel drive layout and a rear-mounted transaxle for the design to help provide 48/52 front/rear weight distribution; this slight rear weight bias aided both traction and brake balance.

The 1973 oil crisis, a series of automobile-related regulatory changes enacted during the 1970s and a change of directors at Volkswagen made the case for a Volkswagen sports car less striking and the 425 project was put on hold. After serious deliberation at VW, the project was scrapped entirely after a decision was made to move forward with the cheaper, more practical, Golf-based Scirocco model instead. Porsche, which needed a model to replace the 914, made a deal with Volkswagen leadership to buy the design back.

The deal specified that the car would be built at the ex-NSU factory in Neckarsulm located north of the Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart, the Volkswagen employees would do the actual production line work and that Porsche would own the design. It became one of Porsche's best-selling models, and the relative cheapness of building the car made it both profitable and fairly easy for Porsche to finance.

The original design used an Audi-sourced four-speed manual transmission for the 924 mated to VW's EA831 2.0 L I4 engine, subsequently used in the Audi 100 and the Volkswagen LT van (common belief is that the engine originated in the LT van, but it first appeared in the Audi car), as well as in the AMC Gremlin, Concord, and Spirit. The engine used Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection, producing 95 horsepower (71 kW) in North American trim. This was brought up to 110 horsepower (82 kW) in mid-1977 with the introduction of a catalytic converter, which reduced the need for power-robbing smog equipment. The four-speed manual was the only transmission available for the initial 1976 model. An Audi three-speed automatic was offered starting with the 1977.5 model.

European models, which did not require any emissions equipment, made 125 hp (93 kW). They also differed visually from the US spec model by not having the US cars' low-speed impact bumpers and the round reflectors and side-marker lamps on each end of the body.

A five-speed transmission, available in normally aspirated cars (type 016) starting in 1979 and standard on all turbos (type g31), was a dog-leg shift pattern Porsche unit, with first gear below reverse on the left side. This was robust, but expensive due to some 915 internal parts, and was replaced for 1980 with a normal H-pattern Audi five-speed on all non-turbo cars. The brakes were solid discs at the front and drums at the rear. The car was criticized in Car and Driver magazine for this braking arrangement, which was viewed as a step backward from the 914's standard four-wheel disc brakes. However, four-wheel disc brakes, five stud hubs and alloys from the 924 Turbo were available on the base 924 as an "S" package starting with the 1980 model year. Also, standard brakes could be optioned on the turbo as a cost-saving measure.

The overall styling was created by Dutchman Harm Lagaay, a member of the Porsche styling team, with the hidden headlights, sloping bonnet line and grille-less nose giving the car its popular wedge shape. The car went on sale in the USA in July 1976 as a 1977 model with a base price of $9,395. Porsche made small improvements to the 924 each model year between 1977 and 1985, but nothing major was changed on non-turbo cars. Turbo charged variants received many different, non-VW sourced parts, throughout the drive train, and when optioned with the m471 disc brake package and forged 16" wheels, the car was twice as expensive as a standard model.

J. Pasha, writing in Excellence magazine, at the time, described the 924 as "the best handling Porsche in stock form".

While the car was praised for its styling, handling, fuel economy, and reliability, it was harshly written up in the automotive press for its very poor performance, especially in its US spec cars. With only 95-110 hp, rapid acceleration was simply not an option, but the Porsche name carried with it higher expectations. When the 924 turbo models came out, Car and Driver magazine proclaimed the car "Fast...at Last!" The later 924S had performance on par with the turbo, but at much improved reliability, and less cost. The 81 and 82 Turbos and the associated special variants are garnering interest in collector circles; and while many still exist, excellent examples of the cars are quite scarce as of 2009.