[Auto] History of the Porsche 944: The sports car Volkswagen despised

[G h o s t l y.]

On many occasions, great things come out of chance. Actors or singers who reach the top due to an unforeseen event that turns in their favor, companies that succeed if they know very well why, or cars whose intended destination was very different from what it finally was. This is the case of our protagonist. This is the history of the Porsche 944.
 

To find the origin of this spectacular sports car, not only do you have to look for the trace in another previous model, but you also have to focus on another company. And it is that, if everything had followed its logical order, possibly the Porsche 944 would never have existed.

Porsche 924: the predecessor


 

Beginning of the 70s. At the Volkswagen headquarters, an idea is spinning. The EX-425 project is on the table. The goal is none other than trying to compete with the sports cars that have been launched by Japanese competitors Volkswagen and Audi: Toyota's 2000GT, Nissan Datsun 240Z and Mazda Cosmo.
 

To carry out this purpose, the German company reaches an agreement with an insurance company in regards to sports cars: Porsche. The Volkswagen Group and the Stuttgart company began to collaborate long before they finally joined forces.
 

The order was clear. Porsche had to design and create it. The final vehicle would be a Volkswagen or an Audi. Therefore, it had to have as many parts as possible from the Wolfsburg brand and it had to include a four-cylinder water-cooled engine already existing at Volkswagen / Audi.
 

The Porsche and Volkswagen partnership did not come to fruition due to a number of factors that had nothing to do with the car itself. In 1973, the oil crisis had brought down vehicle sales and the situation called for caution. In addition, at that time they were developing the Scirocco, the great bet to be the sports car of the people. Fears that the two cars could conflict led Volkswagen to backtrack from the project.
 

But, far from ending up in a drawer or directly in the garbage, Porsche had grown fond of it and decided to buy it and take it forward. From this maneuver the Porsche 924 emerged, a car that would serve as an entrance to the brand's universe for many customers. The 924 featured all of Porsche's steering and suspension enhancements, but it kept that original Volkswagen V4 engine, which didn't sit well with a certain audience.
 

The history of the Porsche 944 begins


 

The criticism of the most fanatical to the German sports car brand led those responsible to consider finding a solution to make the 924 a “real Porsche”. This marked the true beginning of the history of the Porsche 944.
 

To make it a reality, the base of the Porsche with a Volkswagen engine was taken and modifications began to be made. The main problem was precisely that: the engine. And it was also the most important thing. For it to really be a Porsche, the main thing was that its engine was too. But here was a problem. The Stuttgart company did not have a V4. The solution? Solomon's, cutting a V8 in half.
 

A Porsche sports car with a Porsche engine



 

As you can guess, it was not as easy as cutting a sandwich. The engine chosen to be split was the V8 from the Porsche 928, which had been developed as a front engine following accusations of dangerous rear-engined cars that attorney Ralph Nader had propagated with great success.
 

The four-cylinder engine achieved a power of 163 hp. Starting in 1986, the version with catalyst remained at 150 hp, which was increased to 160 hp in the 1988 model thanks to its compatibility with super unleaded gasoline. In its last update, which arrived in 1989, the 2.7-liter displacement allowed it to achieve 165 hp of power.
 

In addition, the Porsche 944 immediately had a turbo version that got 220 hp. There was also a gap for the 944 S and S2 and, also for the Turbo S that reached 261 km / h and went from 0 to 100 in 5.5 seconds. It also had its cabria version.
 

The difference is also on the outside



 

In addition to achieving, thanks to its engine, be a "real Porsche", the 944 also showed its differences with the 924 on the outside. The vehicle had a front spoiler with rubber bumpers and, at the rear, it had another square spoiler that was much wider than that of the 924.

The overall image was much sleeker and more aggressive than the Volkswagen-powered Porsche. The sports car was very easy to drive, the ergonomics were improved and it had great advances to make the experience more pleasant.
 

The end of the history of the Porsche 944

Despite its success, in the early 1990s Porsche decided to stop the machines and bring the story of the Porsche 944 to an end. On its way, this peculiar Porsche that had arrived almost by chance had become the brand's best-selling vehicle.
 

However, he had not been able to get the respect of the great purists of the brand. Perhaps that is why Porsche decided to abandon the production of front-engined sports cars with it. Something that, years later, he would recover and that today some of his most successful models present.
 

Despite Porsche's efforts to differentiate it from the 924 and make it a true Porsche, for many it was not enough. But, leaving aside the sentimentalities and focusing only on the car, the Porsche 944 was a real success, a vehicle that combined beauty and performance. Little more can be asked of a sports car that could have been forgotten in a drawer.