We love the old MotorWeek reviews because they really are the best comprehensive video look at the cars of yore. These guys did not cut corners in their testing and they were methodical in how they did stuff. They always seemed to manage to find the good in things that the rest of us would probably blow off. They rarely took a swipe at a car, even if it was just a light one, but in the case of the Porsche 924S they tested 1987, John Davis and his band of merry men actually kind of hammer this thing. Slowly at first and then with a line that is pretty devastating, in terms of MotorWeek speak.
“Well we should point out that you can get cars with much of their capabilities for thousands less…”
WOAH…..Sound the alarm! That’s a full on bitch slap for these guys, especially in the 1980s. But they were right. This thing was basically a VW/Audi parts bin car that gave them license to stick a Porsche badge on and charge yuppies a ton of money to own for status purposes only. They take the edge off the slap by basically saying, “Hey, it still says Porsche on it, so that’s cool…right? Am I right?”
You don’t see a ton of these cars floating around and we’re guessing that is because they were expensive but not crushingly so to start with so the trickle down and value loss was probably steep. Ending up in the hands of people that thrashed them until they were merely a rolling carcass, they are basically disappeared from the automotive landscape. The ones that are around don’t command a lot of money and they don’t command a lot of performance or notice either so that makes sense.
This is a fun watch and an interestingly critical take on this German “sports car”.
Just another piece of ’80s Eurotrash. You thought the 914 was a steaming pile, Porsche doubles down and brings out this Rabbit powered poser.to delete the yups bank accounts. Who says the Germs don’t have more nerve than a bad tooth ?
I have a rabbit and a 944 (which is basically a hopped up 924) and I can tell you the drive trains are not related in any way other than being inline 4cyls
I have 2 914\’s, a 77 c10, 76 Chevy van, a 77 Dodge B200, a 70 Datsun 521, and a 01 F250 diesel. I must say that the 914\’s are great cars. 4 wheel disc brakes, 5 speed tranny, fully independent suspension, rack and pinion and the roof comes off to make it a convertible. Way ahead of it\’s time, best handling vehicle I\’ve ever driven. All this in 1970.
Is it right to say that Porsche’s only succes is the 911 ? Commercialy and as an icon . They count on the 911 trademark to sell the Boxters and suvs as they use the 911’s look ..
Just another piece of 80’s Eurotrash?Not much performance? Are you old enough to remember some of the crap that came out in the 80’s? 180 hp v8 engines? Topaz and Tempos? Yugos? Anything that could get to 60 mph in l0 seconds or less was fast! The fastest production car according to Motor Week[same source material] 1987 Muscle car test was a Buick Grand National [remember those?] which on an 85 f day ran a 15 second 1/4 mile . the Porsche with a naturally aspirated 4 cyl ran a 16 flat. ONE second slower.! In 1987 dollars the Buick was $17,000 and the Porsche was comparable. The 1987 924s had a Porsche 2.5 engine and other Porsche refinements which made it a decent car. When they said you could get more car for less money they didn’t mean every other car was better but a discerning individual could find some personal performance preference for less money. The early 924’s were underwhelming and maybe worthy of some dissing but the 1987 924s was a decent car and not deserving of the Bangshift bitch slap. Today good ones can be found for$15,000 -$20,000 and junk is a lot less so buy one and go racing! I don’t own a 924 but was annoyed by the somewhat xenophobic write up that seemed out of sync with the conclusions of the video.
I worked for a Porsche/Audi/Alfa dealership in 1985 doing detailing and dealer prep and eventually got to drive and “test” everything they made.
The Dodge Daytona’s had just come out the year before and I was thinking about buying one. The 944s looked similar, the interiors were a lot alike, and they handled and ran basically the same. The major difference was the price. A fully loaded Daytona was about 16 grand and the 944 was around 28 plus the insurance would’ve been about double!!
I never understood why someone would pay twice as much to pretty much get the same thing. I guess it was important for some people to have that fancy key ring in their pocket?!
Tried to find collector Daytona for sale . Couldn’t.
I too was alive and grown in the 80’s . Daytona’s were FWD cars with lots of power but crude with turbo lag and torque steer. I don’t recall seeing a single one one a road race track whereas the 924 /944 had it’s own wildly successfull series that is current today A car is more than just posting good numbers and the Porsches endure while the Daytona’s flared brightly and fizzled into history.
Porsches best product? No. better than the USA crap the big three were shoveling? yes. Detroit finally started getting the message that cars can handle as well as go in a straight line about this time.