951nderful Handling: 1987 Porsche 944 Turbo
The Porsche 944 Turbo — known as the 951 from 1985-1988 and from 1988-1991 as the 951S — continues to be one of the better deals in turbocharged cars with the Porsche crest on the hood. Forget getting into a 930 Turbo for less than a Saudi King’s Ransom (seriously, in 2013 the Hagerty value for a condition 3 example was $35k, today that same car goes for $190k…not a typo). In the same time the 944 Turbo Hagerty value has gone up a bit, but there is still plenty of room for growth. Find this 1987 Porsche 944 Turbo offered for $8,700 in Holyoke, MA via craigslist. Tip from Jdah.
The 944 design was a product of Harm Lagaay (who was also the designer of the 924) and it is a design that has aged well. The massive muscular fender flares look just as good today as they did when new, and the phone dial wheels look great on this one.
The Porsche 944 Turbo was powered by a 2.5 liter version of the basic
944 engine that has been turbocharged and intercooled to produce 217
horsepower and 243 ft-lbs of torque. The Turbo also added a revised
front fascia, bigger brakes all around, stiffer suspension and a
strengthened manual transaxle gearbox.
See another future classic Porsche for less? tips@dailyturismo.com
This one might be a good buy…
Assume the price can be knocked down a bit since it is not an auction.
The owner is obviously a Porsche enthusiast since he bought a 911. So he probably wanted his 944 to perform optimally. The gauge installation does not invoke confidence, but it was added none the less. (probably oil pressure) I am guessing a shop doing the repairs did the gauge installation and a shop usually don't have time for a science project to make a slick installation.
Since he has bought the 911 without selling this 944 he probably had the means to maintain it properly. He may be a checkbook mechanic.
So this car could be a good candidate to be a weekend car for half the year. So you would put about 4,000 miles a year on it. Open a savings account an drop $1500 a year in it as a reserve for a major repair. Do maintenance out of pocket. As it approached 165,000 miles or 5 years I would re-evaluate if I sell it before the scope of the repairs get deeper or if I liked the 944 so much that I would be willing to invest in the car as needed. Your reserve fund (remember that) will probably dictate your decision. If you had 5 years of no major events you now have $7500 and may want to keep it. If your reserve fund is near zero, then it is probably a sell while swearing off German iron, or just swearing. Maybe saying things like "Miata is the always the answer".
It looks pretty straight but that paint to me is off should have gone for the Maaco DLX……. lol
Given the zip code, I'm surprised the Hack Mechanic is not all over this one.
That is the ugliest shifter in the world. I've seen that same style shifter in two car ads lately. It looks scrotal. I'd sooner take a ball of duct tape, or no shifter at all.
In other news, I have no idea how good a 951 is to drive despite owning one for a couple years. I can tell you they are not easy to work on, and it makes perfect sense that somebody might want to swap in an LSx.