Last Monday I had to take my wife’s car to my mechanic for some maintenance work. While waiting for the car to be completed, I walked around his lot and noticed the mechanic had a couple of old  Porsches on jack stands, one black and one red. I went to ask him more about these cars and that is when he showed me his personal car, a 1985 Porsche 944 that he converted into a turbo version.The 944s on jack stands were his parts cars, the black was his engine donor, and the red, his body donor. As I was walking around his car, he was told stories of his modifications, the people (especially “kids”) who tried to race him, and the legend that was his 944-T.

need no words...

I totally forgot how much I used to love the 944. The front-end of these cars and their overall unorthodox design separates them from the Porsche usual suspects (911 body style). The 944’s overall design looks more to me like a Japanese design sport car , a perfect example would be the Mitsu Starion and especially the Mazda Rx7.

Black on black

With a front-mounted engine and rear-mounted transmission, the 2 seater almost gives the car a near perfect weight distribution. With that said, no wonder it is still a popular car to be seen in autocross events.

needs no color to appreciate its beauty.

The 944 was a huge success for Porsche AG. From 1982 -91 the 944 kept Porsche on it’s feet and from avoiding bankruptcy. That is 9 total years, crazy.

The hype of the 944 wouldn’t last forever however. Its popularity died down during 1987 when Porsche made it into a luxury sport car versus when it was first introduced as an “entry level” sport car. It has been over 20 years since it was last produced and the 944 still brings a smile every time i see one on the road especially in my side view  mirror.

Although it will probably not happen, I would love to own a 944 one day. This Porsche is on my eye-candy classics list because its parts are hard to find or probably extinct, making it one car to tune. Maybe one day.

-mark@mayday