Porsche 924: the water-cooled front-engine entry model

The Porsche 924 is a two-door 2+2 coupé produced in Neckarsulm from 1976 until 1988. It replaced the 914 as the entry-level Porsche, although the 912E filled the gap for one year, and it was the first water-cooled, front-engined road-going Porsche and the first offered with a conventional fully automatic transmission.

Porsche 924 at a glance

History of the Porsche 924

The 924 was originally a joint project of Volkswagen and Porsche, run by the Vertriebsgesellschaft, their joint sales company. For Volkswagen it was to be a flagship coupé sports car, developed under the name Project 425; for Porsche it was to replace the 914 as the entry model. Volkswagen had no large sports car development department and Porsche, under a deal going back to the 1940s, was already doing most of its development work, so Porsche was contracted to design the car around an existing Volkswagen/Audi four-cylinder engine.

Porsche chose rear-wheel drive with a rear-mounted transaxle to give a 48/52 front-to-rear weight distribution, the slight rear bias helping traction and brake balance. The 1973 oil crisis, new safety and emissions rules and a change of management at Volkswagen made a Volkswagen sports car less attractive, and the 425 project was shelved and then dropped in favour of the cheaper, Golf-based Scirocco. Porsche, which needed a replacement for the 914, bought the design back, and because the 914 went out of production first, the 912 returned to North America for a year as the 912E.

The deal had the car built at the ex-NSU works in Neckarsulm, north of Stuttgart, with Volkswagen as subcontractor: Volkswagen staff worked the line under Porsche production specialists while Porsche owned the design. The 924 made its debut at a press launch in November 1975 at the harbour of La Grande Motte in the Camargue rather than at a motor show. It was cheap enough to build to be profitable, and although it was criticised for its performance it became one of Porsche’s best-selling models.

The original design used an Audi four-speed manual transmission from a front-wheel-drive car, fitted as a rear transaxle and mated to Volkswagen’s EA831 2.0-litre inline-four. The engine had appeared first in the Audi 100, not in the Volkswagen LT van as is often claimed, and in the 924 it used a Porsche-designed cylinder head with Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection for 125 PS in Europe. American emission rules cut it to 95 hp, raised to 110 hp in mid-1977 with a catalytic converter and a higher compression ratio. The four-speed manual was the only gearbox at first, replaced by a five-speed dog-leg unit; an Audi three-speed automatic was offered from the 1977.5 model, and in 1980 the five-speed became a conventional H-pattern with reverse below fifth.

Sales were hit in 1980 by the strong Deutsche Mark and American inflation, which could make a well-equipped 924 cost twice as much as a Nissan 280ZX. A turbocharged version had arrived in 1978. When Volkswagen stopped making the engine in 1985, Porsche fitted a slightly detuned 944 engine, dropped the Turbo and renamed the car the 924S, and the model ran on until 1988 with just over 150,000 built.

Design and features

• First water-cooled Porsche: front engine and radiator instead of the rear-mounted air-cooled flat engines.
• Rear transaxle: 48/52 weight distribution for traction and brake balance.
• Porsche cylinder head: the Volkswagen EA831 block with K-Jetronic injection and 125 PS.
• Automatic option: the first Porsche offered with a conventional fully automatic gearbox.

Porsche 924 versions

• 924 (1976–1985): the standard 2.0-litre car.
• 924 Turbo (1978–1985): turbocharged version.
• 924S (1985–1988): detuned 944 engine after Volkswagen ended engine supply.
• North American cars: impact bumpers, side-marker lamps and lower-output engines.

The 924 replaced the Porsche 914 and was developed into the Porsche 944. More cars are in the Porsche collection.

Sources

• Porsche 924, English Wikipedia: origins, engines, gearboxes, production