About 3 decades ago, Porsche made the 944 - a car that had amazing handling and power delivery via its 2.5 liter, 4 cylinder turbocharged engine. Somewhere down the line, one of these cars exchanged hands in such a way that it's now being sold as a non-runner in the suburbs of New Jersey for a fraction of its current value. Save it, before I do.
This 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo, when new, had serious performance potential. Although its 4 cylinder turbocharged engine produced around 217 horsepower, with some off-the-shelf modifications, you could reliably get this car over 300 horsepower - at the rear wheels. This made it a formidable competitor in any autocross or circuit racing event, due to its 50/50 weight distribution. It was an absolute blast.
This car isn't a garage queen by any stretch of the imagination, and needs some major work to get on the road again. Here's an excerpt from the description:
I bought this car with the intention of restoring it but ended up getting a great deal on another car soon after. The car should run if you were to change the fuel pump and all the hoses associated with the idle valve. I fixed a bunch of electrical issues but it looks like it will need the cooling fans rewired. I was told by the previous owner the odometer stopped working and the true mileage is unknown. The title says 167k but the odometer reads somewhere around 60k. The title is branded not actual mileage. The car has no accident history to my knowledge. The car is not a turbo s, and does not have a limited slip differential.
With Porsche 944 turbo prices rising as of late, this may be a good investment at this price if it's possible to get the car running without much trouble. In any case, it's the cheapest 944 turbo online that isn't a complete part-out. Save an '80s icon and have a ton of fun doing it.
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Tavarish is the founder of APiDA Online and writes about buying and selling cool cars on the internet. He owns the world's cheapest Mercedes S-Class, a graffiti-bombed Lexus, and he's the only Jalopnik author that has never driven a Miata. He also has a real name that he didn't feel was journalist-y enough so he used a pen name and this was the best he could do.
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