History of the Porsche 944 | The Bad Blonde Cars
/Join me for a brief history of the Porsche 944 on the Bad Blonde Cars History channel! Related videos: Porsche 928 history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjO7yjRudaA&t=186s Porsche and Speedster history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h3ME37xE1o&t=3s #Porsche #944 #TheBadBlonde The 944 was produced from 1982 -1991 as a front engine rear-wheel drive mid level model based on the 924 platform. At this point, it is necessary to mention that the 924 initially hit with much criticism among the diehards of Porsche… Looks and Audi engine.. And the 924 was also considered one of the poor man’s Porsches like the 912, 914, and the 912e… The 944 was lower, fatter, and had much more of the temperament a sports car needs due to improvements like wider ties, sharper steering, and firmer chassis. I did say front-engine, now by this time, all the Porsche diehards had already blew their steam regarding a front-engine lay out with the 928 (1978) and the 924 (1976)… Such contention.. If you want to know more about the 928, one of Porsche’s most bold and innovative design decisions, I have the link below, along with a link on the 356 Porsche Speedster we had for over 30 years. Now the 944 was supposed to replace the 924, however production of the 924 continued and overlapped till 1985. That being said, much of the innovation and improvements of the 944, were carried over from it’s race sibling the 924 GTP The engine of the 944 at release was sort of like a sliced-in-half engine of the 928 v8 with a single overhead camshaft.. Now with large capacity four-cylinder engines, you can come across uneven running issues… Porsche started research to overcome this issue BUT then realized Mitsubishi was doing a great job already with this and actually licenses their plans from them.. The 944 has a near-perfect weight distribution, 50.7 front vs 49.3 back… In the nine years of production, models included the 944 2.5, 944S turbo, 944s 2.7, 944S2, 944 S2 cabriolet, and the 944 turbo cabriolet.. The car behind me is the 944S2 Cabriolet, only produced for three years 89-91.. 3 liter inline 4 it was the largest production 4-cylinder engine of its time. … the first of the line to let the top down.. The 944 was on Car and Driver's Ten Best list from 1983 through 1985, and the Turbo made the list for 1986. In 1984, Car and Driver named the 944 the Best Handling Production Car in America. Let’s talk a bit about the 944 racing successes, the Porsche factory team and a few private teams did well at Le Mans.. and carried that success to the SCCA production class. the Carlsen Racing 944 won the SCCA Escort Endurance Series Championship The 1988 and 1989 SCCA GT2 titles were claimed the 944S driven by David Finch for the years 1988 and 1989. The 944 was the most successful car in Porsche’s history producing 163k until the Boxter shot out and the 997 Carrera. Now… Porsche decided to essentially turn the 944 into the 968 but buyers and fans weren’t elated with that.. Not much had changed except for the nameplate except larger bodywork and the addition of the 928 pop-up headlights. You couple that with the waning sports car market of the time.. they dropped the 968 in 1995 with only 2 years of production.. What’s do you think of the 944? What is your favorite Porsche? What is your favorite poor man’s Porsche?