Background
The Porsche 944 was introduced in 1982. Based on the existing Porsche 924 chassis, they became famous for their handling, rather than the performance they offered; while the 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine of the early cars was an eerily smooth engine for an inline four thanks to the innovative use of two counter-rotating balance shafts, no-one ever got out of one raving about the in-gear acceleration or top speed.
This is hardly surprising, as the early normally aspirated cars could only muster around 143bhp, and while the first turbocharged cars could summon up 217bhp, even this was a relatively modest boost albeit one that enabled the more powerful car to hit 60mph in 5.9 seconds.
Which was a shame, because the 944 is still a top-flight sports car with handling that still holds its own, even now; with near-perfect 50:50 weight distribution thanks to its front-engine, rear-transaxle layout, it garnered praise from press and owners alike - even if everyone agreed that the chassis was easily capable of handling more power.
Porsche, sensitive to criticism and with more than half-a-mind on the bottom line, introduced the 247bhp Turbo S in 1988 (marketed in the UK as the Turbo SE) which took nearly half a second off the early Turbo’s 0-60 time. From 1989, the normally aspirated models were relaunched as the S2 which had a front and rear restyle and finally got the power it deserved thanks to a 208bhp 16-valve, 3-litre engine.
Available as both a coupe and a convertible, the 944 range died in 1991 after selling around 163,000 cars in total. The Turbo S, like the one we have presented for sale here, is relatively rare among the 944 family accounting for only 1% of total production (1635 cars). At the time, the 944 was the most successful model Porsche had ever made.
