I’m not sure whether this car actually qualifies, given the name of this site and the fact these cars are galvanized, but: inspired by the same article in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car that inspired me to feature an RX-7, I wanted to feature a similar car from that article, the Porsche 944. Well, it turns out most of the 944s in our price range are automatic, scary-looking, or have funny stories behind them, so I took a look at some available 924s. Turns out you can get a whole lot of 924 for short money, similar to the Alfetta/GTV6 comparison, and probably others. And with the 924, you still get the same clean design and rear-mounted transaxle for great balance. What’s more is, the ’86 to ’88 924S models had various versions of the 2.5-liter 944 engine.
The two cars featured today are both 1987 924Ss. According to wikipedia, these were only available in black this year, but further on down we have one that seems to disprove that rule. In 1987, their 2.5 got an extra 10hp to bring them up to 160hp, roughly matching the 944 for power in a lighter, narrower car. So either of these should scoot along much better than the earlier 924s, and at not much of a price premium. They’re also not too far down on power compared to a 924 turbo, but with less complexity and no turbo lag.
Our first subject is this black 1987 924S. It’s listed in Philadelphia, PA for a reasonable $2500, with a new engine. The black interior looks shiny, and the tan interior seems clean. Compared to a similar-year Mazda RX-7, which many people say resembles this or a 944, this is a fair deal. As with any old car, you’ll want to check for crash damage (since this could actually lead to rust if not properly repaired) and make sure the owner has receipts to back up any claims of work.
Next is this white 1987 924S, to be found north of Boston for an even more reasonable $1950. This car looks like quite the deal as well, with minimal (if any) body damage and a clean interior. The seller also mentions recent tires, tune up, and a new stereo. Hopefully, that tune up included the timing belt, since having one snap is expensive.
These do seem to be the hidden bargain of the Porsche world. Realizing that $2-3K for any Porsche is so cheap as to be scary, I checked and found the top of the market for *any* 924 (possibly omitting turbos or rare special editions thereof) is about $6000. And in that price range, do be careful to take care of any deferred maintenance, since you can bet it has been deferred if you have no documents to say otherwise. I don’t say this very often, but if you hang on to one of these for a few years, you might break even on the purchase price, or maybe even break even on some of your repair costs!
Rusty But Trusty 
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