924

The Porsche 924 was originally designed for Volkswagon. They contracted Porsche in the late 60's to develop the 924, but were forced to cancel due to financial reasons. Porsche ended up buying the rights and the 924 was produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1976 to 1988. 944S2 variants were produced until 1991 and the 968 varant was produced from 92-95. The 924 was a two door, 2+2 seat sports car coupe. The 924 replaced the 914 as the company's entry level model, and was the model that finally retired the 912. It was the first Porsche model to be put into production powered by a water-cooled, front mounted engine, although the similarly configured 928 was designed before the 924. The front engine, rear drive arrangement was normal for most other manufacturers, but it was unusual for Porsche, who had previously only used mid or rear mounted engines of a boxer configuration, all of which had been air cooled. The 924 was a success, and not only helped to take Porsche out of financial ruin, it created the revenue stream needed to continue building and developing the 911. The 924 was replaced by the 944, but the two were produced together for some time. Audi and Volkswagen parts can be found all over the car, showing that they were somewhat "cobbled" together with off-the-shelf technology. Probably an indicator of Porsche's instability at the time.