1977.5 Porsche 924

What's a Porsche 924?

It's not fast, by any means. In fact, it clocks a bit slower than a stock 1977 Corvette (Corvette, not Chevette!). If you know cars, you know that's not saying a whole lot. But for a very small, light, nimble car, it's okay by 70s standards. The phrase "peppy" comes to mind.

The 924 was a Porsche design that was originally slated to be Volkswagen's entry into the sports car market. When Volkswagen demurred the idea, Porsche bought the rights to produce the car on its own using Porsche, Audi, and Volkswagen parts. The 924 then became Porsche's replacement for the entry-level 914, as well as their first water-cooled, front engine car. To counterbalance the weight of the engine, the Porsche team located the transmission (transaxle) in the rear giving the car a superb 52/48 weight distribution. J. Pasha of Excellence dubbed the 924 "the best handling Porsche in stock form." For a complete history, see the Wikipedia - Porsche 924 page.

How did I get this 924?

I had contemplated selling my 1966 Impala for several years. Skyrocketing fuel prices and a car that got all of 11 mpg resulted in my driving it less each ensuing year. And while it was a cool car, it wasn't a Big Block SS convertible, so this 66 just wasn't holding its value these days. I decided to test the market in 2010. I initially listed the car for 9k. I had a few inquiries, but nothing serious. I later lowered the price to 8k. An out of state buyer expressed serious interest but later balked due to the additional cost of transport. It seemed that interest in old, gas guzzling Detroit iron was slumping right along with the economy. After various internet ads failed to generate any buyers, I decided to park the car in front of our house, right along busy Route 104, with a "For Sale" sign on it. That did the trick. Less than a month later a guy driving a fully functional 1970s Dodge police car stopped to take a look. He was into cars and he was into old police cars. He wanted to turn my 66 into a bonafide vintage police cruiser. We struck a deal (a good deal less than my previous 8k) and the old Chevy I'd owned for more than a dozen years went off to a good home.

My plan was to either invest the money from the car or buy another one if it: a) was smaller; b) got good gas mileage; c) had a back seat; d) cost considerably less than the total amount that I received for the Impala. My neighbor, who happens to be a car enthusiast, told me about a coworker who was looking to sell his 1977 Porsche 924. He was the original owner, having purchased the car new from the now-defunct Irmer Porsche-Audi dealership in East Rochester, NY. The car had less than 68k original miles. It had been off the road for several years, stored in the owner's climate controlled garage (next to his late model 911 Carrera). It was in beautiful original condition. The car was small. It had a back seat (well, barely), and got decent gas mileage. I looked the car over and did some research. About a week later I made an offer which the seller accepted.

I sold this car after I purchased my 1991 Jeep.

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