Driving a 944 for the First Time, I'm Sold on it!

"K-Roll-PorscheTamer" (k-roll390)
06/28/2014 at 12:13 • Filed to: Porsche 944

This was in itself, another long and special journey for me; it's not a 911, but it's just as good. This story also isn't nearly as long as the 911 story, but there is some history to it.

This story starts with this car right here:

(Picture from 2013)

Cut back to about 2005, it was my first trip to New York, and the first time I'd ever see a Porsche that wasn't a 911. We drove through Canada to get to Upstate New York, where my awesome uncle lives; and when we pulled alongside his driveway, I distinctively remember seeing two cars. One was this gorgeous dark-colored 911SC, but the first one I saw was this bright and vibrant Guards Red 944 in the driveway. I got out of the car and instead of running up to my uncle and family, I instantly went to that red car. I saw the Porsche logo on the rear-wing but there was a problem: Where's the engine?? Why is it longer?? Why does it look weird?? "It's not a 911" I remember complaining. Over the course of the three or so days we spent over there, I studied that car, looked at it, touched it and was awestruck by the fact that Porsche made a car that wasn't a 911; mind you, I thought the 911 was the only car Porsche made until about 2009, when I saw my first Panamera...

Moving forward to about November of 2013, my first month on Oppo, many of you who have followed me may remember that my second post was about me planning on buying my uncle's 350k miles, well maintained 1985.5 944. I was excited as hell! Then the trans in my Astra killed itself, my dad said the next car had to be 'Murican, I was sad and blah blah blah Focus ST! But I told myself, I was gonna go find myself another damn 944 to call my own before I get boring and get out of college and sit at a desk and blah blah blah worky jobs!

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Finally we jump to last month when I decided to start my own car search for a summer car without "parental supervision" because dammit I'm 18 and I need to do things on my own! So I jump over on ze Porsche forums and I met a nice guy local to me. Now this was the same time that the 911 had died on me and refused to run; luckily the guy I was meeting had just sold his pristine '74 911 to a guy in Germany, so we chatted about the cars for a while, until I mentioned I was looking into getting myself a 944 this summer. This is where it gets good! :)

He told me his brother-in law had just thought about selling his and asked if I was interested in checking it out. I said I was looking at some cheap Craigslist cars and would let him know what I would do. So the CL cars came and went, and I PM'ed him, letting know I was interested in it. I got these first pics of the car from the original ad he got for it:

I looked at that color, the same as my uncle's, the black wheels, even though they weren't Fuchs, they were the next best thing!

He gave me his number and I called him Friday to see if I could check the car out in the evening and things led to things and here's where the story actually starts!

It was a 40-minute drive to see the car but there it was sitting on the side of the owner's house when I parked. We met by the car and he told me how the car came in to his possession; how he was originally looking at Miatas and found this car instead from a guy that had owns a Shelby GT500 KR and needed to sell the 944. He proceeded to give me the good and bad about the car, but there was soo much good it outweighed the bad without effort:

Here are ze facts!

1. It's been garage-kept by both him and the previous owner and it's never seen winter once and the underbody of the car is clean AF. No rust too!

2. The paint is original, and even though it has some rock chips on the front(it's a low car), the paint is soo smooth! I don't mind it at all!

3. This is the best part! The car has only has 118k miles on it, it's got a brand new clutch, timing belt, water pump, gaskets and all the other important wear parts as well! You could not find a mechanically sound 944 for a price like this! He only drove it 5000 miles since he's had it! So it's only 5000 miles on those new parts!

Also, BLACK COOKIE CUTTERS!!! YESS!! :D

The interior has some dash cracks but they're very small and you wouldn't notice them unless you were Sherlock. This 944 is a Unicorn in my eyes not because of the clean interior, but because of these seats!

The car has the very desirable Porsche Design sport seats with the leather bolsters and cloth Porsche-script seating! Those are the seats you want for a Porsche if you intend to track the car in any way. They are what the Recaros are to my ST(IF I HAD ZE RECAROS! -_-)

There was some wear on the left side driver's bolstering from getting in and out of the car over the course of 30 years, but it didn't bother me at all. After we went over the car, we went for a spin around the area, where he demonstrated why this car was Car and Driver's best handling road car in America back in 1985, by driving around the local roundabouts at a spirited speed; you could here the tires squealing forever, and it never lost traction! We then pulled over into a strip mall where we swapped seats and I got my chance at the wheel.

And there we were, out driving for 2 hours up and down the freeway at high speed with some bends here and there; and we actually almost ran out of gas because we were having soo much fun! I got my chance in those circles and my goodness does this car grip so well, better than the ST! From my drive, I can tell you that the car is mechanically perfect, it handles amazing, the new clutch which was much more springy than my ST took some time to get used too and it bites crazy good as it hasn't even been broken in yet, and the engine was perfect as power was ready whenever I needed it. Everything felt right with me at that wheel, just about 911 perfect. I belonged at that wheel and boy did it feel fantastic! :D

When we finally got back to his house, we stood outside by the car and chatted for another hour about the car and what it's future. He said he wanted it to go to someone who could appreciate and enjoy it; that is to say, drive it all the time. He appreciated my enthusiasm and knowledge on this car and said he hadn't even put it online yet, but was glad that I took the time to check out the car. We agreed on a selling price of $3200 and I'll let him know if I can get the car by tomorrow; so stay tuned Oppo! Because there is much of happenings from me this summer! :D

P.S. Apologies for the lack of more pics and videos. the phone died and I was having too much fun!

DISCUSSION (33)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 12:19

Nice two car garage that. Practical but fun hot hatch for daily, RWD older car for weekend duty.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
06/28/2014 at 12:20

Precisely!

E92M3 > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 12:28

Nice find! Hard to find a 944 with an interior that isnt ragged.

Camry-Into-Canyon > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 12:49

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cscTmm… Holy balls, it handles better than a FoST? I need to get myself one of those. I hear if you buy a CAI, flowmaster super 40s iridium-tipped plugs and one of these , you can gain almost 30 horses. The 40s are the tits.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Camry-Into-Canyon
06/28/2014 at 12:52

MUST DO!!

PheeNoIVI > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 12:57

So jealous!! Awesome dude! Great write up to. Thank you! Love the car. 944s are best in red.

Camry-Into-Canyon > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 13:00

30 horses for around $800 on an NA car is an absolute bargain. plus, your car will sound truly exotic. have a cutaway!

Kinja'd!!!

Camry-Into-Canyon > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 13:04

Kinja'd!!!

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Camry-Into-Canyon
06/28/2014 at 13:07

Nice! THANKS! That's about how much I spent for the exhaust on my ST.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Camry-Into-Canyon
06/28/2014 at 13:07

I was just about to make a gif! :)

Camry-Into-Canyon > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 13:09

If you spend a bit more, you can get a 2.5" exhaust from header to tips from the same company that makes the good cheap headers. expect to get 5 more horses out of that. And as a neat fact, cookie cutters are almost as light as Fuchs, despite being cast rather than forged. also if you need tires, here are a set of w-rated performance tires in oem size. http://www.summitracing.com/search/product…

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Camry-Into-Canyon
06/28/2014 at 13:11

Noice! I'll consider it for next year though because after this purchase, I'll be spent haha!

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 13:34

I now hate you because you will have 2 cars and I don't have any.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/28/2014 at 13:35

What happened to the Corrado??

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 13:36

Rust and the GTi I looked at after that had MORE FUCKING RUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/28/2014 at 13:39

GOD DAMMIT JUST COME OVER HERE AND WE'LL FIND YOU A CAR!! (-_-)

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 13:40

I will take the 911.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/28/2014 at 14:06

Ummm no. We'll find you another car!

Vicente Esteve > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 15:02

Just this!:

Kinja'd!!!

I cant tell you how cool that is! And, you made me go to the autotrader and search for 944s. There is 1 in the whole of Mexico.... And its beige... Still, amazing find, and Congratufreakinglations for the 80th time!!! Enjoy, and post so I can increase my jealousy!!!

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > K-Roll-PorscheTamer
06/28/2014 at 15:03

I am taking a break from the car search.