Porsche 924 History

The 924, on sale from 1976 (as a 1977 model in the US), was Porsche's first production car with a front engine and water cooling. It originated as a project Volkswagen had commissioned from Porsche, then backed away from, leaving Porsche to sell the design under its own name. Using a 2.0-litre Audi engine and a rear-mounted transaxle for near-50/50 weight distribution, it was genuinely capable but scorned by rear-engine purists.

Despite the criticism, the 924 was a financial lifeline for Porsche in the late 1970s, and its transaxle architecture would underpin the more respected 944 and 968. High-performance 924 Carrera GTS and Turbo variants showed what the platform could achieve. Production ran from 1976 to 1988 with approximately 150,000 units built across all variants.