INTRO
Driving a Porsche usually involves certain implications about one's social status. Driving the 924, however, doesn't. Sporting an engine ripped out of a VW LT van and a chassis made of bits from a VW Beetle, Golf and a Typ 181 military vehicle, it never really sold for a status symbol. It sold mostly because, unlike the rest of the Porsche range, you wouldn't have to sell your house and children to afford one.
The 924 was one of those cars your brain would rule out by selective thinking, its proletarian credentials left enthusiasts cold and it didn't carry the media-sexiness of a 911. In the eyes of the public it went by as an insignificant oddball among esteemed Porsche-classics.
Ironically however, the 924 was the very model that saved Porsche from the graveyard. The steady sales meant the company could keep their funds liquid enough to pay the bills and to further fund development of the 911. To put it simply, without the 924's contribution to the company, the 911 as we know it might not exist. A case of some serious unsung heroism.
DRIVING IT
When someone tells you "I have a sports car with a chassis made of bits from a Golf, Beetle, and post-WWII military vehicle" you'll probably laugh a bit, then cringe, and laugh some more. Certainly you don't expect it to be any good. In some witchcrafty German way however, Porsche has made it into an exercise of brilliance.
At cruising speeds it maintains a smooth and comfortable character, but when you poke it in corners it's dead neutral and no mentionable body-roll is to be noticed. The gearbox has been placed in the back for a near perfect 48/52 weight distribution, which makes for some seriously appreciative handling. It eats corners with unbelievable efficiency.
The feel is best described as driving a go kart on local anesthetics, because you feel the immediacy of your inputs but the softish-tuned suspension rules out the annoying part of the sharpness. Deriving from that, the steering is a bit syrupy too. It comes alive in the corners, but there's always this certain numbness to it, you don't really feel the front wheels as you'd expect from a sports car with non-powered steering. That said though, it feels pretty much like a Porsche.
As you pick up speed the steering obviously gets progressively better, but there's a problem. The engine comes out of a van, and that means you don't pick up speed. Porsche promised a 9,9 second 0-100 time for the 924, but after 35 years of use that time is nothing but wishful thinking.
The accelerator pedal is for volume adjustment rather than going anywhere, floor it and you'll make the four-cylinder under the bonnet sound mighty intimidating (might have something to do with the raspy race-exhaust) but not much go-fast action happens otherwise. However, playing with the exhaust note is fantastically addicting in itself, and almost worth the 1000£ alone.
The lack of speed is without doubt the biggest con in this car, and there are frequent moments when the steering wheel has to be beaten due to the frustration of not progressing anywhere at any sort of mentionable speed, but focusing on pure speed is a side-effect of stupidity. It's about how it makes you feel, and that is something worth explaining.
Pretty much at the instant you lower yourself into the cabin you forget it's a budget-Porsche. The seats are, well, nothing short of divine. Ripped out of the same era-911, they're probably the most well-balanced creations of comfort/sportiness/style since ever. I want those seats in my living-room, that's how pretty they are. Otherwise too the whole interior feels just as posh as any other same era Porsche.
It's a hard car to fall in love with from the outside, I'll give you that. Seeing as it started its life as an Audi* and not a pristine piece of art (read Porsche) it's quite mundane. I never thought it to be pretty or desirable in any way, but having driven it it's grown on me. The 924 is an acquired taste, a bit like whiskey and early morning wake-ups too. When those old-school rally images start to burn in the back of your head you'll quite quickly find yourself lusting after one.
-HS
*Named project EA425, the 924 was initially a development project ordered from Porsche by VW-group, who had plans for it to be the next Audi flagship, but the oil crisis in 1973 and economical turmoil inside the company sealed the fate of the project, and it got shelved. Porsche, who saw the opportunity, bought back the project for the costs of the development, and started building 924s with its own badge.
