1978 Porsche 924 lux review from Australia and New Zealand

When purchased:

*Worn front seats- vinyl parted from cloth inserts

*Bad insurance claim repair to drivers door sometime in its life- bad respray over 75% of the body with moisture bubbles surfacing, Door not lined up properly meaning wind noise at speed, badly repaired dent on the drivers door with sanding marks, uneven surface.

*Badly cracked dash- normal on these cars unfortunately

*badly mounted factory alloys, definitely seen their fair share of curbs

*RUST! worst was in the sunroof (most 924's and 944's have these detachable sunroofs- its technically not a targa.

Rust was minor surface rust everywhere else- IMPORTANT NOTE: My pre '80 924 wasnt galvanised as well as post '80 924's.

*Air conditioning not working.

Three years of ownership:

*head gasket blew at about 146,000km.

*Blown the original rubber dampening disc (at front of torque tube, back of bell housing) and blew the secondhand replacement 2 yrs (roughly 10,000km) later.

*Front shocks worn

*Alternator fried shortly after first dampener disc went. Wiring to the starter motor was burnt through too.

*hatch shocks worn

*wiper motor and switch replaced

*Air conditioning and plumbing removed (noticeably lighter steering!)

*Removed charcoal canister and appropriate plumbing

*Upgraded head unit (stereo) twice

*Front disc's need machining.

General maintenance done:

Battery, front shock inserts, 2 x michellin 185/70/R14's, regular oil/ filters/ belts change, regular tune-up,

new plugs 400km ago, new HT leads 6000km ago. On to my third muffler. the first rusted through, the second got 'ripped' away from the exhaust pipe due to a pre-meditated curb hopping, swapped the factory 390mm steering wheel for 330mm race wheel- transformed the feel of the car.

A beautifully styled car in general, especially in euro form. Very nippy even with an auto transmission. It shifts easily and readily and kicks down at the hint of lead to your toes. Handling out outsupplies the power from the 2L audi engine, ensuring a safe platform at go-cart speeds. Well capable of its factory topspeed (200kph indicated), even after 21 yrs of neglected maintenace and then 3 yrs of learning and maintaining (by me).

An aweome turning circle, responsive steering- what you would expect from a sports car. The auto doesn't quite use its power quite as well as what the manual could and so getting it tail happy isn't an issue except in the wet and on gravel. Suspension is moderate to hard, but you learn to put up with low speed bumps as you spend as much time as possible feeling the smoothness at higher speeds.

Road noise is high as can be expected on a 924. Depending on your tyre choice it can be bad or worse, but that's not a problem as the engine note and stereo will drown that out.

Interior is well laid out, the instrument cluster is clear and concise although a little too 'VW' for many peoples liking. The centre console provides an analog clock, oil pressure (in bar) and where the air/con dial used to be, an essential voltmeter. All controls and knobs, even the glove box, are easy to reach from the drivers seat, while buckled in.

The front seats are comfy and provide good lateral support when you're throwing it around. The driving postion actually sits quite low and your legs are pretty much straight. A short drop into the seat suprises 'new' passengers and keeps the old and arthritic at bay. The backseats are for show only and would be called a parcel shelf except for the fact it has seat belts.

Storage space in the rear is ample, especially with the top of the back seat folded down, it nearly doubles.

Performance isn't stellar by modern standards, 0-100kph in roughly 9 seconds. The engine is still willing and when it kicks down it unleashes the monster chained within.

I can't really say the problems/ faults I've had with the car have been that major, although I've been caught out with a flat battery or missed a couple of days of driving due to a fault. Preventive maintenance is the key factor, and if practiced your car will love you for it. The engine and drivetrain is pretty much bulletproof and begging for a thrashing. Reliablity on the whole is what I expect of a car this age and so I expect it to cost a little money... altho I'm glad I'm not paying what a lot of other porsche owners here are!!! Porsche mechs here only charge between $NZ50.00-80.00 an hour plus parts- that's $US23.54-42.46 or GBP16.45-21.32!!! My blown head gasket only cost $US292.00 to fix. But the best way to save is to learn to do it yourself... I'm trying real hard to...

The body, however is in a pretty sorry state. As mentioned above its had a dodgey respray in its cloudy past. With the humid and often rainy climate we have here in Auckland, NZ, rust is becoming a prime concern, especially as I found out in pre 1980 cars as these were galvanised in a less effective manner.

Right now, getting some bodywork down and my front disc's machined are my prime concern... or it would be if I didn't spot that '86 944 turbo for sale...