The Porsche 944 has perpetually been the “affordable” Porsche. This means it’s the one that always gets kicked to the curb when garage space is tight or the budget is slashed. However, this does not make it an undesirable specimen as a project, especially when prices for the more sought-after models have remained stubbornly high. This 1983 944 is being offered for sale after the seller rescued it from a salvage auction, and it’s offered here on eBay with bids to $2,000 and no reserve.
The 944 sports a paint scheme we don’t often see, which is a light brown / tan that pairs nicely with the black Fuchs wheels. As this is a car rescued from a salvage auction, you don’t often know what you’re buying history-wise, but you can see enough here to wager confidently that it was donated by heirs who didn’t want the car or kicked to the salvage facility after a home clean-out and/or foreclosure. Regardless, the 944 does look good enough to warrant saving from the jaws of the crusher, a sentiment I’ve certainly personally experienced many times.
The interior is completely sun-baked, so you’re starting over here. The good news is the robust aftermarket and the very strong used parts market makes replacing these beat components fairly easy. The seller claims he had plans to build a rally-style Porsche out of this 944, which is certainly all the rage these days what with Porsche building off-road friendly versions of the 911 now straight from the factory. If you do buy this specimen, check out 944Barn here on Instagram – Elliot will have every part you could possibly need.
While the seller had made no attempt to start this 944, he did confirm the engine still rotates freely by hand and that the transmission moves in and out of gear. The sticker on the battery apparently indicates it was last replaced in 2016, so perhaps this front-engine Porsche hasn’t been dead as long as may have feared. Nice 944s are fetching stronger money these days, but you can still buy a decent runner for reasonable money so the price on this one will have to stay low to justify the investment.
Seems like we’ve done this before.
Back when they first came out in 1983, a rich kid in my high school had a brand new one. Oh to be rich…. I’ve been chasing that elusive dream for thirty-five years…
Did he have a paper route? Probably a truly hard working young man.
Well if this thing was closer than the 2600 miles away I might consider it but I personally think that going to get it or having it shipped would take to much from potential profits, add says been in a garage the last two years but the previous 35 years it hasn’t been so lucky
I’ve never been much of a Porsche fan, but I did like the style of this one.
Only thing worse than a 944 is a 928. No thanks.
I purchase new a 1987 944S. Loved everything about the handling, performance and styling, but after spending almost twice what I paid for the car for multiple system failures and parts replacement over the 20 years I owned it, I parked it for a couple of years and then literally gave it away. The new owner put $12K and a lot of personal time in getting it back on the road. This was the first car that ever left me standing by the road while it was still under warranty and was my first and last Porsche.