and the main star in the shop today is... |
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and the main star in the shop today is... |
dr914@autoatlanta.com |
Jan 21 2020, 12:55 PM
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#1
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 7,866 Joined: 3-January 07 From: atlanta georgia Member No.: 7,418 Region Association: None |
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Johny Blackstain |
Jan 22 2020, 12:12 PM
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#2
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Walnut Elite Stratocaster player Group: Members Posts: 3,434 Joined: 5-December 06 From: The Shenandoah River Member No.: 7,318 Region Association: MidAtlantic Region |
As I recall, the 924 had it's own NARP reputation back in the day... "more Audi than Porsche". Through factory research and development it evolved into the 944. However, they brought the 924 back in 86 with the 924S, essentially a narrow fenders 944 in disguise & a pretty good car- best of the 924s' that came to the US.
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ClayPerrine |
Jan 22 2020, 12:23 PM
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#3
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Life's been good to me so far..... Group: Admin Posts: 15,470 Joined: 11-September 03 From: Hurst, TX. Member No.: 1,143 Region Association: NineFourteenerVille |
As I recall, the 924 had it's own NARP reputation back in the day... "more Audi than Porsche". Through factory research and development, it evolved into the 944. However they brought the 924 back in 86 with the 924S which essentially was a narrow fenders 944 in disguise & a pretty good car- best of the 924s' that came to the US. If you look at the history of the 924, it was never designed as a Porsche. Audi asked Porsche to design a sportscar for them. When Audi decided not to build it, Porsche then took it and made the 924. Because it was designed for Audi originally, it used lots of VW/Audi parts. The front suspension was from the super beetle, the rear suspension was from the super beetle, the engine was from the Audi fox, the transmission was from the Audi fox, and lots of the interior bits were from the VW parts bin as well. That's why the interior door handles and the turn signal and wiper switches fit both a 914 and a 924. The guts of the steering column all use Beetle parts. The ignition lock from a 924 will fit in a 914, but the key is different. There are way more VW/Audi parts in a 924 than VW/Audi parts in a 914. But Porsche put a hood badge on the 924, so it doesn't get labeled a NARP. The 944 was Porsche improving the original 924. The put flares on it, changed out the engine for a Porsche designed 2.5 water cooled 4 cylinder, and improved the brakes. Later models got the Audi sourced gauge cluster replaced with a Porsche designed one. The 924s was created to make a lower cost car, but it was just the older 944 model without the flares. Vehicle manufacturers are cheap. They will reuse and repurpose parts and designs to cut costs on new cars any way they can. The 924 is a perfect example of parts bin engineering. |
bbrock |
Jan 22 2020, 01:11 PM
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#4
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 5,269 Joined: 17-February 17 From: Montana Member No.: 20,845 Region Association: Rocky Mountains |
There are way more VW/Audi parts in a 924 than VW/Audi parts in a 914. But Porsche put a hood badge on the 924, so it doesn't get labeled a NARP. One of the most fascinating things about the "50 Years Porsche 914" book to me was how apparent it is that Porsche and VW were just figuring out their partnership on the 914 as they went along. The 914 development team voted on, and passed an official decision to hood badge the 914 but by that time, cars in Europe had already started being sold as VW-Porsche so the hood badges never happened. Another interesting part is that Porsche was busy designing improvements to the 914 when VW decided to pull the plug on their end. That left Porsche scrambling to fill that market niche which, of course, was filled temporarily with the 912E but the 924 design came up for grabs at the perfect time for Porsche to slap a badge on as the successor to the 914. Of course that's all well known but it was interesting to learn that Porsche seemed committed to carrying the 914 forward at the time its production was suddenly halted. |
dr914@autoatlanta.com |
Jan 22 2020, 01:25 PM
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#5
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 7,866 Joined: 3-January 07 From: atlanta georgia Member No.: 7,418 Region Association: None |
so do you happen to know what improvements they were planning?
There are way more VW/Audi parts in a 924 than VW/Audi parts in a 914. But Porsche put a hood badge on the 924, so it doesn't get labeled a NARP. One of the most fascinating things about the "50 Years Porsche 914" book to me was how apparent it is that Porsche and VW were just figuring out their partnership on the 914 as they went along. The 914 development team voted on, and passed an official decision to hood badge the 914 but by that time, cars in Europe had already started being sold as VW-Porsche so the hood badges never happened. Another interesting part is that Porsche was busy designing improvements to the 914 when VW decided to pull the plug on their end. That left Porsche scrambling to fill that market niche which, of course, was filled temporarily with the 912E but the 924 design came up for grabs at the perfect time for Porsche to slap a badge on as the successor to the 914. Of course that's all well known but it was interesting to learn that Porsche seemed committed to carrying the 914 forward at the time its production was suddenly halted. |
bbrock |
Jan 22 2020, 02:22 PM
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#6
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914 Guru Group: Members Posts: 5,269 Joined: 17-February 17 From: Montana Member No.: 20,845 Region Association: Rocky Mountains |
so do you happen to know what improvements they were planning? I probably should have said "exploring" rather than planning. According to the book, at the time the plug was pulled on the 914, there was a turbocharged 4 cylinder 2 liter in testing and also plans to install a 4 cylinder in-line twin cam engine among others. Plans for a successor started as early as 1971. Details are kind of sketchy and scattered in the book but apparently a number of styling proposals were made (I think one of those was posted in another thread recently). The main requirements for the successor were: - manufacturing costs are to be reduced - larger interior, i.e. 2/2 seats with a better trunk - wider range of drive unit options In the end, it looks like they decided the 924 concept fit the bill better than further development of the 914 but it's hard to follow the chronology with the way the book is arrange but it looks like they were simultaneously working on developing the 914 through evolution while also pursuing replacement with a completely new model. Overall, I get the impression that Porsche was game to keep producing the 914 at least a while longer than VW. In short, after reading the book, I don't get any sense that the 914 was ever the redheaded stepchild so often assumed. |
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