944

The 944 was Porsche's answer to criticism of the 924's Audi-sourced roots, replacing that car's borrowed inline-four with a Porsche-designed 2.5-liter unit, essentially half of the 928's V8, while keeping the same front-engine, rear-transaxle layout. The result was a car that looked similar to the 924 at a glance but was faster, better handling, and far more credibly Porsche's own engineering, and it quickly became the brand's best-selling model of the 1980s.

The base 944 launched with 143 hp, climbing to 147 hp by the mid-1980s and 158 hp by 1988 through incremental engine management updates rather than any displacement change. Porsche expanded the lineup in 1985 with the 944 Turbo (internally the 951), which added a turbocharger, a reworked front and rear fascia, and 217 hp, making it one of the quickest four-cylinder cars on the market at the time. A naturally aspirated 944S followed in 1987, using a 16-valve twin-cam version of the 2.5-liter engine to reach 187 hp without forced induction.

Porsche pushed the 944 further in 1989 with the 944 S2, which replaced the S and grew the twin-cam engine to 3.0 liters and 208 hp, at the time the largest production four-cylinder engine on the market. The same year brought the first 944 Cabriolet, a full convertible body style that had never been offered on the 924 or early 944. The Turbo also received a final power bump for 1989 to 247 hp, a figure it had briefly previewed in 1988 with the limited-production 944 Turbo S.

Porsche closed out the 944 in 1991, having transformed the platform from an entry-level, occasionally-dismissed junior Porsche into a genuinely quick, well-rounded sports car in its own right, one that laid the direct groundwork for the 968 that replaced it.

Model years: 1983 to 1991
Trims: 944, 944 Turbo, 944S, 944 Turbo S (1988 only), 944 S2, 944 Cabriolet, 944 S2 Cabriolet
Power range: 143 hp (early base) to 247 hp (944 Turbo S / late 944 Turbo)
Transmission: 5-speed manual standard, 3-speed automatic optional (later Turbo models offered 4-speed automatic)
Notable firsts: Porsche's first Porsche-designed engine in the transaxle lineup; first 16-valve twin-cam four-cylinder (944S); first factory 944 Cabriolet; largest production 4-cylinder engine of its era (944 S2)