1975 Porsche 924: Birth of a front-engined water-cooled icon

November 9, 3:45 PMAutomotive ExaminerKyle Busch

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The Porsche 924
Motor Base.com

The Porsche 924 has
always existed in the
big shadow of the 911.
Thus, it is understandable
how the 924 could be
overlooked! However,
the car’s importance to
Porsche as well as the
enthusiasts that enjoyed
it cannot be easily taken
for granted!

The 924 was a big sales
success and it helped the
911 to survive as well as

Porsche. The car was known as project EA425 but it was not intended to be
a Porsche at all.

Back in 1972, the new Volkswagen chairman, Rudolf Leiding, wanted to lift
the image of ‘the peoples’ car’ company, and he decided that a new mid-level
2+2 sports car would help to do it. Instead of developing the car in-house, he
turned to Porsche which had expertise building sports cars. In the past, both
companies had worked together on a joint project (the previous 914 was a
Porsche-VW joint effort).

Porsche would carry out the car’s design work, but to keep its cost down, the 924
would include as many Volkswagen parts as possible. Porsche submitted three
designs for the car to Volkswagen and Leiding choose the one provided by Harm
Lagaay, a Dutch designer, who was relatively new at Porsche. In subsequent years,
Lagaay went on to design the Boxter, Cayenne, Carerra GT, and many 911s.

On the outside of the car, few Volkswagen components could be seen, however,
VW parts were used extensively under the car’s body. The engine was a 2.0-liter
in-line four-cylinder unit from the Audi 100 and VW LT van. The engine did
however include a Porsche head and Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection resulting in
125 hp. The engine was canted 40 degrees to fit under Lagaay’s low sloping
hood.

Power went to the 924’s rear wheels through an Audi four-speed manual
transmission. This resulted in a near perfect 52/48 front/rear weight
distribution. The suspension was made up of parts from the VW Golf,
Beetle, and a Type 181 military vehicle.

In 1974, the first prototypes of the car were ready but the oil crisis became
a concern and the new Volkswagen boss (ex-Ford man Tony Schmucker)
put the 924 on hold. However, Porsche did not want to stop the car and
they offered to buy the project from Volkswagen. The 924 was viewed
by Porsche as a good entry-level car to balance out the upcoming V8 928.
Additionally, Porsche had concerns about the 911’s ability to meet the
future U.S. emission requirements as the water cooled engines had an
easier time meeting them.

So, in January 1975, a deal was struck with Volkswagen in which Porsche
would pay an undisclosed amount (reported to be about 40 million) to buy
the project.

Production of the 924 would start in November 1975 at Volkswagen’s
old NSU factory in Neckarsulm located less than 30 miles from the
Porsche factory in Stuttgart.

Reactions to the 924 were somewhat mixed as some praised the car for
its good handling and reasonable performance. Others however, were
not as positive as they suggested that the car was not a ‘real Porsche’ (if
only they knew what would happen between VW and Porsche decades
later – VW will take control of Porsche in 2011!).

With its base price of about $8,000, there was no lack of interest in the
924 as many people were interested in getting into their first Porsche.
During the car’s 12 year run, 150,000 924s were sold. The car’s reputation
was helped by enhanced models such as the more powerful Turbo and the
Porsche engineered S models. Additionally, the car progressed into the
944 and then the 968.

The 924 was not the purest of Porsches, however, it was an important part
of the company’s history and many enthusiasts would not be as well off
without it.

The Porsche 924: It had a modern water cooled engine and it was a balanced
performer!

Kyle Busch is the author of “Drive the Best for the Price…” He
welcomes your comments or car questions at his auto web site:
www.DriveTheBestBook.com.