Once upon a time, the 924 was considered a poor man’s Porsche. As we all know – they don’t build them like that anymore. And if you are in the market for the ultra-rare 924S Special Edition, you’ll need anywhere between $10,000 and $15,000 for a well-preserved unit, which is by no chance ‘peanuts’ in the used-car market.
German automaker Porsche introduced the 924 series of cars in 1975. It was the first unit out of the Stuttgart-based automaker to feature a water-cooled front-mounted engine.
The two-door, 2+2 coupe was initially a Volkswagen and Porsche project. For VW, the 924 would be the automaker’s flagship sports coupe (Project 425), and for Porsche, it would be an entry-level sports car taking over the 914 (sub $20K).
Unfortunately, the plans didn’t go as intended, and VW put the 425 Project on hold in favor of the Volkswagen Scirocco. Still, Porsche brought back the design and introduced it into the market as a 914 predecessor.
Jason, of the 5150mxVW YouTube channel on a recent upload, got wind of a rare 924 on sale. It had been sitting abandoned on a property for several years, and the owner was looking to get rid of it. It was a 1988 Porsche 924S Special Edition.
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/5150mxVW
We call this variant of the 924 rare because only 980 units were produced globally. Five hundred (M-756 code) were imported into the United States (black exterior). Germany remained with 200 black and 50 white, while the rest of the world split the remainder (117 black and 113 white), donning the M-755 code.
The 1988 924S Special Edition rolled out of the factory with an M030 sports suspension. After all, it was explicitly designed for owners looking to participate in Showroom Stock class races. Other specs specific to SE (Special Edition) only developed for the North American market included a sunroof, passenger side mirror, power mirror, and cruise control delete.
“I believe these cars were sunroof delete. Again it was supposed to be a handling package. I think it is 030 for the handling package and 756 for the special edition,” Jason said while inspecting the car’s interior.
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/5150mxVW
It featured a unique black leatherette interior, lightweight burgundy carpeting, and iconic grey rear seats with corduroy pinstripes.
Jason’s find didn’t feature the signature front seats but aftermarket replacements. He later found the original front seats (with corduroy pinstripes) stacked in the garage, as well as the rear shade cover that was also missing.
“So this car has 119,000 miles from what I can gather. The dash, it’s been sitting on the sun, it’s been outside, so the dash got a little roached,” he revealed.
The original 924’s performance didn’t get a good reception from critics. They felt the 2-liter VW engine lacked the performance DNA of a Porsche. And as a result, in 1986, Porsche put the 944 (chunkier version of the 924 introduced in 1983) engine into the 924 and slapped the 924S badge on it.
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/5150mxVW
North America got the 924S in 1987 and 1988. By this time, its performance had increased significantly from the original.
Jason’s find came with the iconic ‘teledial’ or ‘phone-dial,’ 15-inch wheels with Porsche badged center caps, an original Porsche 924S SE owner’s manual, and a warranty voucher that proves it’s one of the super rare 500 units that were shipped into North America.
“There it is. 030 and 756. It’s a limited edition. Only five hundred of these guys came to the States. One of nine hundred and eighty made. There it is. Oh! That’s freaking awesome,” Jason said as he confirmed the codes on the 924S warranty voucher.
Under the hood, Jason’s 1988 Porsche 924S came with an inline-4 naturally aspirated 2.5-liter water-cooled engine good for 156 hp (158 ps). The 944 engine sends power to the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual transmission.
According to the last service record, this ’88 924S Porsche was last on the road in 2015 (about eight years ago). It was still in solid condition on the exterior, with visible effects of sun glare on the paint and damage from a fender bender on the front-left side.
When he opened the hood, the engine looked unharmed, even though there were visible signs of rodent activity. He plans to clean the injectors before hooking the battery and testing if it’s in running condition.
Photo: YouTube Screenshot/5150mxVW
The interior didn’t look too bad, other than the visible cracks on the dashboard from sitting outside for all those years. Jason didn’t disclose how much he got the car for, but similar units in much better condition have sold for a little over $11,000 in the last couple of years.
He is looking to work on this unit for the next several months, get it back on the road again, and probably flip it for a profit.
We can’t wait to see what Jason does to this super-rare bird. You can check out the video below for the entire walk around.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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