[quote name='Jacks968' date='Aug 3 2006, 12:12 AM']All this being said - lets bring all the Transaxle four cylinder cars together and note that Porsche sold 325,000 of these cars in 20 years of production. The 968 was the end of the run - the end of an era of mostly hand built autos - with legendary handling - that represents a great sports car value today.
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Interesting thread...I've been driving 944 based P cars since 1991, probably 8 or 9 in all, not counting the one's I parted out. I remember buying my 1986 944T with 34,000 miles for $13,000 in 1992 and gasping at the $38,900 sticker price! That was an awesome car then and still is today. Think of what a 1992 Vette is like today? Not to bash Vettes, but any sports car of that era is pretty weak in comparison to a 944T. Yeah the switchgear all looks like 1970’s era VW and the suspension was pretty crude for a sports car, but the car was up to track work and outrageous high speed cruising that put the car in a class or two above the norm.
I remember reading in Automotive News that the 944/968 was designed along with the 928 as the new platform that was supposed to move Porsche to the next decade and beyond. I also recall in that same article how inefficient German auto manufacturing was. They said it took 30 to 45 mins per car to Q.C. the production line screw ups. I visited the factory in 1991 and saw this first hand. Cars pulled off of the dyno rollers into a special holding area where veteran line workers would go over the cars and fix mistakes. The same scenario at Mercedes.
I remember working on my older 944's and pulling apart interior panels to find multiple holes drilled for one screw! Heinz had one too many Beck’s at lunch and couldn't line up the panels right. I saw this numerous times on the interior panels and especially the snap holes for the rear carpet. The older 944's didn't get glued in rear carpeting because they frequently had to remove the carpet at the factory to fix inop speakers and fuel gauges. When the production moved to the modernized Neckarsulm Audi plant (the new plant, not the old one) things improved but were still something like 3 man hours behind the Japanese auto production lines. Automotive News had several articles with the results of the time and motion studies for each manufacturer. That has of course changed in the last 10 years...it had to or Porsche would be a division of M-B or BMW.
Compare a 1986 944 with a 1986 911 and you can understand what Porsche was thinking. The 944 was a car that had much better ergonomics, the HVAC worked worlds better, and possesed superbly balanced handling and no snap throttle oversteer. Plus, it came with an engine that was thermodynamically efficient and easily passed US and ROW noise and emission regulations without anything beyond a catalytic converter. The only problem was the largest single market for Porsche rejected the reborn 924’s as a real Porsche and the 928 was priced more as a competitor to the 560SL than a 911 replacement, which kept the enthusiasts from buying in numbers necessary to make a profit.
Too bad, I would have liked to see where the 944 platform would be today if they had kept developing it.
