The Porsche 924 proved that Porsche could hit a sour note, but that it also could eventually turn that miscue into something sweet.
As the Porsche 356 begat the 911 in the 1960s, so the Porsche 924 led to
something better with the Porsche 944 of the Eighties and the Porsche 968 of the 1990s. Yet
like the Porsche 914, the Porsche 924's standing as a “genuine” Porsche has long been disputed. Never mind
that it echoed the 356 in using contemporary Volkswagen suspension, brakes, and
steering. Somehow, like the 914, the Porsche 924 just didn’t have the usual Porsche
magic.
The Porsche 924 fought to earn respect; Turbo Carrera versions like this helped.
See more pictures of the Porsche 924, 944, & the 968.
It certainly didn’t have Porsche’s usual format. Not only was the 924’s engine
water-cooled, it was located up front. At least the 914s had air-cooled rear
engines like any “proper” Porsche should. So what if they sat ahead of the rear
axle?
Even historical significance is denied the Porsche 924. Though it was the first
front-engine, water-cooled Porsche to reach production, it was actually
designed after the lusher, costlier, but similarly configured, Porsche 928.
Something else made the Porsche 924 more 914 than 911. Where the latter was conceived
as a Porsche, the 924 was designed by Porsche to be a Volkswagen.
The story begins in 1970 with two key events. The first was the arrival of
Rudolf Leiding to succeed the controversial Kurt Lotz as VW general manager.
Leiding was a sports-car advocate and racing-minded, but he was budget-minded
too.
A very good thing, as he took over a financially troubled company. The Beetle,
Wolfsburg’s prime profit-maker, was waning in popularity and there was no
replacement in sight, despite numerous attempts. VW’s “big car,” the 411/412,
was proving a costly flop, and the in-between Type 3 range had never lived up
to expectations. VW’s 1969 acquisition of Audi/NSU from Daimler-Benz brought
problems of its own and put a further drain on capital reserves. To ease the
budget crunch, Leiding quickly handed over much of VW’s developmental engineering
work to Porsche, whose expertise was as obvious as VW’s need for inspired new
designs.
To that end, Leiding set VW on a new product-planning course: Baukastenprinzip
-- literally, “building-block principle.” It was a General Motors-style
approach, with cars of different sizes, shapes, and prices derived from a
relative handful of components to reduce development costs and improve
production economies of scale. This led to two spinoffs of newly planned
front-drive VW models. The Audi 80/Fox spawned the VW Passat/Dasher to replace
the 411/412, while the Golf/Rabbit, the Beetle’s heir apparent, sired a
Karmann-Ghia successor in the sporty Scirocco.
The second key event of 1970 occurred when VW-Porsche Vertriebsgesellschaft,
the jointly owned marketing firm for Porsche-designed cars using VW components,
realized that the 914 “was not going to become the lasting favorite that the
356 had been,” as the late Dean Batchelor put it. “Management, therefore, began
planning a new car to be designed by Porsche for VG to sell as a VW/Audi -- no
more ‘VW-Porsche’ in Europe and ‘Porsche’ elsewhere, as the 914 had been
[marketed].” Coded EA425, this project was the conception of the 924.
The birth would not be easy. Batchelor recorded eight separate requirements for
the new sports car: interior space comparable to the 911’s, 2+2 seating,
“useful” trunk volume (presumably more than a 914’s), greater comfort than that
offered by the 914, all-independent suspension, maximum use of high-volume VW
components, and -- most intriguing -- a front-engine design with some
technical and stylistic similarity to the luxury 928, then under development.
“Once the parameters had been agreed to, components...were selected by a
process of logical application.
“It was understood that air-cooled engines were nearing the end of their
production at both Porsche and Volkswagen (the 911 would prove otherwise) so
one of the new water-cooled units under development would be used. The one
selected was a Volkswagen design, built by Audi, used in carbureted form in the
VW LT van...” It was also destined for the forthcoming Audi 100 and, of all
things, the American Motors Gremlin.
The Porsche 924 took heat for using many Volkswagen components.
Plans were well along in 1973 when VG was disbanded and EA425 became VW’s own
project. It was only fair. After all, VW had been footing the bills, which then
totaled $70 million. But then Leiding announced that EA425 would be built only
as a VW or as an Audi, mainly so it could be sold through VW’s 2,000
West German dealers instead of just the 200 VW-Porsche outlets handling the
914. Zuffenhausen was stunned because the decision positioned EA425 as a
potential competitor for its own four-cylinder 912.
The sticky situation seemed to have been resolved when Leiding suddenly
departed in 1974, his expansion program having left VW/Audi more overextended
than ever. But his replacement, former Ford Europe executive Tony Schmucker,
promptly told Porsche there was now no need for EA425, given that the
sports-car market was reeling in the wake of the OPEC oil embargo.
Porsche nevertheless had faith in the car and decided to save it by buying the
production rights. The price was $60 million, and although that figure was a
slight “discount” on VW’s investment, Porsche would spend even more on further
development.
The deal was sweetened for VW by Porsche’s willingness to build the car as
planned at the Audi/NSU plant in Neckarsulm, located a half-hour north of
Stuttgart. This was more or less a necessity, as Porsche’s Zuffenhausen
facilities were completely absorbed in production of the 911 and in preparation
for the 928.
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