Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Time for another Honorable Mention Roundup, and we’re sporting some great 1990s style with one throwback to the 80s in this edition. With lovely coupes from Volkswagen, Porsche and BMW, two Audi sedans round out the lineup. Which is the one you’d like to grab for this holiday season? Thank you again to our readers who sent in suggestions, we always appreciate them!
It’s pretty remarkable that over a four year production span, just under 13,000 Porsche 968s were ever produced. You would think such a well-balanced, good looking sports coupe would have been more popular, but the limited production is a part of the 968s appeal these days, adding to its collectability for those looking for a less expensive air-cooled 911 option. With the introduction of the 944S2 Cabriolet in 1990, open-air flexibility was added to the equation; a tradition the 968 carried on with the car we see here, the 968 Cabriolet. This example for sale in New Jersey has just 53,000 miles on the clock and is equipped with the more desirable 6-speed manual.
On paper, the 968 should make a great race car. Out of the box, the transaxle configuration meant that as with all of the 924/944 lineup which preceded it, the 968 had nearly perfect weight distribution and balance. The boxy flares of the 944 had been smoothed slightly but were still quite capable of containing very large amounts of sticky rubber. The 968 was available with a 6-speed manual transmission; one more cog to exploit that power train than had previously been available. And while nearly all examples lacked the magical turbo script, the upgraded 944 S2 motor with VarioCam meant that the torque-laden and largest post-war 4-cylinder produced in normal production runs churned an impressive 17 horsepower more than the boosted variant had in 1986, with 237 horsepower on tap. But for whatever reason, track worthy 968s are much more rare to see than 944s; perhaps it’s the residual value they still enjoy in some regards, or perhaps its the flexibility of tuning the Turbos for more boost. Whatever the reason, it’s neat to see one pop up, such as this PCA/NASA example today:
Porsche’s front-engined sports coupes always have remained somewhat on the sideline and received short shrift from many enthusiasts. Some of that surely is due to their disappearance from the market two decades ago and the continued presence and success of the 911 of course does nothing to help in this regard either. On the second-hand market the 928 commands decent respect, especially a manual-transmission GTS, but Porsche’s 4-cylinder models haven’t yet been shown as much love. On the one hand, that’s a shame since examples like this 1994 Porsche 968 for sale in New Orleans feature some of the best dynamic handling traits in the Porsche stable. These cars were blessed with impeccable balance and as the culmination of the 4-cylinder line the 968 offers the best of what Porsche made available in this design. On the other hand, the market’s relative lack of care for these means that prices remain much lower than those of a similar vintage 911 and enable Porsche enthusiasts who do find great joy from these machines to get into good examples for reasonable cost.
The Porsche 911 could be described as the eternal sports car. It has a style all its own that has lasted for over fifty years, albeit with some refinements along the way. The Porsche 968, however, looks like it could have been designed yesterday. I never stop thinking about what the Porsche 928 and 968 might have turned into, had Porsche continued on with their transaxle greats which exited stage left in 1995. These are cars that deserved a second life and had plenty of fans, to which the folks over at flüssig magazine can attest. This 1994 968 for sale in Florida was originally sold by Brumos Porsche and has covered just over 80,000 miles.
