Plenty of words have already been written about the origins of the 924, so there’s little need to repeat the full story here. In short, the project dates back to the earlier part of the 1970s and began as a joint venture between Porsche and Volkswagen to develop a new 2+2 coupe. When VW subsequently pulled out of the collaboration, it left Porsche to go it alone; but the whole thing ultimately worked out rather nicely for the Zuffenhausen firm, providing it with an entry-level sports car to attract a new legion of buyers.
It was certainly a departure from the 911. While Porsche was already developing the 928, the car we have here was to be its first to feature a water-cooled engine mounted up front. And in a further departure, it would be built by Audi at the marque’s Neckarsulm plant.
Introduced for the 1976 model year with right-hand drive cars landing in the UK the following year, the pretty new 924 was powered by a 2.0-litre engine borrowed from Audi via VW (no, it’s not a van engine) with a Porsche-developed cylinder head. The power output of 125bhp might have sounded modest but the 924 was light, and performance was more than adequate. In any case, it was the handling that
