Cars We Remember – Porsche 924: Was it a bust, or a fabulous collector car

Q: Greg, can you give some information on the 1981 924 Porsche? I remember my one friend said it was junk, while my other friend said it was a rare, valuable sports car. Who is right? I enjoy your column very much and we discuss them in our group of retired baby-boomer car lovers. Thanks much, John G., St. Augustine, Fla.

A: John, the correct answer would be both of your friends are correct! I can go all the way back to a letter I answered in 2011 about the Porsche 924, and specifically the 924 Carrera GT Turbo. I received a letter from William Bowers, from Lincoln, Nebraska, telling me that following the death of his father, his mom inherited his dad’s ’81 Porsche 924 Carrera GT, not to be confused with a “regular” 924 Porsche, the latter of which is the “bust” I mention in this week’s headline.

To better explain, the initial Porsche 924 was the first front engine Porsche ever built in co-op with Audi/Volkswagen. The 924 is also the very first Porsche to offer an automatic transmission and both of these characteristics went completely against the rear engine, manual transmission Porsches that were so poplar to serious sports car enthusiasts.

Even though the 924s popularity was solid and Porsche/Volkswagen/Audi sold over 150,000 924s from 1976 through 1988, it just wasn’t a true performance Porsche. Although it served a need during that time, the 924 just hasn’t attracted any serious Porsche collectors, as it was just a nice front engine, rear drive, entry-level sports car.

Until 1980-1981 when the 924 changed big time thanks to the Lemans 24 Hour race.    

I told William right up front if his 924 was indeed a real Porsche 924 Carrera GT Turbo model, he was in possession of one of the most valuable of the Porsche 924 series models. The “regular,” non-turbo 924s mentioned above aren’t worth much even today in fully restored condition. They might fetch $17,000 to $22,000 tops, which is similar to the prices I quoted back in 2011.  

However, that’s not the case with the 1981 924 Carrera GT Turbo, built specifically with racing in mind and featuring lighter, wider and way meaner looks than a “normal” 924. This car at one time was going to replace the 911 Series, something that, of course, never happened.

Further, Porsche had to build at least 400 Carrera GT Turbo models to meet international racing rules to qualify for entry at the 1981 LeMans 24 Hour event. So, a total of 406 Porsche 924 Carrera GT Turbos were produced, with 75 of them right hand drive, 59 of them race prep GTS models and just 17 full-race GTR renditions. Only three colors were available, red, silver or black and the 924 Carrera GT Turbo featured a new, race ready four-wheel independent suspension, four-wheel ventilated disc brakes, Getrag 5-speed manual, and much more.

Top speed was 150 mph for the a Carrera GT Turbo, with zero to 60 mph in six seconds, all still coming from the 1.984-liter, 121 cubic inch four-cylinder engine but with more compression and more turbo boost. The racing models were called Porsche Carrera 924 GTR, and did compete at Lemans and finished an outstanding 11th overall and first in class in 1981 in the smaller bore division. Today, these 924 Carrera Turbos bring big bucks at auctions when they appear for sale. Both the GTS and GTR produced a whooping 375 horsepower and went zero to 60 in 4.7-seconds in race prep.  

Still, the 924 Carrera GT Turbos that were sold to consumers for road use also received lightweight components and a wider track for better handling and weight distribution, so much was transferred to the road car, which for Porsche is not surprising. Back in 1981, the 406 production models of the Carrera GT Turbo sold out immediately. Anyone today that has a Porsche 924 GT Turbo, GTS or GTR, is sitting on some very serious money. 

If any of my readers ever come across a Carrera 924 Turbo, and are thinking of making sure it is a real Carrera GT Turbo, I was able to check the official Turbo GT Carrera vehicle identification numbers (VIN) and came up with this: The chassis numbers should run from WPOZZZ93ZBN7 00 001 to 406. WPO is the world manufacturer code for Porsche. ZZZ tells us this is a Europe/Rest Of World spec model. 93zbn7 is the internal Porsche model designation for the 924 Carrera GT. Z is a test code. B is model year 1981. N is the factory at Neckarsulm in Germany. If the VIN is other than the info I give above, it is not an original Carrera GT Turbo as many companies made Carrera GT conversion kits back then to turn a regular 924 into a Carrera GT Turbo.

As for price, I predicted back in 2011 these special 924 GT Turbos would bring $65,000 and up in restored condition. I was correct, but since then a 924 GT Turbo just sold for $261,000 in April of 2021 and one of the 17 GTR LeMans models sold for $630,000 along the way. Currently, a dealer in Texas is asking $925,000 for a real GTR and we’ll keep our eye on it to see if it sells. Regardless, anyone who finds a real 1981 Porsche Carrera GT Turbo, GTS or, better yet, a GTR model, these are the rarest of the 924s ever produced.     

So here we are, 10 years after the initial 924 column and the 924 is both a collector car failure and a spectacular success at the same time, depending on that most important VIN.

Thanks for the letter John.

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader questions on collector cars, auto nostalgia and motorsports at greg@gregzyla.com.)