The 924's reputation as the poor man's Porsche makes it a bargain in Turbo form. With its water-cooled four-cylinder engine sourced from a van and mounted in the 'wrong' place, the Porsche 924 really does live up to its 'poor man's Porker' reputation. But the inoffensively styled, compact, practical and, in Turbo form, fast 924 was, in Autocar's words, "another real Porsche - which handles". Regardless of its detractors, the 924 in its various incarnations sold more than 150,000 units worldwide. Of that, only 13,500 or so were Turbos, so the passage of time and the car's unloved status mean they are relatively rare today, but there's a band of Porsche enthusiasts who respect the 924 for the fine-handling, underrated car it is. The Turbo arrived in 1979, three years after the standard 924. A KKK turbocharger boosted outputs to 170bhp and 188 lb ft, while the 924's front-engined, rear transaxle layout meant near-perfect weight distribution. Revisions to the chassis and brakes further enhanced the car's already acclaimed handling. Performance wasn't lacking, either, with Autocar beating Porsche's own 7.8sec 0-60mph claim by 0.9sec and hitting 142mph. That was enough to better Porsche's own 928, keep up with the 911 SC and beat exotics such Aston Martin's V8.
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