1988 Porsche 924

Coupe

4 Cylinder 2.5 Liter

Manual

WP0AA0926JN450312

Gasoline

Regretfully, I need to sell my Special Edition Lightweight 1988 924S. For those who know what this car is, you know it is very rare to find one for sale. This is the model that autocrossers are clamoring for in favor of other 924's or even 944's. Because it was lighter, the 924S was faster than the 944 in 1988 and this car is even faster still as it was an unoffical ''Club Sport'' version of the 924S. Less soundproofing, special lighweight cloth interior, sunroof delete and most importantly, the lowered and stiffer Koni coil-over M030 suspension made this a much harder edged 924S. Weighing at about 2600 lbs, the 924 ''SE'' was brought into the US in the 1988 year only. 500 were imported by Porsche Cars North America and who knows how many were left as many were turned into autocross cars. This car wasn't. In fact, the previous owner didn't even know it was a Special Edition because an owner previous to him had the car repainted in a dark metallic grey. All the 500 cars brought into the US were black with the grey cloth interior and burgundy carpeting. You'll notice that this car has power windows. The SE's didn't. But one of the previous owners added itr on. You'll see in the pics, black plugs that cover the holes for the window winders in the door panels. You can leave it this way, or remove the power windows to turn it back to how it left the factory. In addition, you'll see both left and right side-view mirrors. The SE's only came with a left side mirror to save weight. A previous owner added 2 aftermarket lightweight (the OEM Porsche side mirrors are pretty darn heavy) side mirrors. INTERIOR: The interior is in incredible condition. It does look like it is a car only a few years old. The carpets and seats, both front and back are excellent. The headliner is in very good condition except for one tear near the hatch. Take a close look at the pics as you'll see the overall condition. The only thing that needs to be looked at is the dash cover. A previous owner installed it and I really don't care much for it. I'm not aware if there are better quality dash caps but if you are a stickler like I am about it, I would suggest replacing it at some point. It doesn't certainly look bad, but with the interior being such a time-capsule it does deserve a decent dash cap to finish off an interior that I grade an 8.5-9. BODY: The body is also in excellent condition. The Carfax doesn't show any accidents and looking at it I believe it. It is straight and as it should be. The only detractions in the bodywork are the front bumper which took a minor parking lot bump so it placed a dent in the very front of the bumper where a license plate would normally go. It can be fixed without having the replace the bumper and you can put a front plate on until you do. I have taken a good pic to show the dent as well as how the bumper got slightly pushed in on one side. No damage was done to anything else in the area, just the front fo the bumper and one bumper shock will need to be pulled apart or replaced. Or install a set of lightweight European fiberglasss bumpers that would take of even more weight off of the car in the future. Besides for that it is a good solid rust-free body. The glass is excellent all the way around. I rate it an 8, get the front bumper fixed and replace the front valence and it is a 9. SUSPENSION & BRAKES: Suspension and brakes are in good shape but there are some things that I would want to do. First, I would send the Konis out to be recharged. It is fine and driveable the way it is but I think it's a bit loose and should be tightened up, especially if you are going to autocross it. The front sway bar bushings should be replaced in my opinion to make the car handle tighter. It just seems a bit loose for my taste. As mentioned it is driveable and fine for now but if you want it handling the way it did when it left the showroom, that's what I would do. Brakes are good, no leaks in the calipers or the master cylinder. Has plenty of pad life left. If I were to keep the car I would probably change the rotors as it looks like they are fairly thin. Car stops well and no squealing. just what I would do to make it perfect. While you are at it, I would eventually also add stainless steel brake lines sometime in the future. PAINT: While I love the color of this car, I hate the paint. It isn't embrassing or awful, its just that when they did the color change to metallic grey they really did a cheap paint job. It isn't bad or badly oxidized (the front hood has some slight oxidation), it's just that it has flaws and imperfections in it. There are some chips in the front and a few minor ones around the car. The front hood badge should be replaced as well. The front bumper dent that was already mentioned does effect the paint there too and during the same parking lot bump there was some minor scratching on the right front fender of which I've taken a picture. It chipped off some paint about an inch long on the same fender lip. Taken a pic of that too. The fender is fine just take a look at the pics to see what I mean. This car deserves a paint job that matches the straight, rust-free body and top notch interior. As I said, it isn't embarassing at looks great from 15 feet away, but this car is too rare and nice to not have a matching paint job. Since the engine bay wasn't repainted and is still black you can always go back to the original color if you value originality. My least favorite car color is black so you may prefer to keep it grey as well, I would use an original Porsche color of the period. I rate it a hesitant 6 up close and a 7.5 from 15 feet away. ENGINE & GEARBOX: The engine and gearbox seem like they are in good shape as well. Shifting is fine and the engine has a great sound to it. I would replace the bushings on the shifter itself as it is sloppy but that is pretty minor. As you can see from the pics I have the books that the car came with up to 1999 and 71,857 miles. The previous owner said that he almost never drove the car so there are no mileage discrepancies that I see and the condition of the interior leads me to believe that its is true. He said he had never had the timing belt replaced so I would definitely budget for that as well as the water pump. Better safe than sorry. Also, the AC doesn't blow cold. I haven't had it looked into to see what the issue is, but the buyer is going to have to deal with that. Also, recently the radiator fan has stopped working when it should. My first guess is the relay as it sounds and works fine when it is on. Or it could be a loose connection. Again, work makes it very difficult to get the time to look into it, but I want to mention everything that I know. No leaking of coolant or oil or any other liquid on the garage floor, not one drop since I've owned it. I would get that fixed fairly quickly as it does run hot if not moving and the fax isn't kicking in. Doesn't happen all the time but enough that you should look at it. Clutch is fine too. EXTERIOR TRIM: This car came from the factory with splash guards and they are in good shape. Also, the window trim is also good except for one small dent on one side. The front bumper pads look good except for a crease in one of them from the mentioned parking lot bump. The rear pads are in shape but don't look brand new. The rear spoiler is all there and intact but has a spot where the metal frame is showing through and if you want to concourse this car should be replaced but isn't emabarassing or awful, just looks like its 20 years old. Also, for some unexplanable reason, a previous owner filled in the indented PORSCHE script of the rear of the spoiler with some white paint. It is awful and needs to be be either touched up with black paint or replaced. If you're going the repaint the car down the road, deal with it then. You'll be happy to know there is no pinstriping anywhere on this car and the PORSCHE script on the rear is there, must have been replaced after the paint job. WHEELS & TIRES: The original phone dials were replaced with the ROH SP's you see in the pics. They are 7.5 x 17's and they come with brand new Goodyear Eagle RS-A's in 215/45/17. The rims are in absolutely excellent condition and show off how modern the 924 is when fitted with nice rims. Changes the personality of the car and are very tasteful. EXHAUST: Please see the stainless steel exhaust system in the pics. You'll never have to worry about it again. BOOKS: One great part of this car is the fact that it has the original books and book holder. The fist owner, dealer info, and maintenance record stamps until July 1999 are there including the owners manual. For those of you who can look up the accessory codes, here they are: C02 030 160 360 526 573 657 756 990. About the only option it didn't come with is the LSD. Please let me know if you have any questions. The reserve is very low for a rare SE and someone will be getting a decent straight car with everything there. I need too many other things right now than this 3rd car and wifey reminds me of that fact every day, so someone is going to be getting a very good deal. Good luck, wish I could keep it.