Philip Raby Specialist Cars By Philip Raby Specialist Cars 10 months ago

Porsche 924 Turbo: a forgotten icon?

In his second column for 9WERKS, Porsche writer, commentator and specialist Philip Raby explores the virtues of the oft-forgotten 924 Turbo

I see all sorts of exotic Porsches in the course of a day. As I write this, I look out of my office one way and see a rare race-specced classic 911 Turbo on a ramp in the service department, next to a 991 GT3 Touring. Out of the other door, I spy a RUF (in yellow, naturally) and a 997 Turbo Cabriolet, amongst other Porsches in our well-stocked showroom. Talk about a kid in a sweet shop!
However, we have one rather tired and neglected Porsche which always makes me smile but none of my colleagues get excited about. It gets shuffled around the service centre, where it’s always in the way; a project waiting to be started but no one can work up the enthusiasm to do it. Actually, that’s not quite true; Harlon, our 18-year-old trainee, loves the car, too, and can’t wait to get stuck into restoring it, but our service manager just never seems to give him the time.
So just what is this Porsche that only the oldest and youngest members of the team are passionate about? Well, it’s a 924 Turbo.
I like it because a 924 Turbo was one of the first Porsches to get my attention, when I was a fresh-faced teen myself. Back then, I was working as a marine electrician, installing equipment in yachts on the River Hamble. At the marina we were based at, there was always a two-tone silver and grey 924 Turbo, with the registration LEO 8. The owner was one splendidly named Leo Da Costa, who ran a successful yacht business. The then-new Turbo’s sleek lines, bonnet intake, multi-spoke wheels, and that oh-so-cool Pasha interior just did it for me. It was my dream car and I was hooked on Porsches from then onwards.

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    Walter Röhrl alongside a 924 Turbo (left) and his 924 Carrera GTS race car. If it was good enough for Walter…
    I moved on from that Howard’s Way life and, after a few hiccups, ended up in the heady world of magazine publishing, which I loved. Determined to have a Porsche before I hit 30, I bought a 924. It wasn’t a Turbo and, if I’m honest, it wasn’t very good, but it was a Porsche and it was mine. It was the first of many Porsches I was to own, and the catalyst for my career as a motoring writer, then founding editor of Total 911 magazine (which, ironically, doesn’t cover 924s), and on to the creation of Philip Raby Specialist Cars, which sells, servicing and repairs Porsches (although not, it seems, 924 Turbos).
    So, with that backstory in mind, perhaps it’s not surprising that I have a soft spot for the often-overlooked 924 Turbo from my youth; a car that is actually far rarer than many of the Porsches we deal with. But why on earth does my young colleague get excited about a car which is way more than twice his age, when he’s lucky enough to get to work with much faster and more exotic Porsches? He’s a cool guy, is our Harlon. He prefers vinyl and CDs to Spotify, and has impeccable taste in music (think Velvet Underground and The Doors). And his taste in cars is just as eclectic and retro, so the 924 Turbo ticks a lot of boxes for him.
    “It’s the shape for me,” Harlon explains. “From the smooth front to the angular rear. I like to think many manufacturers took inspiration from Porsche’s design, especially the Japanese, with cars like the Mazda RX7, which had very similar features. The 924 Turbo was a very cool car to start the Eighties off.”
    Wise words from a young man, and proof that the 924’s styling, which dates right back to the mid 1970s, really has stood the test of time. Now we just need to convince the rest of the team that we really must get on with restoring our Turbo to its former glory…

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