A few cars, notably the Alfa Romeo Alfetta, Porsche 924, and Chevrolet Corvette ( since 1997 ), sought a more even weight distribution between front and back by placing the weight of the transmission at the rear of the car, combined with the rear axle to form a transaxle.

This design marked a major change in direction for Porsche ( started with the introduction of the Porsche 924 in 1976 ), whose cars had until then used only rear-or mid-mounted air-cooled flat engines with four or six cylinders.

The two companies collaborated in 1969 to make the VW-Porsche 914 and 914-6, whereby the 914-6 had a Porsche engine, and the 914 had a Volkswagen engine, in 1976 with the Porsche 912E ( USA only ) and the Porsche 924, which used many Audi components, and was built at Audi's Neckarsulm factory.

The Porsche 924 is a Sports car produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1976 to 1988.

In production terms, the 924 was the first Porsche model powered by a water-cooled, front-mounted engine although the similarly configured 928 was designed first.

1977 – 1982 Porsche 924 ( Australia )

Porsche made small improvements to the 924 each model year between 1977 and 1985, but nothing major was changed on non-turbo cars.

J. Pasha, writing in Excellence magazine, at the time, described the 924 as " the best handling Porsche in stock form ".

Porsche 924 from 1976

Porsche executives soon recognized the need for a higher-performance version of the 924 that could bridge the gap between the basic 924 and the 911s.

Having already found the benefits of turbochargers on several race cars and the 1975 911 Turbo, Porsche chose to use this technology for the 924, eventually introducing the 924 Turbo as a 1978 model.

To fix the problems, Porsche released a revised 924 Turbo series 2 ( although badging still read 924 Turbo ) in 1979.

After a successful sales run of both naturally aspirated and turbo models, in 1980 Porsche surprised everyone and release the 924 Carrera GT, making clear their intention to enter the 924 in competition.

By adding an intercooler, increasing compression to 8. 5: 1 as well as various other little changes, Porsche was able to develop the 924 Turbo into the race car they had wanted, dubbing it the 924 Carrera GT.

In 1980 Porsche entered three 924 GTRs at the 24hrs of Le Mans, which went on to finish 6th, 12th and 13th overall.

Lastly, in 1981 Porsche entered 1 of 2 specially built 924 Carrera GTP's ( Aka: 944GTP Le Mans ) which Porsche Motorsports introduced a new prototype highly modified 2. 5 liter I4 engine.

Porsche 928 S4 rear

The Porsche 928 is a sports-GT car that was sold by Porsche AG of Germany from 1978 to 1995.

Originally intended to replace the company's iconic 911, the 928 combined the power, poise, and handling of a sports car with the refinement, comfort, and equipment of a luxury sedan to create what some Porsche executives thought would be a vehicle with wider appeal than the compact, quirky and sometimes difficult 911.

Since its inception in 1949, Porsche has manufactured only six front-engined models, four of which were coupes, including the 928.

Ordered by Ferry Porsche to come up with a production-feasible concept for his new model, Fuhrmann initiated a design study in 1971, eventually taking from the process the final specs for the 928.

Porsche engineers wanted a large-displacement motor to power the 928, and prototype units were built with a 5. 0 L V8 producing close to.

Porsche 928 headlights

Porsche 928 S4 interior

Porsche utilized a transaxle in the 928 to help achieve 50 / 50 front / rear weight distribution, aiding the car's balance.

Porsche 928 GTS rear quarter view

Porsche introduced a refreshed 928 S into the European market in 1979 model year, although it was summer of 1982 and MY 1983 before the model reached North America.

Porsche updated the North American 928 S for 1985, replacing the 4. 7 L SOHC engine with a new 5. 0 L DOHC unit sporting four valves per cylinder and producing 288 hp ( 215 kW / 292 PS ).

Porsche debuted the 928 GT in the late winter 1988 / 89 after dropping the slowly selling CS and SE.

Porsche 928 V8 engine

* Porsche 924 928 944, " The New Generation ".

As of 2009, Porsche has not yet built another front-engined sports car, although a 4-door sports-touring sedan, called Panamera began production in 2009, and a successor to the 928, based on that sedan's architecture, is predicted to follow.

Production of the 986 began at the former Porsche 928 facility in Stuttgart, Germany in 1996.

* September 28 – The Porsche 928 debuts at the Geneva Auto Convention.

DeLorean's vision has been further vindicated by the adoption of similar designs in a slew of modern high-performance cars, including the Porsche 928, the Corvette C5, and the Aston Martin DB9.

As he was training for a rematch with Laporte set for September, he crashed on the early morning of August 12, 1982, while driving his Porsche 928 sports car along the federal highway from Santiago de Querétaro to San Luis Potosí, dying instantly.

It is the first V8-engined vehicle built by Porsche since 1995, when the Porsche 928 was discontinued.

For the 1986 to 1988 model years the car acquired the powerplant from the 944 model and became the Porsche 924S.

The 924 was considerably cheaper than its 944 stablemate, and dropping the model left Porsche without an affordable entry-level option.

With unfavourable exchange rates in the late 1980s, Porsche decided to focus its efforts on its more upmarket models, dropping the 924S for 1989 and the base 944 later that same year.

* Porsche 924 and 944, " A Collectors Guide ".

The Porsche 944 is a sports car built by Porsche from 1982 to 1991.

Shortly after the start of production of the S2 variant, Porsche engineers began working on another set of significant upgrades for the model, as executives were planning a final " S3 " variant of the 944.

Production was moved from the Audi plant in Neckarsulm ( where the 924 and 944 had been manufactured under contract to Porsche ), to Porsche's own factory in Zuffenhausen.

Because some parts are interchangeable between the 968, 944 and 924, some enthusiasts purchase those parts from Porsche parts warehouses as " upgrades " for their older models.

) In 2004, Bana purchased a Porsche 944 to compete in Australia's Porsche Challenge.

This inline engine configuration is the most common in cars with a displacement up to 2. 4 L. The usual " practical " limit of the displacement of inline-four engines in a car is around 2. 7 L. However, Porsche used a 3. 0 L four in its 944 S2 and 968 sports cars, the International Harvester Scout was available with a 3. 2 L inline four from 1965 until 1980 and Rolls-Royce produced several inline-four engines of 2, 838 cc with basic cylinder dimensions of diameter and stroke ( Rolls-Royce B40 ).

The use of balance shafts allowed Porsche to use a 3. 0 L ( 2990 cc ) inline-four engine on road cars first in the 944 S2, but the largest modern non-diesel was the plain 195 in the 1961 Pontiac Tempest.

The second generation RX-7 (" FC ", VIN begins JM1FC3 or JMZFC1 ), still known as the Savanna RX-7 in Japan, featured a complete restyling reminiscent of the Porsche 944 or Porsche 924.

Mazda's stylists, led by Chief Project Engineer Akio Uchiyama, focused on the Porsche 944 for their inspiration in designing the FC because the new car was being styled primarily for the American market, where the majority of first generation RX-7's had been sold.

The Porsche 944 was selling particularly well at the time and provided clues as to what sports-car enthusiasts might find compelling in future RX-7 styling and equipment.

* Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolet

Originally conceived as a possible successor to the Porsche 944, the Corrado is a three-door hatchback coupé with a 2 + 2 seating layout.

The Roush Merkurs of Scott Pruett and Pete Halsmer dominated the 1987 season, winning all but one race, with Elliott Forbes-Robinson taking that win in his Porsche 944 Turbo.

* Porsche 944

The Porsche 924 and later Porsche 944 were also assembled at Neckarsulm.