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Perhaps a more interesting (and unanswerable) question to me is... how many are left?
That’s also a great question! 1986 was the most imported. How many have been bastardized, wrecked, crushed or left to rot? Probably safe to say 1/2 are left maybe 6,000 Turbos exist in the US?
Have been wondering the same thing. In my search for a new block, I’m seeing an awful lot of cars lost due to engine fires. Plus the wrecked cars. I would expect the number of pars that are left in driving condition (which includes on Jack stands and actively being repaired for these cars), it’s more like 3-4000 in the US. Those not on Jack stands, probably more like a total of five 951s at any given moment in the US.
Back to being serious, I’m also betting most of those left on the road are track cars.
Have been wondering the same thing. In my search for a new block, I’m seeing an awful lot of cars lost due to engine fires. Plus the wrecked cars. I would expect the number of pars that are left in driving condition (which includes on Jack stands and actively being repaired for these cars), it’s more like 3-4000 in the US. Those not on Jack stands, probably more like a total of five 951s at any given moment in the US.
Back to being serious, I’m also betting most of those left on the road are track cars.
Following BAT 944 Turbo Auctions… the more original ones that are well maintained are bring some strong money. I think these values will continue to just increase over time.
I've seen a couple of ways to theorize the number of 951s left. One uses registration data from a website for the UK called "How Many Left". Looking at the listings for 944 Turbo indicates there were 674 back in 1994, dropping to 426 by 2006. Starting in 2007 a new status called Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) became available, which is basically a declaration that the vehicle is off the road (like being stored in a garage for an extended period of time). Once this SORN status appears, it looks like the overall number of Turbos stays static, but the ratio flips to be almost 2:1 off-road to street legal.
Now for some napkin math. If we use those numbers as a reference point, 13982 / 674 = 20.74. Round that down to an even 20x for simplicity (and accounting for some being lost by 1994) would mean ~13480 in the US in 1994, dropping to 8520 by 2006. The UK goes down to 170 road-worthy cars in 2021 which would translate to 3400 here.
The other method I heard about was to assume a 50% drop in surviving vehicles per decade of existence. That would mean 6991 left by 1999, 3495 by 2009, and 1748 by 2019. So maybe the real number is somewhere in between the two?
All of that is just me spit-balling so chime in if you disagree. Too bad there's no way to really get that info without getting help from every state's DMV.
I'm hoping to have mine back on the ground in about two weeks. It runs... I'm down to chasing a rough idle (there's a thread on that). And I'm waiting on a Focus 9 DME/OMD+ unit that i just ordered to help with trouble-shooting now and in the future.
Edit...
The last time I said "in about two weeks" was about a month ago. Shortly after which I "lost" all of my oil pressure. Turns out I shouldn't have bought the cheap oil pressure sensor.
The time before _that_ that I said it... I ended up right back up in the air, too. And replaced the ring and pinion, rebuilt the TT and replaced the clutch.
I think Mike Goebel started a thread that seems relevant... But I'm having fun. Mostly.
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Nevadarain - great effort on the estimation!
Last edited by Millermatic; 10-13-2021 at 01:45 PM.
I'm hoping to have mine back on the ground in about two weeks.
The last time I said "in about two weeks" was about a month ago. Shortly after which I "lost" all of my oil pressure.
The time before _that_ that I said it... I ended up right back up in the air, too.
I think Mike Goebel started a thread that seems relevant... But I'm having fun. Mostly.
Add mine to the pile as well. Up in the air in April to install a new chip, again in May to replace reference sensors and a turbo line oil leak, and again in July (where she stayed while I lost motivation for a couple months). I think fall/winter weather arriving has gotten me to accept that "now's a good time to do some work again". Shifter components, front brakes, and coolant system are on the docket now.
These cars were bought by misguided people who wanted a cheap Porsche. Most didn't know a thing about taking care of them and they fell into disrepair. I think you'd be lucky to find 20% left alive. As my first exhibit I refer you to all of the cr*p fixes performed by the previous owners of your car. That said, I was one of those noobs who never learned to quit.
10-09-2021, 09:26 PM
How Many Porsche 944 Turbo 951s Produced?
