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The Porsche 924 is a luxury sports car which was produced by Porsche AG of Germany from 1976 to 1988. A two-door, 2+2 coupé, the 924 replaced the 914 as the company's entry-level model, and was the model that finally retired the 912. 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. The front-engine, rear wheel drive arrangement was normal for most other manufacturers, but it was unusual for Porsche having previously only used mid- or rear-mounted engines of a boxer configuration, all of which had been air-cooled. It was the first Porsche to be offered with a fully automatic transmission. The first official appearance of the 924 took place in November 1975 (as a press launch rather than a motorshow appearance) at the harbour at La Grande Motte, Camargue in the south of France. The model was a qualified success with just over 150,000 produced (from 1977-1988), and it helped to take Porsche out of financial ruin. The 924 was meant to be replaced by the closely related 944 in 1983 in the U.S. market, but it returned in 1986 and continued to be produced until 1988. For the 1986 to 1988 model years, the car acquired the powerplant from the 944 model and became the Porsche 924S. ==History== The 924 was originally a joint project of Volkswagen and Porsche created by the Vertriebsgesellschaft (VG), the joint sales and marketing company funded by Porsche and VW to market and sell sports cars (Ludvigsen: ''Porsche, Excellence was Expected''). For Volkswagen, it was intended to be that company's flagship coupé sports car and was dubbed "Project 425" during its development. For Porsche, it was to be its entry-level sports car replacing the 914. At the time, Volkswagen lacked a significant internal research and design division for developing sports cars; further, Porsche had been doing the bulk of the company's development work anyway, per a deal that went back to the 1940s. In keeping with this history, Porsche was contracted to develop a new sporting vehicle with the caveat that this vehicle must work with an existing VW/Audi inline-four engine. Porsche chose a rear-wheel drive layout and a rear-mounted transaxle for the design to help provide 48/52 front/rear weight distribution; this slight rear weight bias aided both traction and brake balance. The 1973 oil crisis, a series of automobile-related regulatory changes enacted during the 1970s and a change of directors at Volkswagen made the case for a Volkswagen sports car less striking and the 425 project was put on hold. After serious deliberation at VW, the project was scrapped entirely after a decision was made to move forward with the cheaper, more practical, Golf-based Scirocco model instead. Porsche, which needed a model to replace the 914, made a deal with Volkswagen leadership to buy the design back. The deal specified that the car would be built at the ex-NSU factory in Neckarsulm located north of the Porsche headquarters in Stuttgart, Volkswagen becoming the subcontractor. Hence, Volkswagen employees would do the actual production line work (supervised by Porsche's own production specialists) and that Porsche would own the design. It became one of Porsche's best-selling models, and the relative cheapness of building the car made it both profitable and fairly easy for Porsche to finance. The original design used an Audi-sourced four-speed manual transmission from a front wheel drive car but now placed and used as a rear transaxle. It was mated to VW's EA831 2.0 L I4 engine, subsequently used in the Audi 100 and the Volkswagen LT van (common belief is that 'the engine originated in the LT van', but it first appeared in the Audi car and in 924 form has a Porsche-designed cylinder head). The Audi engine was also used in the AMC Gremlin, Concord, and Spirit. The 924 engine used Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection, producing in North American trim. This was brought up to in mid-1977 with the introduction of a catalytic converter, which reduced the need for power-robbing smog equipment. The four-speed manual was the only transmission available for the initial 1976 model, later this was replaced by a five-speed dog-leg unit. An Audi three-speed automatic was offered starting with the 1977.5 model. In 1980 the five-speed transmission was changed to a conventional H-pattern, with reverse now on the right beneath fifth gear. In 1980, the model received some minor fettling including a three-way catalyst and slightly higher compression, which brought power up to .〔 Nonetheless, the strong Deutschemark and US inflation severely hampered sales, as a well equipped 924 now easily could cost twice as much as the considerably more powerful Nissan 280ZX.〔''On its way to becoming a true Porsche'', p. 154〕 European models, which did not require any emissions equipment, made . They also differed visually from the US spec model by not having the US cars' low-speed impact bumpers and the round reflectors plus side-marker lamps on each end of the body. The 924 was sold in Japan at Yanase dealerships that specialize in North American and European vehicles, with right hand drive for its entire generation. Sales were helped by the fact that it was in compliance with Japanese Government dimension regulations with regards to its engine displacement and exterior dimensions. A five-speed transmission, available in normally aspirated cars (type 016) starting in 1979 and standard on all turbos (type G31), was a dog-leg shift pattern Porsche unit, with first gear below reverse on the left side. This was robust, but expensive due to some 915 internal parts, and was replaced for 1980 with a normal H-pattern Audi five-speed on all non-turbo cars. This lighter duty design was originally not used on the more powerful 924 Turbo. The brakes were solid discs at the front and drums at the rear. The car was criticized in ''Car and Driver'' magazine for this braking arrangement, which was viewed as a step backward from the 914's standard four-wheel disc brakes. However, four-wheel disc brakes, five stud hubs and alloys from the 924 Turbo were available on the base 924 as an "S" package starting with the 1980 model year. Also, standard brakes could be optioned on the turbo as a cost-saving measure. The overall styling was created by Dutchman Harm Lagaay, a member of the Porsche styling team, with the folding headlights, sloping bonnet line and grille-less nose giving the car its popular wedge shape. The car went on sale in the USA in July 1976 as a 1977 model with a base price of $9,395. Porsche made small improvements to the 924 each model year between 1977 and 1985, but nothing major was changed on non-turbo cars. Turbo charged variants received many different, non-VW sourced parts, throughout the drive train, and when optioned with the M471 disc brake package and forged 16" wheels, the car was twice as expensive as a standard model. Its appearance has been credited as the inspiration for the second generation Mazda RX-7. J. Pasha, writing in ''Excellence'' magazine, at the time, described the 924 as "the best handling Porsche in stock form". While the car was praised for its styling, handling, fuel economy, and reliability, it was harshly written up in the automotive press for its very poor performance, especially with the US spec cars. With only 95-110 hp, rapid acceleration was simply not an option, but the Porsche name carried with it higher expectations. When the 924 turbo models came out, ''Car and Driver'' magazine proclaimed the car "Fast...at Last!" The later 924S had performance on par with the turbo, but with much improved reliability, and at less cost. The '81 and '82 Turbos and the associated special variants are garnering interest in collector circles; and while many still exist, excellent examples of the cars are quite scarce as of 2015. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Porsche 924」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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