You know those classics that every time you see one, hear one, or even glance at a classified for one, make you consider restructuring your fleet to accommodate an example? That's what this is all about. Well, this is just one of scores of classics that affect me that way.
I have never owned a Porsche. I have driven and adored many a rear-engined car, but never felt the need to buy one. Anathema it may be, but the same does not apply to the front-engined cars. Not the 924, of course. Nothing wrong with it, mind, but three yards of reversing and 1st gear in Graeme Hurst's (which you could never mention without him pointing it out that it was an "S", which in turn just invited a load of suggestions of what the "S" might stand for) put paid to that.
The 944 has been hovering on the little "sticky" on my Mac screen for a while, though. A nice S2 manual, lovely. Except that I just know – as you do with plenty of classics – that it will never quite rise to the top of that long list of dream garage fodder. There are just too many other cars ahead of it. I also find their efficiency, reliability and competence a little bit clinical and sterile; not a sensation you ever get with a Lotus Elite, I must admit.
So perfection would surely be to add a bold animalistic tinge to that package? C&SC's Simon Taylor (or "Throttle" as he is known, a command sub-editors might occasionally be tempted take a bit too literally) has often regaled me with tales of his transcontinental epics in his 928, endless super-high-speed touring that made him rate the model as the greatest GT of all time. Considering the cars this former Haymarket chairman has driven and had at his disposal, that is quite a feather in the cap for the Stuttgart master-blaster.
