History and Porsche cars
In the mid-seventies, Porsche needed a vehicle economic, given the economic crisis, and that would serve to inject money into a company that could not live solely on the sales of the 911.
The signing of stuttgart appealed to the Volkswagen group, which had long with a draft sports coupé own but abandoned by the crisis. Porsche paid no less than 160 million Marcos (about 14,500 million pesetas) for an idea that basically consisted of a 2 +2 coupé front-engined four-cylinder water-cooled (solution that broke with the tradition of the brand); traction, clutch and gearbox in the rear axle. That Porsche launched a front-engined, water-cooled, only 125 hp, and that many pieces were Audi and Volkswagen, was seen by the most recalcitrant fans of the mark as a sacrilege that still continues today.
The manager of the EA-425, 924 name of the project was the German Paul Hensler, in collaboration with the designer Lithuanian Anatole “Toni” Lapine, whose mission was to make a genuine Porsche to replace the 914 as a car capable access to the mark, to convince customers to staunch not necessarily compete with the Porsche and Datsun Z, Alfa GTV, Mazda RX-7 or Triumph TR-7 at the time.
The body, soft lines and low, was the work of German Harm Lagaay, who was given a modern look still in force.
Their actions are contained: 4,200 mm long, 1,685 wide and 1,270 mm high (with a very small distance from the ceiling to the floor), and weight (1,080 kg, the first version), which brings lightness to the vehicle in motion, and a Cx of only 0.36, a good figure in those years of concern over consumption.
The assembly of the body and organs mechanics also raise blisters, as it did in the plant NSU Neckarsulm.
Also mechanics, the VW factory in Salzgitter, was not unconditional. It was the latest version of the four-cylinder in-line Audi 100, the same range available to the commercial Volkswagen LT. His small engine capacity of 1,984 cc only allowed certain tax advantages in some markets such as the Japanese or Italian. It had an injection Bosch K-Jetronic, a high compression ratio of 9,3:1, forcing use of 98 octane gasoline, and an output of 125 hp at 5,800 rpm (10 hp more than the original Audi 100) . The change also came from the signing of the four rings: manual four marches, but in 1978 decided, as an option, another of five, with the first backwards, and from no less than 911. There was also an automatic gearbox (the first to be mounted in a Porsche), three relationships, mainly for the American market (very important for Porsche, which sells a version capada of 95 hp) and Japanese.
The ingenious Transaxle, a combination of gearbox, clutch and differential coupling in the rear axle, was a breakthrough mechanic to bring greater rigidity to the structure, an optimal sharing pesos (48% front and 52 behind) and better energy absorption in the event of a front or rear impact .. The system, manufactured at the VW plant in Kasel, was not new, had already been used in Grand Prix cars in the years 30 and 50, although it was a novelty in a street vehicle. Besides being a technical marvel, which is pasted that robbed the trunk space, allowing the car in motion is totally neutral, maybe something soso, but with an enviable aplomb and nobility.
As for the suspension, simplicity remains. In front is the type McPherson (similar to the VW Golf and Scirocco); rear, semi-independent arm with a transverse torsion bar, similar to the 911 but with a few pieces of nothing less than the VW Beetle.