1985 Porsche 944 2.5 Lux

Woodcutter

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Bought this car on a whim in the early part of the year, it has pretty much lay out the back of my house ever since, with only the odd scoot around town to keep it ticking over.

It was part of a classic car collection on the Isle of Man, the owner had amassed a huge variety of stuff in a bid to start a classic car club, but he died and his estate sold off all the cars.

I bought it knowing it needed bodywork for MOT, mostly welding in the usual areas of rust on 944's, but as prep for the car club they had fixed everything mechanically, new belts, tensioners, fuel pipes, brake pipes, fuel pump, dizzy cap, HT leads etc were all new, so I was happy enough to take it in.

It came with an enormous history folder dating back over its 32 years which was nice to have.

I recently advertised it for sale as the Turbo and the 924 are going to eat up the car fund for a while, but I was tormented by absolute messers, so I took the ads down and decided I'll just fix it as well, not sure when but hopefully early 2018.

It's the much rarer early square dash model, which is lighter than the later cars and as such handles beautifully. Most of these early cars have been scrapped over the years as they got rusty, turned into track cars, crashed etc, so I feel duty bound to save it from a breakers yard!

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NickR

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I’m surprised this didn’t sell, looks like a lot of car for the money. If I had the Subaru gone I’d of made you an offer. Will be good to see it getting the work it needs and hopefully enjoyed (y)
 

Woodcutter

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I’m surprised this didn’t sell, looks like a lot of car for the money. If I had the Subaru gone I’d of made you an offer. Will be good to see it getting the work it needs and hopefully enjoyed (y)

I could have sold it if I had some patience, but I just couldn't bear some of the idiots who contacted me, anyone who sells cars for a living deserves serious credit! Lol

Not gonna lie, I was really really tempted by this when it was for sale? Would you swap for an mx5? 8o|

MX5?! Behave yourself ! :p
 

Mont

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Def keep it if you can.

My dad had a black 1984 Lux with those wheels and so I’ve always have a soft spot for the earlier cars when I see them. Still seem relatively unloved compared to the later cars which I think is unfair.

I’m kinda glad I didn’t see it advertised.
 

MarkP

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Strabane
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zafira :-(
Are these worth much money? A man near my work in donegal drives one identical to this as a daily all year round. Has the old black numberplate reg ZV ****. Never ever washed and looks a bit tatty but still going.
 

Woodcutter

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Woodcutter
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Def keep it if you can.

My dad had a black 1984 Lux with those wheels and so I’ve always have a soft spot for the earlier cars when I see them. Still seem relatively unloved compared to the later cars which I think is unfair.

I’m kinda glad I didn’t see it advertised.

Any pics of your Dad's ? Coolest Dad ever!

That’s class. Hope you keep it and get plenty of enjoyment out of it.

Thanks Adam.

Looks really nice love a 944

Me too, love all things front engined Porsche, 924/944/968/928. Those that know, know!

Are these worth much money? A man near my work in donegal drives one identical to this as a daily all year round. Has the old black numberplate reg ZV ****. Never ever washed and looks a bit tatty but still going.

There are quite a few iterations of the 944 and values are all over the place, cheap heaps start at £1500 and go up to mint Turbos at £30k upwards!
 

Woodcutter

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Woodcutter
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Still have this wee yoke, going to order up new sills next week and then it's off to the bodyshop when they arrive.

I had thoughts of changing the colour, but I think I'm just going to keep it white and get the cookie cutter wheels refubished.

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Woodcutter

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Woodcutter
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Finally pulled this poor old thing out of the shed this week to see what we are dealing with.

Got it dragged out and onto a recovery truck, where it was taken to inspect it on a lift to check how grim things are underneath.

Thankfully not as bad as expected. I’ve ordered new sills, rear lower quarter repair panels, and lower front wing repair panel for the driver side. The passenger wing is beyond repair, so I need to source a good used replacement.

I have a good customer who’s brilliant with a welder, so he’s cutting out all the rot and replacing with new metal. Then it’s off to the bodyshop first week of June for a strip down and bare metal respray.

All being well it should be on the road mid/late July.

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FM155

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Alfa 155
Very nice, a mate in England has recently bought a 944 S2 SE. Needs a small amount of bodywork too but in good shape overall. Has a factory LSD too and one owner from new. He only did a bit more digging after he bought it and found Porsche only made 14 S2 SE's and it appears a lot were made into race or trackday cars so it's a rare beast now.
 

Woodcutter

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Very nice, a mate in England has recently bought a 944 S2 SE. Needs a small amount of bodywork too but in good shape overall. Has a factory LSD too and one owner from new. He only did a bit more digging after he bought it and found Porsche only made 14 S2 SE's and it appears a lot were made into race or trackday cars so it's a rare beast now.

That’s a very rare car. Great find. 👍🏻
 

NickR

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A6/E39 530i
You keeping it white or changing the colour? Looking forward to seeing this on the road.
 

Woodcutter

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Woodcutter
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You keeping it white or changing the colour? Looking forward to seeing this on the road.

Keeping it white, proper period colour IMO which shows the lines nicely I think. I was tempted to go Brewster Green or Irish Green, but I'm not going to bother.

A welder handy on porsches you say?

Not sure he’d tackle yours, he’s doing the chassis work, inner sills and jacking points. No harm in asking though!
 

Woodcutter

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Some seriously nasty bits of rust, rear quarter boot pockets especially, plus where the rear axle beam meets the sill on the driver side. Battery tray is grim too

Welding is well under way now.

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