Craigslist By dropping the more powerful engine from the 944 into the lighter 924, Porsche created a bit of a sleeper with the last of the line 924 S. Today's Nice Price or No Dice edition has some bumps and bruises, but seems solid enough to consider. Let's see how solid its price might be. Erik Carlsson (Carlsson på taket!) may be the best-known of rally racers to have turned a studded tire in anger for Saab, but it's Greta Molander who is perhaps the most interesting. A rally racer and travel tome writer, Molander began her rally career in 1929 and participated in her first Monte Carlo Rally in 1933. She also won the Women's Class at the first-ever European Rally Championship. That achievement was reached behind the wheel of a Saab 92 rally racer, and, in fact, it was Molander—not Carlsson—who gave Saab its first rally win. It was those heroics and history that the 1970 Saab 95 wagon we looked at on Thursday sought to emulate and express. A project most of the way to the finish line, the rare and oddball V4-powered little Swede also sought $16,500 for its sale and someone quirky enough to bring it in for the win. That win will have to wait, however, as you all gave the 95 and that price a hefty 75% 'No Dice' loss. VW giveth and VW taketh away Craigslist When it debuted, the Saab 95 was powered by a three-cylinder two-stroke engine that owed much of its design to the two-stroke triple from Germany's DKW. It seems that German automakers are more than forthcoming with sharing both engine designs and actual mills in the metal. At some point, though, that sharing has to stop. An example is this 1987 Porsche 924 S. Originally commissioned by VW from Porsche as a model intended for Audi, the 924 was designed around the latter company's 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. When the whole Audi part of the equation failed to add up, Porsche adopted the model as its own entry-level offering, replacing the 912E and the earlier 914. It still used the Audi (or VW transporter, depending on how dismissive you want to be) engine, making it Porsche's first inline, water-cooled, front-engine car ever. All good things need to come to an end, though, and Volkswagen discontinued production of the Audi 2.0 in 1983, leaving Porsche to decide whether to kill the 924 or drop a new mill in and let it soldier on for a few more years. The company's execs chose the latter, adding a slightly detuned edition of the 944's 2.5-liter SOHC four cylinder to the 924 and dubbing it the "S." Other updates over the earlier cars included the 944's five-lug hubs, an improved suspension to handle the increased power, and an S badge—like in Superman—except on the car's butt. Stealth 944 Craigslist That all makes the 924 S a bit of a sleeper. At 148 horsepower, the engine is down 15 ponies from the contemporary 944 due to lower compression pistons, but that's compensated for by the narrow-bodied 924 being lighter than its fat-fendered engine donor. The model only ran from 1984 through '88, with the last models gaining a few more horses to close that gap even further. This 1987, though, has the 148-horse motor, and, per the ad, that's seen a good bit of work by both its current and previous owner. It has a modest 76,097 miles on the clock and had the entire front end of the engine (timing and balance shaft belts, water pump, seals, etc.) refreshed back in 2023. More recent work has included replacing the fuel pump, many, many seals, and new injectors, as well as rebuilding the front brake calipers. Perhaps most importantly, as this is a torque tube/transaxle car, the clutch was renewed in 2017. According to the seller, maintenance records dating back to 2012 and the car's original sales sticker will accompany the title in the sale. Give it some love Craigslist All that work is to be expected on a nearly 40-year-old sports car, and, as also might be expected, there's more yet to be done. The seller warns that the car suffers from a cold-start misfire. Apparently, that goes away once it gets off the cold idle circuit, but the cause of the problem has so far eluded discovery. Another issue that will need to be addressed is the dragging of one of the brake calipers. The seller assumes it's a rear since the fronts have already been refurbished. Per the seller, they have neither the time nor the inclination to fix either problem. Those might be deal killers if the car were also a fright pig, but that's not the case here. Overall, it appears to be in very nice shape, with decent paint and no apparent curb rash on the wonderful phone dial wheels. There is a sizable dent in the front fender right at the bumper opening, but that, along with some scrapes and chips marring the front spoiler, looks to be a fairly easy repair. The interior presents as very clean, and, aside from the carpet merkin adorning the dash to hide the likely cracks (they all do that), it seems complete and inviting. A more period-correct stereo head unit might be nice, but it's not necessary. Quick cash Craigslist Okay, so we've gone through the what and why of this 924; now let's get to the how. According to the current owner, the sale is due to an impending move that requires culling the herd. The car will come with a clean title, all those aforementioned maintenance records, two sets of keys, and what's promised to be a treasure trove of spare parts and the original owner's manuals. All that comes at an asking price of $5,500. Considering this 924's color, I could ask, "How do you like them apples?" but I won't. Instead, I want to know whether you think this imperfect but seemingly well-maintained 924S is worth that kind of cash. What do you say? Would you drop $5,500 on it if you were in the market for a classic Porsche sports car and were on a budget? Or, S or not, do you feel no 924 is worth diving into? You decide! San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears. Help me out with Nice Price or No Dice. Hit me up at robemslie@gmail.com and send a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your commenter handle.