PORSCHE 968 — Specifications & VIN Lookup

About the PORSCHE 968

The Porsche 968 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG from 1991 until 1995. It was the final evolution of a series of water-cooled front-engine rear wheel drive models that began almost 20 years earlier with the introduction of the 924. It was intended to take over the entry-level position in the company lineup from the 944, which much of the vehicle was derived from. The 968 was Porsche's last new front-engined vehicle until the introduction of the Porsche Cayenne in 2003.

The Porsche 968 is a sports car manufactured by German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG from 1991 until 1995. It was the final evolution of a series of water-cooled front-engine rear wheel drive models that began almost 20 years earlier with the introduction of the 924. It was intended to take over the entry-level position in the company lineup from the 944, which much of the vehicle was derived from. The 968 was Porsche's last new front-engined vehicle until the introduction of the Porsche Cayenne in 2003.

History The Porsche 944 debuted for the 1982 model year as an evolution of the 924, was updated as the "944S" in 1987, and as the "944S2" in 1989. Porsche was in a significant financial crisis at the time, with less interest in its sports cars from customers, especially in the U.S. The virtually unchanged design of the 944, which was derived from the 924, was showing its age and sales of the model declined. Thus, Porsche decided to develop a new entry-level model. Shortly after the start of production of the S2 variant, Porsche engineers began working on another set of significant upgrades for the model, as executives were planning a final "S3" variant of the 944. This new model had a design language in line with the models already in its lineup in order to reduce development costs. During the development phase, 80 percent of the 944's mechanical components were either significantly modified or completely replaced by the engineers, leaving so little of the outgoing S2 model intact that Porsche management chose to introduce the variant as a new model, dubbing it the 968. In addition to the numerous mechanical upgrades, the new model also received styling changes, with a more modern, streamlined look, as well as many luxury amenities not present in its predecessor, the 944. To reduce production costs, manufacturing was moved from the Audi plant in Neckarsulm (where the 924 and 944 had been manufactured under contract to Porsche), to Porsche's own factory in Zuffenhausen.

Design

The 968 was mainly a restyled evolution of the 944 with design links visible to its predecessor. Design work was done by Harm Lagaay who had designed the 924 and the 944 as well. The front of the car largely resembled the top-of-the line 928, sharing its exposed pop-up headlamps and the integrated front bumper. This frontal design would eventually appear on the 911 (993) two years later. The rear of the 968 was also redesigned, featuring fully coloured rounded taillamps. Special bulbs were used in the taillamps which either illuminated a small area in amber colour when the turn signals were activated or in white when the car was reversing. PORSCHE badging was fitted between the taillights just below the model type number. The rear apron was integrated into the smoothened rear bumper. While the exterior of the car was rounded and smoothed, the interior was largely unchanged and mostly shared with the preceding 944 S2 with the exception of switches and control knobs. The 968 also featured numerous small equipment and detail upgrades from the 944, including a Fuba roof-mounted antenna, updated single lens tail lamps, "Cup" style 16-inch alloy wheels, a wider selection of interior and exterior colours, a slightly updated "B" pillar and rear quarter window to accommodate adhesive installation to replace the older rubber gasket installation.