The first efforts with the 924 rally car involved a non-turbo version, the Monte Carlo Rally 924, of Jürgen Barth and Roland Kussmaul in 1979.The stillborn 924 turbocharged record car that never turned a wheel in anger.
A water-cooled engine? And it’s at the front? And it’s a Porsche?! The motoring press in the late ’70s couldn’t believe it. Then, at the annual Porsche Cup presentation ceremony in Germany during the closing days of 1979, Porsche race manager of the time Manfred Jantke made an official announcement: “Porsche will be on the start line at the 1980 Le Mans 24 Hours, not to challenge for overall victory but to run three cars as part of a development program for the future production of a car we will officially call the 924 Carrera GT; 400 will be made for homologation purposes. It is planned as a technical experiment with a view to the future sporting regulations to be brought in, in 1982, in order to be able to offer customers a competitive vehicle.”
Following the Monte Carlo effort, the 924 was made ready for the 1979 Safari Rally, including having the now available 170 bhp turbo engine installed.
The creation of the 924 Carrera was no accident. It came from the established pedigree of a well-proven and formidable organization. In fact the 924 itself, which formed the basis of the 924 Carrera GT, was not—as many in the popular press suggested at the time, and even some today believe—“just” a VW-Audi with a Porsche badge. Among those in the know or who study the financial situation of the motor industry, the late 1970s and early ’80s were times of financial stress for the company Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft in the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart. The 924 Porsche and its variants would turn around the company’s fortunes.
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