Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi all - newbie to this forum, though not to the world of transaxle Porsches. Having recently had a manual 928S4 written off, I'm now looking for a 944T or S2 as a replacement. However, there is a catch - I'm not in the UK, as alluded by my user ID. There is a dearth of transaxles on the market here, and the prices are stratospheric, so I'm looking to import my own.

I'm au fait enough with 944s and have plenty of guidance this end - my local 928 specialist is a transaxle specialist and owns a 928 S3 (S2 with the 5.0 32v engine), an immaculate 968, and a very modified 944T - but the help I need is with finding local specialist who can do pre-purchase inspections. Also, any pointers regarding the cars I'm looking at - does anyone here know the car, or seller, and can advise accordingly?

To make it worthwhile, the car has to be as clean as can be, with little rust (Ha! Though sills can be replaced here), preferably recent work under the bonnet, and AC fitted. Whilst AC can be retrofitted, its a bit of a pricey exercise. I'd also like a colour - not black, white or grey. Budget is probably up to late-20s GBP.

Hopefully not moon-on-a-stick stuff.

A quick browse on AT throws up this at Peter Vardy in Edinburgh...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 1229837076

...for example. That price, plus the shipping and all other costs to put it on the road, would make it on par with the best local examples. So if it was as good as it looks, it might be worth it. I'll be using an experienced shipping agent to do the rest of the leg work.

Bit of a ramble for a first post, but if anyone has any pointers, that would be great. Thanks for reading.

I have a 944 turbo cab ( it does have a/c) one of less the 100 cars made, that I might well be selling. It would be late 20’s gbp . Pm my if you want any info.

Would you like some jam and a cherry on it too? Pay Buchanan Motors to find you one.

No need for the sarcasm, for someone asking a perfectly inicent question. And not everyone knows about Buchanan Motors, so a recomendation no matter how tongue in cheek is not very clever.

As someone else said S2's with A.C are pretty rare, I've never seen one & when I was looking a while ago that was the comment of quite a few specialists.
I was told that Porsche's of this period had bespoke looms rather than generic ones. So if it didn't need a.c when it was ordered the loom won't be there for it.
Turbos were a lot more expensive & I have seen quite a few with a.c so that'd be a better bet. Be warned than getting old car a/c to work can be ruinously expensive (wife's Eunos has it!) so getting it fully working for Oz temps maybe a challenge.

I once saw an S2 with factory AC. Super rare. The setup is different from the turbo. In a turbo you can see two metal pipes running down the engine bay towards the compressor and dryer area. The S2 only had one of these pipes.

AFAIK all UK spec turbos, soft top or not, had factory AC.

I have working AC. For my sins I've had 2 x AC pumps, 2 x condensors, 1 x dryer, various new seals and multiple vacs and recharges over about a 5 year period since I started wanting it to work! It does now however run happily on R134a and pumps out plenty icy cold air!

Stuart

Sounds like my Mrs Eunos, except 3 x A/C pumps after the last one exploded. There is a brilliant place in Gravesend Kent that are good for Porsche A/C including 928s which are another level of pain apparently!

Calm down, he's already posted the same on PH, and didn't like the advice he's asked for. He knows who Buchanan are too.

Don't tell me to calm down, I don't care about other forums I'm moderating this one and the sarcasm was unecessary & unwelcoming on this forum.

OP, think your going to struggle with that order, most of the really clean examples are in collections after the last 2 years of madness,

I would start looking at top end auction sites

Thanks for the responses, even the sarky bits, apologies for not getting back here as I was progressing with a purchase...

Yes, I had asked on PH, so thanks to Pauly for tracking me down. As stated there, I'm familiar enough with Transaxles to be aware of the pitfalls, and was happy to take a car that had already been worked on rather than by a garage queen. My cars are always used throughout the year, for even mundane activities - life's too short for parking it in a garage and driving something dull just cos its raining.

But we're all different.

Anyway, I had found a 944T that was for sale in Yorkshire, and from the info exchanged had arranged a PPI with a local transaxle specialist. However, before that could take place, I had three 968s pop up local to me, and bought one just 20km from where I live. I wasn't looking for a 968, but I think I got a good one at a good price. And Buchanans seem to agree with that synopsis.

The prices over here do still make scanning the UK market worthwhile, and whilst its not a difficult exercise to import a car, from what I've found it can be a frustrating one.

968's are great cars, I'd have one over an unmodified turbo.

Me too, but I might be biased