If you look through the Glorious Garbage archives, wearing the appropriate white gloves and being very sure to have placed your chili dog in one of the provided receptacles, you’ll likely have noticed something: Mopar cars are very well represented, and it’s a category dominated by American cars, with the occasional Japanese car sprinkled in, sometimes against its will as a captive import. There’s no true European cars on the list, at least not yet, something I intend to take care of right now. My friends, I’d like you to behold the very first European Glorious Garbage car, the 1979 Porsche 924 Sebring.
The reason the 924 Sebring exists is because Porsche has a long history of doing really spectacularly at Sebring, winning the Sebring 12 hour endurance race an astonishing 18 times between 1960 and 2008. That’s a hell of an achievement, and you can see why Porsche would be excited to commemorate these victories with a car that regular people could buy.
Something fun and sporty and exciting, something that captures the racing spirit of Porsche with a car that manages to bring a taste of that sort of excitement and performance into the hands of anyone with enough cash, something worthy of that Sebring name! That’s the kind of car you’d think Porsche would have to commemorate their racing victories, right? A racing Porsche for the streets!
Sure, they could do that or – and hear me out here – they could take their absolute slowest car they sold and slap a few stripes and stickers on it, and knock off early for currywurst, beer, and maybe five quiet minutes of daydreaming. I hope you’re okay with that second option because that seems to be exactly what Porsche did for their Sebring commemorative car.
The Porsche 924 Sebring 79 is, essentially, the base-model 924, powered by the VW-designed EA831 four-cylinder, 2-liter engine that was also used in such performance luminaries as VW LT delivery vans and trucks, the 1979 DJ-series Postal Jeeps, the Audi 100, and, yes, the AMC Gremlin.
If you look at the copy for that AMC Gremlin brochure, you’ll note that the same engine as in the Porsche 924 Sebring 79 is described here as “perky,” a word most commonly used to describe breasts or perhaps the ears of a bunny.
Now, to be fair, in the Gremlin this engine made 95 horsepower; in the Porsche, with a special Porsche-designed cylinder head, the output rockets up to 110 hp, which is still, even in the grip of late-’70s Malaisery, pretty lame, especially for a car dedicated to racing victories.
Of course, you could also get a Gremlin with a V8, something you weren’t doing in a 924.
It’s not like the car is completely unappealing; it definitely has its charms, like the extensive use of plaid upholstery, but even so, there’s nothing about it that really feels like it’s worthy of the job it was given, a representation of Porsche’s racing might.
It did come with a sunroof, too, though its the kind you have to get out and remove and shove in the trunk, which sucks if it rains suddenly, but, as Porsche notes in their literature, it was the only way to get a really big opening and not have to sacrifice headroom, so, you know, trade-offs. Also, they like to note the seats are “orthopedically” designed, because there is nothing sexier than orthopedic things. I mean, you’ve seen the shoes, right?
Plus, for a special-edition, limited-run car (1,292 made), it sure was full of parts-bin stuff, and I don’t mean Porsche parts bin, I mean VW’s:
Now, this has pretty much always been the case with the 924, and, really, even if those are the same interior door handles used on a Beetle, for example, they work just fine. It just makes one wonder: why did Porsche pick their entriest-level car to do this job?
There’s an appeal to these cars, sure, especially if you’re someone who can’t remember the three digits that make up your car’s name, and need to look at the front from far away to remember. I think 924s have a lot of charm in general, as long as you, you know, don’t expect anything too fast or too sporty. Then they’re great! Just maybe not so great for commemorating racing triumphs.
I wonder if Porsche had any other cars that would have been more suited to this? I guess we’ll never know.
Anyway, welcome to your first Glorious Garbage, Germany!
I Can’t Decide If This Jaguar V6 Made By Blanking Off Two Cylinders From A V8 Is Genius Or Just Lazy
Buick Made A Second Grand National Out Of The LeSabre Then Forgot To Add The Grand Part: Glorious Garbage
The Chevy Celebrity Eurosport VR Proved Chevy Didn’t Know What ‘Euro’ Meant
Yeah, I’d still roll with it.
it qualifies as Glorious Garbage solely for the use of the Mistral font on the fender (“Sebring ’79”) which is about as lazy a designer could get at that point. Rolf must have been hung over when he read the design brief that day.
“Livery provided by Dave’s T-Shirt Hut: Buy 2 Shirts Get 1 Beer Koozie Free!”
They should have been brought up before The Hague on that alone
Just waiting for Stef to show up here…
I don’t think it deserves to be in any category with garbage in the the name. But it certainly qualifies as a “phoning it in” to just put some stickers on the cheapest model.
And it’s funny with the relativity of speed: Nobody pokes fun at MY Porsche (356), being a decade and a half older than this one. And it isn’t any measly “60” or “75”, but the very posh top of the line “90”. Yes that stands for horsepower..
In the department of displacement it has slightly above 1.7 litres (originally slightly below 1.6…)
So in speed and horsepower and displacement and probably driving dynamics, it can’t beat this 924, which everyone on the internet thinks is a slow car.
Beats it hands down on noise and smoke! (and looks IMHO) 😉
Europe has been sadly underrepresented in this feature. The UK alone could provide content for years.
The Austin Princess, Allegro, Maestro, MGC, TR7, all the non-turbo diesel nonsense of the 80s.
All glorious, all terrible.
As to why Porsche picked their slowest parts bin car to commemorate a race victory. Well, they were not going to sully one of their good cars with a cheesy special edition were they? How gauche.
BL cars are always a bit of a lazy punching bag, and, TBH, I don’t feel like those really fit the bill for “glorious garbage” anyway (bar potentially the MGC & Diesels). “Glorious garbage” kind of focuses on the lazy half-arsed attempts at vehicles; while hampered by poor build quality and poor management, the actual vehicle designs were relatively ambitious, and nowhere near as bad as people tend to make out.
I think I just interpreted the series differently. The Princess IMHO was a really good design, rendered garbage by terrible management decisions and build quality.
The MGC was more design by committee type of bad.
That’s fair. I sort of feel they’re maybe a better fit for the “Unholy Fails” category (effort was put in, but the outcome was bad), but that tends to be more for specific model variants, rather whole cars.
I owned a Sebring ’79. It was modified before I got it, but I bought it off a Hunter S. Thompson wannabe, who bought it off a crackhead. The cam was wiped, the upgraded LSD dogleg gearbox was chewed up, the brakes were rebuilt with o-rings instead of conventional seals, the sunroof frame was rotted out and was glued back in, and the interior was completely wrecked.
I eventually sold it for parts.
All this hate on the 924 and the EA831 engine is uncalled for. It was a decent sports car, and the proper Euro-spec version of the engine delivers 125hp. It was at least as quick as its competitors, and usually handled better. Blame the ridiculous US emissions rules, not Porsche. The 356, 912E, and 914/4 were all slower than the 924, and I don’t hear you hating on them. As designed, the 924 was a very solid choice when it came to late-70s/early-80s sports cars. The 924S, 924 Turbo, and Carrera GT models were even better. Try out the real deal, and you’ll probably agree.
Volkswagen’s own late 70s racing victory commemoration sounds like a better deal. The “Champagne Edition” 1978 Scirocco celebrated VW’s SCCA runoff win with an air dam, stripes and Recaro style seats. It still had only 70hp from 1500cc but weighed only 1700lbs so it was quick for the era.
Has anyone seen any Sciroccos lately?
I genuinely cannot remember the last time I saw a Scirocco on the road.
Saw a Corrado a few weeks ago, but no Scirocco in decades.
I sometimes see them in the PNW and there ate probably survivors in California and other dry climates. Anywhere with road salt “Karmann invented rust and licensed it to the Italians”. My 78 was rotten by 89, and it’s replacement was a Florida car that probably succumbed to rust in the mid 90s.
I love the way the 1st gen Sciroccos drive! You see both 1st and 2nd gen ones around Seattle occasionally, but they almost always look like a bunch of cheesy mods have been done to them.
Considering you could also get an engine with twice as many cylinders and less horsepower I’d say 110 isn’t too bad.
The proper version sold in Europe had 125hp. Quite a decent performer, actually. Not deserving of the hate.
So, VW got really around in the 70s & 80s. I knew they were in Chrysler Corp’s Horomni early on, but not that they swung with AMC as well. Anyone know of any other major brands they were in?
Volkswagen diesel engines were in some late 70s/early 80s Volvos, among other things.
I feel like this was a missed opportunity to do a competition to see who did awesome interiors better, the 924 Sebring 79 or the Gremlin Levi’s Edition.
Personally, I think the 924’s plaid seats are awesome, but the sticker package on the Levi’s Edition is better.
“knock off early for currywurst, beer, and maybe five quiet minutes of daydreaming.”
What’s the Porsche cross reference number for Volkswagen Originalteil part number 199 398 500 A?
So far no luck with finding the Volkswagen Originalteil part number for the vegan version, alas, though I did find the one for the ketchup: Volkswagen Originalteil 199 398 500 B.
Oh, by 79 the Gremlin was gone….replaced by the Spirit. The picture above is from 78…..pretty lazy writing actually.
Mainly because the Gremlin was gone by 79, replaced by the Spirit.
AMC didn’t build the Spirit, that was Takuro
HUH? The Spirit was indeed made by AMC….it was a reskinned Gremlin.
Lazy writing? For one typo? Pretty harsh as Jason is anything but a ‘lazy writer’.
It was NOT a “typo”, it was stated as fact…..and it was flat out wrong. Not getting the facts correct is stone cold lazy.
One could NOT get a V8 in a Gremlin in 79, but one COULD get plaid seats in a Pinto. And 95hp was not bad at all for a 79 4 cyl of its size.
Mainly because Gremlin was gone in 79…..
Please, respond to your own comments saying the same thing again, that certainly doesn’t get old.
125hp for the version sold in Europe.
The perfect car for an LS swap.
Speaking from personal experience, after the fuel injection fails it is possible to race one of these engines with a hasty field conversion to carburetion using nothing more than an SU borrowed from the nice folks in the adjacent paddock space and a random block of wood:
https://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LAZ17/257-IMG_7116.jpg
It bolts right up and almost fits under the hood:
https://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LAZ17/117-_MG_9694.jpg
Really, though, it’s better just to come back a year later with a new paint job and a VW D24 diesel out of a Volvo wagon. Much like the SU, it also bolts right up and almost fits under the hood:
https://www.murileemartin.com/UG/LAZ18/0589-_MG_1336.jpg
To this day this is the only Porsche I’ve ever driven. I’m not entirely sure I understand quite what justifies the brand’s mystique.
Nothin wrong with a wood adapter: people pay actual moneys for plastic ones that conduct more heat than wood does.
I used a kind of fancy plywood to mate a Weber to my Subaru
Shortly before I found my MGB GT for sale, I was all set to buy a 924 Martini Edition for $1600. Looked fine outside, was save-able inside, ran on two cylinders. I could have made a go of it, but I’m glad I found the MG instead.
So is the next installment going to be on the Randall 401-XR Gremlins?
Last week I was half goth, half currywurst.
So, schwarz wurst?
Gothwurst, eh?
My new band name.
I look forward to your debut album, “Tubed meat and hazelnut creamer”
Oooooh matron!
Were all of these just sold in the US? I read a brochure that said “only” 1400 would be sold in America and if only 1292 were actually produced, I wonder if this was a U.S. Special Edition only. It could explain why nothing sportier than racing stripes was added to the car. Not even the sway bars other 924 Specials got. Why would you need performance stuff in the land of 55 MPH highways?
Almost certainly a US only car. The Sebring name carries a lot less weight in Europe. I know in the UK we got at least one 924 Le Mans edition with Martini stripes.
I‘m almost sure it was a U.S.-only car, since here, in the suburbs of Stuttgart, I have never seen one or even heard about it 🙂
I was living in Wiesbaden during that time and I never saw one of these either, so I think you’re correct.
My youngest brother owned one of this exact model, in 1988. Such a huge piece of shit as he described it. I drove a couple as a Porsche employee new. Ow…
He went on to own a lot of Porsches, and ex wives. Me, I went on to own a shit ton of Toyotas and same wife for 40 years.
He’s a god damned insufferable millionaire, me I live on Social Security. Life is weird for sure. These cars? CP.
LOL. You could get a Gremlin with a V8!
Not in 79
what are you doing, my guy?
It’s very important to him that everyone knows Torch was wrong. Very. Important.
Evidently. Sheesh
The Autopian now needs a staff-car 79 Gremlin with the V8 out of a Porsche 928 in it, just to preserve the Cosmic Balance.
I like this plan!
You mean a 79 AMC Spirit?
Oh, you 😉
Wow, evidently getting correct info is not important to the readers of this site. It just shows the state of modern “journalism”.
No, the fact that the Gremlin was replaced by the Spirit in ’79 is a minor detail that really doesn’t change the substance of the story. It is not the downfall of modern journalism.
Is it worth commenting about? SURE! We like mundane details around here. Is it so urgently important that you need to comment about it multiple times to every single person who mentions the Gremlin or the V8? Nope. That just makes you sound like some combination of desperate and whacko.
Personally, I’d like to have a Spirit with a 928 V8 in it even more than I would a Gremlin with any V8. The Spirit is a damn fine looking automobile!
Not only to every person that mentions it, but he has also replied DIRECTLY TO HIS OWN COMMENTS to mention the same thing again. I’ve heard of dying on a hill, but the man is dying on the hill and then resurfacing as a Zombie just to keep telling everyone.
I almost feel bad for the guy. I picture him in his basement, all sweaty with spittle flying as he screams at the screen, because the fate of modern journalism lies in recognizing that the AMC Spirit replaced the Gremlin in 1979.
Porsche? I just see an Audi van.
I have a rescued ’77 924, which is kind of fun because I can finally say that at one point in my life I owned a Porsche, but also with it being the least valuable and slowest Porsche of all time, it has a certain charm. It isn’t going to win any drag races against anything that isn’t a scooter maybe, but what I found is that the harder you drive it, the happier it is. It revs high and makes a lot of noise and fuss about it, so it seems faster than it is, although that’s a low bar to clear. In the end, it’s fun because it’s not worth much and I don’t have to worry too much about it.
It currently sits in a non-driving state however, because it won’t accept throttle. K-Jetronic things. Very frustrating. We’ve tried some things that haven’t changed anything, and I haven’t had the chance to get an expert to look at it yet.
Would be tempting to convert to Megasquirt, but that might be more work than necessary if the current system is still sorta-working and repairable.
Ok, don’t be offended here: I don’t know what you’ve tried.
are the pivot points & throat of the air box clean? I ask because I’ve run into cars with severe bogging—even outright cutting off—from the balance being really sticky and slow to respond. Worst case, open up the fuel distributor and clean it with ATF & 1500 grit emory paper. I know the books say your hair will fall out & the sun turn dark if you dare crack it open, but I did it multiple times back in the early 2000s and the cars ran better. (They were right about the hair, though, eventually: must have been a time-delay curse)
No offense taken at all, in fact the reason I mentioned it was hoping maybe someone might have some suggestions!
Going into this I knew nothing about K-Jetronic at all, I’ve learned just enough to know how it works. My usual mechanic is not an import specialist, but he’s not an idiot and has been around. But he’s stumped.
What we have done, I sourced a rebuilt fuel distributor from Australia, we put that in and got no difference. I put in a new cold start valve because my thought was it was leaking and flooding the car out. No dice. To your suggestion, I haven’t dug into the air box nor checked the pivot points. The only thing I can say is my guy said the flap is moving but I know the balance is more critical than it just moving – everything has to work together for this to work. So I will try to check that, otherwise I’m taking it to a shop that has been recommended to me for old Porsches, but I suspect that won’t be cheap.
Edited to add: the car had sat for 16 years in dry storage before I got to it. We did the usual stuff, put a new fuel pump on it, and two new fuel accumulators. The old gas knocked out that pump and we put another one on it, with a supplemental filter in front of it to protect it from any remaining gunk. The car was running awesome and a lot of fun, I had it detailed and took some pics of it, and then didn’t get back to it for three weeks. That photo shoot was the last time it ran well. So I don’t know if the detail job somehow knocked something out of whack? A vacuum line somewhere? Because I had them do the engine too and who knows if they used a pressure washer or what.
Glad you took it in the spirit it was offered. I taught myself about CIS-K basically from the Bosch & Bentley manuals as well as the Idiots’ Guide on how to keep your rabbit alive. Got a large whiteboard to diagram it out, and just dove in. Granted, junk examples from which to rob parts & destruction-test them were more common two decades back, but humans built it: you can figure it out, too.
I found many of the fiber-covered lines which looked fine were not, once subjected to pressures. Bought a couple cheap HF fuel-injection test kits, and cobbled together my own sort of testing board for the various lines. Once I was able to verify I had good lines, and was able to check pressures at any point I wanted too, it just was a game of chasing down the gremlins.
Building a rack of test-tubes to verify flow on the car is what led me to the fuel distributors. And back issues of PCA magazine about an old test of CIS with ethanol gas in Seattle led me to the conclusion that the anti-evaporation additives were what was leaving the gunk in the system. I put together a bench system in which I could circulate e85 through various components, and that cleared a lot of gunk out.
Maybe crack open your old distributor (after checking the engine compartment for issues from the detailing) and see how fouled it is. -caveat being how far down the ‘new’ distributor was torn in the rebuild.
Wish I still had all my stuff from back then so I could be of more help!
edit to add: the balance should respond fairly quickly. I often found old grease at the balance pins had attracted grit & impeded movement. I also often found the plate sticking in the throat due to grunge. Iirc, I thoroughly cleaned the balance pins, then used graphite to lube them
I’ll race ya on my scooter, once you get it running 🙂
You got a deal 😀
It’s on like Donkey Kong! The world’s slowest drag race!
Slow can be fun too. I saw a video of Citroen 2CVs racing on snow not too long ago and it was a hoot.
That sounds like a ball to me!
So this is basically Porsche’s Mustang II, right down to the over the top (relatively, I mean) graphics!
Though by 1979, Ford was already digging out of that hole with the fox body.
Good call!
Don’t get me wrong – I like the Mustang II for what it is. And I’d absolutely love to own a Porsche like this (or the dreaded 914) – never meant to be fast, you just get the purity of cruising around in Euro style at this point.
The only slightly faster 944 is my personal favorite Porsche. Dem hips.
Back when I was in school in the ’90s, they were dirt cheap – nobody wanted them. I religiously read the classified ads in the paper at meals (ah those days), and was always like “damn…if only I had a few thousand bucks I could have one of these!”
Same here. I bet we’re about the same age. I’ll be 43 in June.
If you really want a 914, jump on it quick – they are going up in value. What used to be a $1,000 car is now a $10,000 car.