Good morning, and happy middle of the week! I’m back here at Shitbox Showdown’s international headquarters – a battered Quonset hut at the far northwestern corner of The Autopian’s sprawling campus – and today I’ve got a pair of Teutonic treats for you that both run and drive, but need a little love. Before we talk about them, here are the results from yesterday’s all-wheel-drive battle:
The V8 Explorer takes it, nearly two to one. Several comments expressed a “better the devil you know” sentiment, which might be part of Mitsubishi’s problem in general these days.
Joan Jett’s 1988 anthem “I Hate Myself For Loving You” could have been written for those of us who find ourselves in the unfortunate position of lusting after German (or Italian, or British) cars. We know they’re going to break our hearts, drain our wallets dry, and leave us stranded in the rain, in a bad part of town, or when we’re running late (or if we’re very unlucky, all three), and yet, they call to us like so many mechanical sirens, and we gladly smash ourselves to pieces on the rocks to get to them, leaving the shoreline littered with Haynes manuals and broken dreams.
If this sounds liks you, I’ve got bad news for you: I have two more temptresses for you to resist. And one of them at least looks like a screaming deal. Let’s take a look.
1976 BMW 2002 – $2,900
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed manual, RWD
Location: Boulder City, NV
Odometer reading: listed as 100,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yep!
Every legend has an origin. BMW’s small sports sedan legend started in 1962 with the Neue Klasse models and continues to this day, albeit with grotesquely enlarged fascias and an overabundance of gimmicky tech. This car, the 2002, really cemented the basic formula in place: two doors, three pedals, a smooth torquey engine, rear wheel drive, and impeccable road manners. Like all legendary cars, the BMW 2002 can command a hefty price.
That makes this car, a running driving 2002 that isn’t completely rusted out, for a reasonable price, something of a surprise, and as soon as I saw the ad, I knew I had to write about it. I mean, it’s not dirt cheap, and it’s probably the least-desirable 2002, being a 1976 carbureted model, but if you can look past the giant 5 mph bumpers and the need for a smog test in California or Oregon, it’s a BMW 2002 that you can drive home in today for less than three grand.
This car’s M10 four cylinder starts easily and runs well, according to the seller, and its four-speed gearbox shifts smoothly. The seller says it has “no eminent mechanical issues,” but I think they meant either evident or imminent. Either way, it’s a good sign. It’s driven weekly, so the brakes and clutch and cooling system should be in reasonably good shape; it hasn’t been sitting around and rotting away.
Of course, for $2,900, you can’t expect perfection. This car does have some rust, but it’s all superficial, from the looks of it. It’s solid underneath. The paint is, of course, toast, and the interior is nothing to write home about. And I think I’d put a matching set of tires on it sooner rather than later. But honestly, I’d be surprised if this car were still for sale by the time you read this.
1984 Porsche 944 – $4,950
Engine/drivetrain: 2.5 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, RWD
Location: Pflugerville, TX
Odometer reading: 38,000 miles
Runs/drives? Sure does
Imagine you ran a successful sports car company, famous for its rear-engined air-cooled cars, and one day, for shits and giggles, you decided your next car design would keep the transmission where it was, but move the engine to the front, and use a decidedly more viscous fluid to cool it. Your die-hard fans would howl in protest, of course, and dismiss the new models. The front-engined water-cooled cars would remain cheap used for ages, until values of your old air-cooled models exploded, and then…
Time was, and it wasn’t that long ago, that you could buy a scruffy but drivable Porsche 944 or 924 for about $2,000. But since the values of “real Porsches” has gone completely off the rails, a $2,000 944 now costs $4,950. A rising tide lifts all boats and all that. It sucks, but that’s the universe we live in.
This is a fairly early 944, with a simple 2.5 liter four making 143 horsepower. That may not sound like a lot, but when family-friendly Plymouth Reliants were rocking 84 hp, and Corvettes were barely breaking 200, this car was no slouch. Its engine is canted over at a 45 degree angle, for the simple reason that it’s basically half of the V8 from Porsche’s 928. The seller says this one runs well, but doesn’t give much in the way of specifics.
Cosmetically, it’s a little rough, with most of the clearcoat gone from the paint, and the dashboard top a maze of cracks. It doesn’t look rusty, at least. And a bad paint job doesn’t stop you from enjoying a romp on the back roads; in fact, it makes it a little more carefree.
If you have the German car sickness, I apologize for showing these to you. Either one could lead you down a rabbit hole of parts ordering, weekend tinkering, and borderline obsession that could ruin you. The fact that they both run and drive makes them all that much more enticing. But think of it this way: No one ever lay on their deathbed thinking about how reliable their Toyota Camry was. Life is too short to drive boring cars. So which one will it be?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
That’s a pretty cheap 2002!
The Porsche has the pressure cast ATS cookie cutter wheels.
Hmm the cheap 2002 I guess.
Hey is that a Chrysler Maserati behind the Porsche?
I went BMW because of my family connection and because I live in the part of Oregon that doesn’t require DEQ so I can run Webers or add a Megasquirt for a home brew Tii
Even with the slight passenger-side body damage and the list of issues to be addressed, you are probably better off with this Porsche 944 at twice the price.
Haynes manuals? Well, there’s your first problem. Bentley shop manuals all the way.
Porsche all the way! Those 2002 BMWs always looked like a clown car to me with that goofy greenhouse. Too much glass.
I’d take the BMW simply because I’ve got a much higher confidence of being able to source replacement factory parts for it than the parsh.
That being said, I’d love to have a 944 to hoon about…just not that one.
You’re also a lot less likely to need those parts with a 2002 than a 944.
the BMW was either a scam or already sold, but even a fully shitbox 2002 has far more flip potential than any 944 ever will.
I do see quite a few 944 LS swaps though recently. that might be a fun way to make the 944 a sleeper. https://autoads24.com/listing/1987-porsche-944-ls1-powered/?utm_source=Lifull-connect&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=premium
Both are RWD with manual transmission AND under $5k. So no wrong answer here. I voted BMW. I learned to drive in a late 70s 3 series so I have a soft spot for the BMW.
I’ll take both.
Today was hard, I want both of those.
I still see a better Porsche 944 for that money now and then, although not with a claimed 38,000 miles. I rarely see a running 2002 for sale, and never this cheaply.
BMW it is, if I had any interest in these.
Normally, I’d lean towards buying a Porsche over a BMW, but that 2002 is cheap enough I’d actually consider buying it. Can’t be too hard to keep running, and it’s pretty stylish.
My thoughts exactly.
I’m here for Stef’s opinion but I have to think the the 2002 is going to win in a landslide. It’s cheaper to start with and it will be worth more when it’s done. Not that I’m ever likely to own a BMW, but the 2002 is a super cool car.
As someone who came of age in the 80s I love the 944 as well but this seems pretty overpriced for the level of scruffiness.
Keep scrollin’. I voted 2002.
The 944 is overpriced and that particular local-to-me Craigslist ad will outlive me, no doubt.
Porsche for me due to less rust. The Porsche doesn’t need a ‘body man’ to make it look decent. Just needs a new coat of paint and a new front passenger side marker light. And the interior on the Porsche also looks way better.
And I’m gonna guess the 944 has a better driving experience than the 2002. And it’s definitely faster… though neither is fast by today’s standards.
I expect maintenance and repair to be a pain for both… with the Porsche being a bit more expensive. But the Porsche will be more rewarding.
Having owned multiple examples over the years, the ’02 is the easy choice here. I’d start with a matching set of tires, and then chip away at stuff while running it around town at every opportunity.
If the price differential were smaller, I’d go for the 944, but it looks awfully rough for that kind of money.
“I can’t spell “BMW”, so I drive a Porsche!”
(Name that movie!)
There are really good aspects to both of these cars. In spite of my proclivity for Porsches, my gut tells me BMW.
Congratulations, you’ve found only one car that’s actually for sale! I’m all but certain that Pflugerville 944 has been for sale, gosh, since when I bought my 944 a decade ago. That guy has seemingly no intention of selling, ever. I’ve had multiple friends try to check it out for me, only to have no one at home. I’ve known multiple people who’ve tried to get in touch with the seller to no avail. I’ve had friends try to ask about a part-out because it’s clearly yard art at this point, and no dice, either. Seriously, that has been a recurring Craigslist ad for YEARS and I don’t know what the endgame is.
Dude even snuck in a photo of a different 944 in the same yard midway through his pics. There are multiple 944s in this guy’s yard, but seemingly no one at home.
Also, it’s just a really, really stupid price for a beat-to-hell 944, especially here, where rust doesn’t drive the prices of these up. Everything about this car looks as baked as the ad writer must’ve been when he input nearly $5K. I’d offer $1K max for it to be a good deal. It’s been sitting in the same yard for gosh, a decade, with seemingly no movement, so there’s a to-do list of routine checks and maintenance waiting for whoever picks it up. 38,000 on the odometer means nothing unless they’ve got the documentation to back it up—these are 5-digit odos that roll over and break all the time thanks to fragile plastic gears. Given that this ad is virtual wallpaper on the servers of Craigslist dot com at this point, I really doubt it’s a real 38K-mile find.
FWIW, 944s aren’t hard to work on—they just need patience, care and occasionally a factory tool or knock-off version of it. I just got mine running again and can confirm, it rips. There’s tons of documentation and parts support for these cars, plus a huge community to turn to for help. There are nicer examples, but I don’t care about those. That’s another flavor of automotive enthusiasm that sends it a lot less. For those of us in non-rusty places where 944 prices aren’t that stupid yet, I highly recommend one as a $1K-to-maybe-$3K (but only with solid service records) beater. Rip out the crusty interior and even these early NA cars are pretty fast. Get one, drive the crap out of it, and enjoy.
The catch is, you have to find one that’s actually for sale first. That BMW seems like a screaming deal in comparison unless it’s also a weird, scammy-feeling ad meant to lure people in and frustrate them out of non-response.
I was waiting for you to chime-in Stef! It seems that my gut reaction is validated by your experience.
Gosh, this one has been around forever. Every time someone I know is on the hunt for a 944, either for me or for themselves, it comes up.
A couple folks I’ve known have gotten responses on rare occasion, but it always ends with that. I think I remember one who might’ve actually spoken to the guy a decade ago—and the price was firm and not open to part-outs then, either—but that’s since become kind of a Loch Ness Monster-type sighting that no one else I know has been able to repeat.
Dude just has no intention of selling. That car exists in a kind of weird liminal space, even for Pflugerville, a bog standard suburb that’s just far enough out of reach that I only really go there on my own if I have transmission problems. This yard full of 944s exists, but does it really? Even the photos are so old that they look like they were shot using the same retro filter folks use on dead mall vaporwave compilations. That car will probably only ever be sold after the owner passes away and one of his relatives has to sell off the estate.
Well… there are certain parts of the turbos that are hard to work on. You wouldn’t _think_ an oil pan gasket would take you most of a day… but since you have to take out half of the engine to get the turbo crossover pipe off to get to it… it does. And… the AOS is a pain to get to. Taking the turbo out… sort of sucks.
I find beer helps all of those tasks tremendously.
And bandaids.
Oh yeah, some parts are buried. I admittedly left the slow, occasional leak from around the oil pan gasket for now because it’s an under-engine kinda deal and well, not really a huge one. Also, yeah, there are multiple reasons why I’m happy to stick with the NA cars and packaging is one of ’em.
On that note, I’ve been really into radlers lately. Haha.
I live in Texas and can confirm that this car has been for sale for at least 6 years. My father used to have a 944s, and after he passed away I thought it would be great to have a car similar to what he’d once bought as his first “I made some money” car. Even though this one is a couple years earlier than his (and has the ugly 924 dash/interior), I made an attempt to get into contact with the seller. I want to say it was 3k at the time, but it might have been 2 and a half. I did everything I could think to do to get ahold of the seller, but nothing. I have a friend that lives in town, and drove by the place and confirmed that this car is there, as well as a lot of others. But whoever is posting this add is likely not the seller, because no one answers and no ever responds.
Okay, I’m not nuts! It IS that ad.
No dice on principle—seller must be present to be lowballed.
Well, thanks for throwing a wet blanket on that one Debbie Downer!
I’m always here to ruin dreams.
Note: you may want to keep an IKEA allen wrench handy if you get the 944 for reasons.
Only if you have a heavily rounded off VW replacement key in sore need of replacement. I don’t think the allen wrench “fix” to hold my key in the on position would work on the stock 944 key.
Or a good LS swap to make them reliable and actually fun to drive. https://engineswapdepot.com/?p=86831
No? No. Oh goodness, bless your heart, my sweet summer child, no.
The LS is a reliable lump, but having covered this very same swap before, no, it absolutely does not make for a reliable car. Not in the slightest. If anything, contending with harder to source bits to make the swap work and the added power it didn’t come with makes it a bit less so, and a bit tougher all around.
The 944 is proof that you don’t need a ton of power to have fun. It’s light, it’s nimble, and to me, that’s enough. There are more powerful versions and swaps out there, but the NA is definitely hella fun.
For persons of a certain age, there is no substitute.
The BMW is great, but holy moly. The 944 is also great. If I was trying to ensure I could get my cash back out of it, I think I’d go 944. These, 924 and 968s, especially 968s, are under appreciated and anyone that’s watched what happened to 914 prices will know that these are going to start to appreciate. I mean who the hell can afford a 911 these days. Even 996s that used to be cheap are going up in price. Get in now, put some cash into the 944, drive it around for a while and move it on to the next
sucker, er, person.Porsche for me. Not that the 2002 isn’t cool, but the Porsche just speaks to me. Even though they are among the least cool Porsches I have a soft spot for them as there were a few around me when I was a kid and I always thought they looked cool.
That 2002 is an absolute steal at that price. 2002 all the way.
BMW all the way, just get a set of new tires for it before doing anything else. ANY functioning, not rusted hulk of a 2002 seems to be going for big coin these days. Look at what Sam Smith had to do to get a cheap one.
Geesh! I’ve heard of RUF Porsches before, but…
Look closely…. the one with the “missing” turbo badge is actually a different car with similarly awful paint. Note the gold fuchs, Porsche script on the rear, Porsche insert where the license plate usually is, and third brake light. And if I really squint through the passenger door on the “turbo” it looks like that might be a late interior. So that one might actually BE a turbo. But it ain’t the same car as that other mess.
Early 944s had 5 digit odometers. Which broke very easily. So that 38K could be damn near anything, but there’s no chance this thing has less than 138K on it. Oh, and another fun early 944 fact – they share rear suspension with the Super Beetle. Yay, parts bin engineering.
Also, love the statement that “This is a low priced way to get into a Porsche.” No. Such. Thing.
These are both crack pipe in my opinion. I guess I’d go with the 2002 just for something different. 944s have caused me enough pain.
Seems like it, the Turbo pic also has the rear spats and has a pinstripe. And if you go to the ad in pic 3 you can see the Turbo car in the background.