968 (968, CS, Turbo S)

Evolution Not Revolution

Motor Sport summarized the plan in September 1991 as evolution not revolution, and the reason was money. Ate Up With Motor traces the 968 to the collapse in Porsche's finances after the 1987 stock market crash: Harm Lagaay did not have the budget for a clean-sheet replacement for the 944, so an extensive facelift with exposed flip-up headlamps took a new name from its internal type number, to put distance between it and falling 944 sales. Porsche stated that more than 80 percent of the car was new. The car had its world premiere at the Frankfurt IAA in September 1991, and assembly moved from the Audi plant at Neckarsulm to Zuffenhausen because building through Audi or Volkswagen factories had become too expensive.

The Big Four

The engine was the substance of the change. The 2,990 cc M44/43 kept the 944 S2's 4.1 in (104 mm) bore and 88 mm stroke but gained VarioCam, which varied the timing of the intake valves, forged oil-cooled pistons, a larger-bore exhaust and a revised manifold, and compression rose to 11.0:1. Output went from the S2's 208 hp to 237 hp at 6,200 rpm with 225 lb-ft at 4,100 rpm, which Porsche's press material called the highest-torque naturally aspirated four-cylinder in the world. A Getrag six-speed transaxle was standard and the four-speed Tiptronic, co-developed with ZF and Bosch and costing $3,465 or DM 5,850, was the option; Porsche's 2026 timeline calls the 968 the first Porsche with Tiptronic. The 1992 US coupe was $41,605 with luxury tax and freight, against German launch prices of DM 89,800 for the coupe and DM 99,800 for the cabriolet.

Well Reviewed, Barely Bought

The road tests were kind, with reservations. Jeremy Walton in Motor Sport found the engine not the smoothest of units; Georg Kacher in Automobile called the delivery creamy and progressive; Wes Raynal in Autoweek found it faster than the 944 and better in ride, handling and braking, with steering of unmatched feel. Porsche's own retrospective admits it never attained the emotional appeal of the 911, and the sports car market was collapsing as it arrived: 5,353 were built in 1992, 3,783 in 1993, 2,484 in 1994 and 1,156 in 1995, and only 156 British customers bought one in 1992.

Club Sport and Sport

The answer, shown at the Paris Salon in October 1992 and sold from 1993, was to take things out. The Club Sport lost its rear seats, air conditioning, electric windows, radio, alarm, central locking, rear wiper, most of the sound insulation and the electric Recaros, replaced by fixed-back buckets; it sat 0.79 in (20 mm) lower on 17-inch wheels, and listed in Britain below the standard coupe. Porsche quotes a saving of around 220 lb; Supercar Nostalgia, evo and Adrian Flux put the official figure at 110 lb. Performance Car made it Car of the Year for 1993, and Walter Rohrl called it the best-handling car Porsche had built to that date. It was never sold in the United States. For Britain in 1994 Porsche added the 968 Sport, a Club Sport chassis with the windows, locking, alarm, sunroof and rear seats put back, priced under the standard coupe.

Turbo S and Turbo RS

In 1993 Weissach built a homologation special for the ADAC GT series by fitting the 944 Turbo's eight-valve head and a KKK K27 at 1.0 bar to the 3.0-liter block. The Turbo S made 301 hp and 369 lb-ft, ran to about 174 mph, carried NACA hood ducts, an adjustable rear wing, Koni dampers, a 40 percent limited-slip differential and 18-inch three-piece Speedlines, and was hand-assembled under Gerd Schmid and Jurgen Barth. RM Sotheby's records that 100 were planned and the program stopped in 1994 on cost; CAR called it too wild for public roads. A prototype and three track-only Turbo RS cars followed, at 332 hp or more; one retired from Le Mans in 1994 after an accident and Erik Henriksen ran another in the 1994 BPR series.

The End of the Line

Production ended in July 1995. Porsche canceled the 968 and the 928 together without direct replacements, and the Boxster of July 1996 was priced at $39,980 and DM 76,500, well below the last 968 coupe. Ate Up With Motor's verdict is that the 968 was both the best of the 924/944/968 breed and the least successful.

The fault pattern is the 944 S2's with the VarioCam added. The exhaust cam belt can stretch beyond what the tensioner takes up, and if it breaks or jumps a tooth the valves meet the pistons; the balance shaft belt is replaced with it, and the 968's hydraulic tensioner, unlike the spring tensioner on the 944, can be fitted so that the belt runs off-center, which a Rennlist owner traced to a worn copper sleeve on the tensioner pivot arm, a $20 machinist's job that shows how small the margins are. VarioCam sprockets, chain and tensioner wear with age and mileage, and Octane, Stuttcars and PistonHeads all list them with the belts as one service. The rear main seal seeps and a proper fix means removing the transaxle. Clutches on higher-mileage cars slip or judder, at $2,000 to $3,000 to replace according to Stuttcars; Octane calls the dual-mass flywheel a known weak point, PistonHeads says the opposite, so read that as a check rather than a certainty. The differential pinion bearing whirrs and is replaced as a unit. Engine mounts deteriorate from heat, the clutch master cylinder leaks, and the electric radiator fan should switch off with the ignition or it flattens the battery. Electrics generally are described by Stuttcars as intermittent: lights, gauges, windows, sunroofs and climate controls. Rust is a matter of wheel arches, sills, floors, valances, hatch seams and the battery tray, worse on the un-undersealed Sport and Club Sport. Cabriolet hoods, cloudy plastic rear windows and rear hatch glass delaminating from its frame are the open-car additions. Suspension bushes make a tired car vague and clunky, and Octane recommends regular four-wheel alignment.

The belts come first. The exhaust camshaft is belt driven and the balance shafts have their own belt; PistonHeads gives four years or 40,000 miles, Octane five years or 60,000, and a car without a dated invoice for belts, tensioners and the VarioCam chain and tensioner should be priced as needing the job, which Stuttcars puts at $1,200 to $2,000 for a full belt, roller and water pump service. Listen at the timing cover: wear in the VarioCam sprockets, chain and hydraulic tensioner shows as noise there and as poor throttle response. On the road, a turbine-like whirr under acceleration is the differential pinion bearing, replaced as a unit and a drive-in drive-out job at a specialist, and vibration through the cabin points to engine mounts cooked by heat rather than to the engine itself. Whining from the Getrag six-speed is noted by Octane, although PistonHeads regards both gearboxes as strong. Underneath, Octane records that Sport and Club Sport cars left the factory without underseal, so wheel arches, sills, floorpans, valances and the battery tray need a proper look on those cars in particular. Pop-up headlamp mechanisms that stick want refurbishment, windshields go cloudy, and on cabriolets the hood, the plastic rear window and the seal and bonding of the rear hatch glass all age. On a Club Sport, establish what the car actually is: PCA points out that the limited-slip differential, sport suspension and larger brakes were options, the M030 pack adds 12.0 in (304 mm) discs, stiffer springs and 1.18 in (30 mm) and 0.75 in (19 mm) anti-roll bars, and Comfort and Security packs put some deleted equipment back. Color was five choices at launch and Paint to Sample later, and PCA prices color and options at 15 to 20 percent. Imported Club Sports in North America should have 25-year-rule paperwork and a European history. For a Turbo S or RS, the chassis number and Porsche's own documentation are the whole story, since the population is between 10 and 16 cars depending on who is counting.

As of September 2026, classic.com records an average sale of $33,528 across the 968 range, with the lowest tracked result $6,188 for a 1993 car on 29 April 2026 and 13 cars listed against 114 tracked. The benchmarks by body and gearbox are $31,495 for a manual coupe, $18,764 for a Tiptronic coupe, $25,089 for a manual cabriolet, $23,127 for a Tiptronic cabriolet, $21,087 for the British-market Sport and $52,844, trending up, for the Club Sport, whose average sale is $48,488 with a low of $18,285 on 31 October 2024. Recent entries include a 1992 manual coupe at $48,000 on 4 September 2026, a 1993 Club Sport at $84,900 in July 2026 and a 1995 Club Sport at $48,968 through PCARMARKET in June 2026. Renndriver's June 2026 guide puts coupes at $25,000 to $50,000, cabriolets at $25,000 to $45,000 and Club Sports at $50,000 to $100,000 and above, and PCA put North American Club Sport sales at $65,000 to $80,000 in November 2025. At the top, RM Sotheby's sold a Cobalt Blue six-speed cabriolet for $89,600 at Miami in 2025, Broad Arrow sold the black Turbo RS for $775,000 at Amelia in March 2026, and the ex-Helena Sukova Turbo S, estimated at $900,000 to $1,200,000 by Gooding Christie's at the same event, failed to meet reserve and was afterwards offered at $900,000; RM Sotheby's had also failed to sell a Turbo S at Miami in 2025 against $550,000 to $750,000. classic.com's $516,500 Turbo S benchmark rests on that single pending lot. Auction figures are quoted as published; none of the pages consulted states whether buyer's premium is included.